Incident #173 Sighting Report — Shreveport, Louisiana, 13 September 1948

This document consists of correspondence from the Air Weather Service to the Air Materiel Command, dated 11 May 1949, regarding the review of incident summaries 173 through 233. The primary focus is the evaluation of unidentified flying objects reported to the Air Force. The document includes a specific summary for Incident #173, which occurred on 13 September 1948 in Shreveport, Louisiana. According to the report, a rawinsonde balloon was released from Barksdale AFB at 1500 CST. The object, described as having a 12-foot diameter, was caught in a very tight local low-pressure system that extended through the 500 mb level. It is concluded that the balloon followed the isobaric curvature around the Shreveport area, which explains why it was observed again approximately two hours later. The report notes that a balloon leak is not uncommon, which would allow the object to remain at an altitude where it could be seen. The document also includes a broader index of evaluations extracted from the Project Grudge report, categorizing various incidents by their probability of being astronomical, balloons, aircraft, or other phenomena. The Air Weather Service recommended that the official guide for investigating aerial objects be updated to better clarify flight motion descriptions and radar settings to improve future reporting accuracy.