Project 10073 Record Card — Stockton, California, 22 May 1952

On 22 May 1952, at approximately 1240 hours, a group of eight individuals at the Stockton Naval Supply Station in Stockton, California, observed a stationary, bright silver, rectangular object in the sky. The object was estimated to be at an altitude of 30,000 feet. One of the witnesses, Mr. Edward Pickering, a civilian employee and Army Reserve captain, used an artillery surveying instrument to determine the object's position, recording a horizontal azimuth of 350 degrees and a vertical angle of 85 degrees. The object remained visible for approximately 25 minutes before fading from sight. The incident was reported to Major Robert L. Stimpson of the 49th Infantry Division, California National Guard. An investigation was subsequently initiated by the 19th District Office of Special Investigations (OSI) at Travis Air Force Base. During the investigation, it was noted that radar at 8,000 feet picked up an object at 1300 PDT, but an interception attempt was negative. The Stockton Interstate Air Weather Station reported no scheduled balloon launches in the area at the time of the sighting. Despite the lack of a confirmed balloon launch, the witnesses, including Mr. Pickering, concluded that the object was a weather balloon, citing its appearance and behavior as similar to balloons they had previously observed. The Office of Special Investigations concluded that no further action was required and closed the file on the matter, noting that the disclosure of classified information was prohibited under AFR 205-1.