Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence Regarding Unconventional Aircraft Sighting in Gerald, Missouri

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding an aerial sighting reported in Gerald, Missouri, on April 23, 1951. The primary witness, an elderly retired farmer, reported observing a bright, shining object moving slowly from south to north between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. The witness noted that the object left a white trail estimated to be two miles in length. The report was forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by Robert A. Edmonson, editor of The Gerald Journal, who noted that the witness was not a publicity seeker and that the newspaper staff believed he had seen something. The Gerald Journal also mentioned a previous report from the same individual regarding a meteor or comet seen the week prior, which had streaked from east to west. The Headquarters Fifth Army, in a letter dated May 7, 1951, forwarded the information to the A-2 office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, explicitly stating that the headquarters did not intend to conduct an investigation into the matter. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 card identifies the phenomenon as aircraft contrails.