Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report — Lake Charles AFB, LA, 6 Oct 52

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (IR-162-52) concerning an unidentified aerial object sighting at Lake Charles Air Force Base, Louisiana, on October 6, 1952. The report details an incident occurring at 2120 CST, where three airmen from the 68th Periodic Maintenance unit observed a round, white object. The witnesses described the object as appearing the size of a nickel held at half-arm's length. According to the statement of facts, the object exhibited erratic behavior, including varying speeds from very fast to almost stopping, and performing three or four right-angle turns. The object was observed for approximately five minutes, moving from North to South. The witnesses noted that the object would dim in intensity and then return to a bright white light. The report explicitly states that there was no sound heard, and no physical evidence of the sighting was found. The weather conditions at the time were reported as 9500 feet scattered clouds, ten miles visibility, and a North-Northeast wind. The report includes a map (WAC 468) illustrating the flight path of the object relative to the base and the observers' location. The document also includes a teletype message (JESKH 61) sent to the Director of Intelligence at USAF Headquarters and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson AFB, which confirms the details of the sighting and notes that it occurred 20 minutes after a local balloon release. The investigating officer, 2nd Lt. Newton H. Comly, concluded that the airmen observed an unidentified object skirting the base. The report was forwarded by the Strategic Air Command on November 25, 1952, along with two other intelligence reports (IR-164-52 and IR-165-52).