Findings of Unconventional Airborne Objects, San Diego, California, March to June 1952

This document is an intelligence report from the 18th District Office of Special Investigations, dated July 11, 1952, regarding findings of unconventional airborne objects in the San Diego area between March and June 1952. The report centers on a voluntary organization known as the 'Flying Saucer Sighting Club,' founded by an aeronautical engineer employed at the Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation. The club members, residing in various points around San Diego, established a system to alert one another upon sighting an unidentified object to facilitate triangulation and tracking. The primary witness, whose name is redacted, submitted various sketches and mathematical computations to the Air Force regarding sightings on March 2, May 9, May 13, May 21, and June 14, 1952. The report includes a specific record card for a March 2, 1952, sighting, which describes a green, ball-shaped object observed at 1930 PST. The witness, who was driving at the time, described the object as having a sharp outline, flickering light, and no trail, estimating its altitude at 21,000 feet and its diameter at approximately 346.5 feet. The witness explicitly stated his belief that the object was not a meteor and that the explanation lay outside current knowledge. Despite these detailed personal computations, the official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card is simply 'Meteor.' The document also includes a newspaper clipping from the San Diego Union, dated March 4, 1952, which reports that hundreds of residents saw a 'green fireball' and that local experts, including a professor from State College and the secretary of the San Diego Astrophysical Society, tentatively identified the phenomenon as a large meteor. The Air Force concluded that no further action was required, though they noted that future reports from the witness would be accepted for evaluation.