Project 10073 Record and Related Correspondence Regarding Unconventional Aircraft

This document collection contains records and internal correspondence regarding reports of 'unconventional aircraft' or 'flying saucers' in July 1950. The primary record details a sighting in Jacksonville, Florida, on 13 July 1950, where a civilian observed a stationary, shiny, spherical object for several hours. The official conclusion for this incident was that the observer had witnessed the planet Venus. The document also includes internal memoranda from the Headquarters Third Army and the Air Materiel Command's Technical Analysis Division. These memos discuss the administrative burden of investigating every reported sighting. Colonel Brunow W. Feiling, Chief of the Technical Analysis Division, advised that future investigations should be limited, noting that if a sighting were truly significant, it would be corroborated by multiple witnesses. He expressed concern that excessive contact with witnesses only served to keep the topic in public discussion more than desired. Additional reports from the Dayton, Ohio area are included, involving a female civilian who observed a grayish-white spherical object near Vandalia, and a report from an employee at Patterson Field who observed a bright, silver object above Area C. These were investigated by contacting operations and weather personnel, who determined that no Air Force parachute drops or weather balloon releases occurred at the times specified. The reports were ultimately filed under Project 10073.