Project 10073 Record: Radar Observations in Knoxville, Tennessee

This document is a Project 10073 record and an accompanying memorandum from the Office of Special Investigations, Headquarters United States Air Force, dated March 8, 1950. It details a series of radar observations of unidentified objects in the vicinity of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Oak Ridge, occurring over three consecutive nights from March 1 to March 3, 1950. The sightings were reported by S. E. Adcock, the Chief of Engineers at a radar station in Knoxville, who was noted for his extensive experience in radar experimentation during World War II. According to the reports, radar equipment operating on a 19,000 megacycle frequency detected stationary objects at an altitude of 40,000 feet. On the third night, the object was reported to exhibit slow motion, with a track speed estimated at 200 knots and a size comparable to a C-47 aircraft. The AEC Security Division at Oak Ridge verified that no flight plans existed for that vicinity and altitude during the times of the observations. The 3d Army also checked with the 14th Air Force with negative results. The official conclusion reached in the project record is that the radar returns were likely ground targets caused by an atmospheric inversion in the area, noting that the stationary nature and long duration of the returns were characteristic of such phenomena. The document highlights a lack of qualified radar operators at the site and mentions a request for a qualified operator to be sent to check the equipment, though it notes that Wright-Patterson Air Force Base would not provide radar sets from local sources.