Project 10073 Record: Sighting at Fort Bliss, Texas, 22 June 1949

This document contains a collection of reports regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) investigated by the United States Air Force under Project Grudge and related military channels in June 1949. The primary report details a sighting at Fort Bliss, Texas, on 22 June 1949. A Battery Commander from the 12th AAA Group observed between two and five square objects, described as silver on the underside with a reddish tinge on top, moving north at an altitude of 45 degrees. The observer noted that the objects appeared to rock while maintaining altitude. The official conclusion for this incident, documented by the Antiaircraft Artillery and Guided Missile Center, attributed the sighting to target planes released from Biggs Air Force Base at 1000 hours that day. The document also includes a separate, more extensive investigation into a claim by Ralph K. Gass of Toledo, Ohio. Gass reported seeing four strange objects on 23 June 1949, one of which allegedly landed on an island in Lake Erie. Gass provided detailed, albeit unusual, descriptions of the craft, including tripod landing gear with hoof-shaped units, and claimed to have observed two men in blue-gray uniforms exiting the craft to collect soil samples. The investigation by Special Agent Philip F. Hooker of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) casts significant doubt on the credibility of Mr. Gass. The report notes that Gass had a history of psychiatric disability, specifically psychoneurosis, and was listed as AWOL from the U.S. Navy in 1944. The OSI agent documented that Gass failed to produce a requested sketch of the objects and exhibited inconsistent behavior throughout the investigation. The file includes various administrative records, including medical transcripts and correspondence between military intelligence divisions, reflecting the Air Force's systematic approach to evaluating UAP reports during this period, which involved verifying the background and reliability of witnesses alongside physical evidence or lack thereof.