Project 10073 Record: Sighting Report - West Field, Indiana, 12 May 1949

This document contains a sighting report and subsequent correspondence regarding an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon observed on May 12, 1949, in Indiana. The witness, a pilot and photographer, was flying a Cessna 120 at 10,000 feet when he observed a metallic, round object. He initially mistook the object for an airliner but noted it was moving significantly faster and appeared larger than a jet. He tracked the object for one minute and twenty seconds as it traveled on a westerly course over McCordsville, Castleton, and Nora, Indiana, before it vanished into the sunlight. The witness compared the size and shape of the object to the Graf Zeppelin. Although he initially discussed the incident with his flight instructor, Gordon Schwartz, he was advised to forget it due to the negative publicity surrounding such reports at the time. However, after reading an article in True Magazine, the witness decided to submit this formal report to the Air Materiel Command at Wright Field. The official Project 10073 record classifies the sighting as 'AIRCRAFT'. The correspondence concludes with a letter from Colonel Pryan L. Davis, Air Adjutant General, acknowledging receipt of the report and stating it would be forwarded to the appropriate office.