Project 10073 Record Card and Sworn Statements — Kirtland AFB, 23 May 1952

On 23 May 1952, at approximately 1600 hours, a silver, circular object with a dome was sighted by personnel at the 135th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The object was observed hovering at an estimated altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the terrain, approximately 15 to 20 miles west of the base. The sighting lasted for approximately 45 minutes, during which time the object exhibited random motion and reflected sunlight intermittently. Several officers and a technical representative observed the object using binoculars and a transit telescope, though they were unable to identify it due to the distance. An airborne interception was attempted by an 'Idaho' flight, which was already on a test flight, but the aircraft was unable to make contact with the object. Radar tracking was also attempted, but no radar contact was established with the object itself, only with other aircraft in the vicinity. The witnesses, including the commanding officer of the squadron, provided sworn statements regarding the event. While some witnesses considered the possibility that the object was a piece of paper or a balloon, the commanding officer explicitly stated that he could not convince himself that the object was an airplane, a paper object, or a balloon. The report includes a map overlay and reliability assessments of the witnesses, who were generally considered highly credible. The incident was documented under Project 10073 and forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center for further evaluation. Despite the detailed visual observations, the final conclusion remained that there was insufficient data to identify the object.