Project 10073 Record: Incident #301 - Window Rock, Arizona, 7 March 1949

This document contains a formal report and associated correspondence regarding an aerial phenomenon observed on March 7, 1949, near Window Rock, Arizona. The witness, an Indian trader from Gallup, New Mexico, described observing a single, spherical object for approximately six to eight seconds. The object was reported to be about three feet in diameter, featuring a red fire-like center that shaded to blue at the edges. The witness observed the object moving at a high rate of speed, estimated between 200 and 300 miles per hour, on a straight path heading north along the Arizona-New Mexico border. The observer noted that the object left a slight trail and that its disintegration was progressive. The sighting occurred under clear weather conditions, approximately half an hour before sunset. The witness viewed the object through the clear windshield of a car. The report includes a formal evaluation by the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which concluded that the object was an 'Astro (METEOR).' The documentation includes a transmittal letter from the Headquarters Fourth Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, dated April 25, 1949, forwarding the report to the Air Materiel Command. The witness was characterized by the interrogator as a man of excellent character. No physical evidence, photographs, or radar data were associated with the incident.