Project 10073 Record Card — Pinecastle AFB, Florida, 7 August 1952

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (IR-51-52) concerning an unidentified aerial object observed on 7 August 1952 at Pinecastle Air Force Base, Orlando, Florida. The report, authored by WOJG Bartow F. King and approved by Major Q. F. Martorelli, details a sighting that occurred at 0956 hours. The witness, a civilian and airman, observed a single solid silver ball moving north-northwest at a slow rate of speed. The object then accelerated rapidly and ascended at an estimated 45-degree angle before disappearing from sight. The observer noted no audible sound or visible exhaust. The report indicates that the weather conditions at the time were CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited) with scattered cumulus clouds. No interceptions were made, and no photographs were taken. Although aircraft from the base were flying in the area, no other reports of unidentified objects were received from pilots. The report explicitly notes that no aircraft from Macdill Air Force Base, Patrick Air Force Base, or Sanford Naval Air Station were reported in the area at the time of the sighting. The official conclusion provided in the record card and the intelligence report is that the object was a weather balloon released at 0600 EST from Sanford Naval Air Station. The document includes a detailed observer questionnaire where the witness describes the object as a 'hard baseball-league size' sphere and notes that they were returning to their car at the time of the observation. The witness also mentions that four others in a hangar saw the same object at the same time. The report is classified as part of the Project 10073 records, which were associated with the Air Force's broader investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena.