Report of Unidentified Object — Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa, 27 March 1950

This Air Intelligence Information Report, dated 3 April 1950, details a radar and visual sighting of an unidentified object that occurred on 27 March 1950 over the Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa. The report, filed under Project 10073, documents that a Corporal from the 65th AAA Gun Battalion observed the object at approximately 1030 hours. The witness, described by his commanding officer as a superior and highly reliable radar mechanic with fifteen years of military service, tracked the object using an SCR 584 B type radar set. According to the report, the object was initially picked up at an altitude of 13,000 feet and remained stationary for ten minutes before moving in a southwesterly direction. The radar tracked the object on a heading of 220 degrees for two minutes, covering a distance of 16.9 miles at an estimated speed of 507 miles per hour. Weather conditions at the time were reported as 8/10 stratocumulus clouds with bases at 3,000 feet and tops at 4,500 feet, with no precipitation and 20-mile visibility. The report notes that the Twentieth Air Force radar station on Yontan Mountain was inoperative during the incident, and the Motobu Peninsula station did not detect the object. No photographs were taken of the event. The official conclusion provided in the document is 'UNIDENTIFIED,' with a note indicating that the track was not consistent with aircraft and that weather or other common causes were not considered reliable explanations for the observation.