Project 10073 Record Card and Incident Report — Gulf of Mexico, 6 December 1952

On December 6, 1952, a B-29 bomber piloted by Captain John Harter was flying over the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 190 miles from Galveston and 100 miles south of the Louisiana coast. At 2325 CST, while cruising at 18,000 feet in bright moonlight, the crew observed a series of unidentified aerial objects. The radar officer, Lieutenant Sid Coleman, detected 25 targets on the radar scope over a 10-minute period. The objects were estimated to be 25 miles from the aircraft, moving at high speeds on an approximate 120-degree heading. The crew reported seeing bluish-white flashes of light. The objects were described as moving very fast in a straight line, swerving, and at one point, merging into a large, half-inch curved arc on the radar scope before accelerating and disappearing. The crew, including the flight engineer, navigator, and gunners, confirmed the sightings both visually and via radar. The weather was reported as clear with no wind and excellent visibility. Despite the crew's extensive experience and the radar equipment functioning correctly, no interception was attempted. The incident was documented under Project 10073. Subsequent evaluations by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) concluded that the sighting remained 'Unknown' after checking for all known aerial phenomena. The report emphasizes the crew's firm conviction regarding the reality of the objects, noting that they were not a malfunction or optical illusion. Later correspondence in 1961 confirmed that the object tracked by radar on this date remained classified as unidentified in the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center files.