Project 10073 Record Card — Greensboro, North Carolina, 15 December 1952

This document is a collection of reports and records concerning two sightings of unidentified flying objects on 15 December 1952, involving pilots from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group based at Shaw Air Force Base. The first sighting occurred near Hartsville, South Carolina, at 0915 EST, where an RF-80 pilot observed a circular, silver, spherical object with two projections on top. The object was seen for approximately 10 to 15 seconds, oscillating and changing altitude. A second sighting occurred 10 minutes later near Greensboro, North Carolina, involving another pilot who observed a similar object. The reports include detailed statements from Major Ruffin W. Gray and 1/Lt. Robert H. Williams, who provided descriptions and diagrams of the objects. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) investigated the possibility that the two sightings were of the same object, but concluded that the distance between the two locations (115 miles) would have required a ground speed of 690 mph, which was deemed unlikely for a jet aircraft given the prevailing wind conditions. The official conclusion reached by the investigators was that both sightings were likely separate weather balloon flights, noting that the timing of the sightings coincided with scheduled rawinsonde weather balloon releases in the respective areas. The document includes operational immediate messages, record cards, and aeronautical charts used to analyze the flight paths and weather conditions. The reports were ultimately downgraded and declassified, with the final evaluation stating that there was no connection between the two incidents and that both were likely weather balloons.