Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence — Lombard, Illinois, 21 May 1952

This document details the recovery and subsequent investigation of an object that struck a private residence in Lombard, Illinois, on 21 May 1952. At approximately 0830 hours, a spherical, transparent, glass-like object, measuring between one and one-and-a-half inches in diameter and partially coated in a black and reddish tar-like substance, impacted a steel mailbox at the home of Ed F. Marquardt. The impact caused a dent of approximately three-sixteenths of an inch in the mailbox's rounded corner. The object then ricocheted onto the porch, leaving a black mark. Four minutes later, the homeowner attempted to pick up the object but dropped it because it was too hot to hold. The object was later turned over to the Lombard Police Station and subsequently forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for analysis. Military intelligence reports from the 4706th Defense Wing noted that the object's trajectory indicated it arrived from the south-southeast at a 45-degree angle. Weather conditions at the time were reported as broken clouds with visibility limited by smoke. An investigation into nearby military activity, specifically the flight of six F-86 aircraft from O'Hare International Airport, yielded no evidence that the object originated from these aircraft, as inspections of the planes revealed no traces of tar or similar substances. The ATIC concluded that the object was a large glass marble covered in a tar-like substance. They determined that the object had not traveled at high speed for any significant distance, as high-velocity impact would have shattered the glass or penetrated the mailbox rather than simply denting it. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center was that the marble was likely thrown or slung by an unknown party. Consequently, the military determined that no further investigation was necessary, citing time and financial constraints as reasons for not conducting a more detailed energy analysis of the impact.