Project 10073 Record Card — Hopewell, Virginia, 15 October 1952

This document is a collection of reports and correspondence regarding a UFO sighting in Hopewell, Virginia, on October 15, 1952. The primary report, filed by the 771st AC&W Squadron, details a sighting by Mr. I. P. Davis, a Ground Observer Corps (GOC) spotter. Mr. Davis reported observing a rocket-shaped object with a flaming exhaust moving at a very high speed—estimated at over 1,000 miles per hour—at an altitude exceeding 20,000 feet. The object traveled horizontally from east to west and was visible for approximately five seconds. Mr. Davis, who was sitting on a sidewalk at the time, noted that the object appeared to have a dark red flame similar to that of a blast furnace. He explicitly stated his belief that the object was a guided missile, noting its absolute horizontal trajectory and lack of curvature in its flight path. The report includes a detailed observer questionnaire where Mr. Davis provides context, noting he was with two other men who did not see the object. The document also contains an Air Intelligence Information Report (IR-86-523) from the 771st AC&W Squadron, which references the original sighting report and includes the signed narrative statement of Mr. Davis. Additionally, the file contains several Hydrographic Bulletins from October 1952, which document various meteor sightings in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as a newspaper clipping from Central Ohio regarding a lighted craft sighted by an astronomy class led by Professor J. Allen Hynek. These supplementary documents appear to be part of a broader intelligence collection effort to distinguish between astronomical phenomena and unidentified aerial objects. The official conclusion for the Hopewell sighting, as noted on the Project 10073 record card, was 'Possibly Aircraft (Jet).'