Project 10073 Record Card — Camp Carson, Colorado, 24 December 1952

On the morning of December 24, 1952, at 0617 MST, three airmen assigned to the 3024 Air Police Squadron at Camp Carson, Colorado, observed an unidentified aerial object. The witnesses, who were located at 35th and C Streets, described the object as a silvery, circular craft approximately the size of a baseball. During the observation, which lasted between two and three minutes, the object changed its configuration to a tear-shaped appearance and emitted an intermittent white light. The object was estimated to be at an altitude of 2000 feet and approximately four miles south of the observers' position. It remained hovering in the vicinity before disappearing at a high rate of speed. The witnesses reported no propulsion system, trail, or exhaust. Weather conditions at the time were reported as clear with unlimited visibility. The incident was formally evaluated by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC). Although a piball balloon had been released in Pueblo, Colorado, two hours prior to the sighting, the report notes that ATIC had not yet cross-referenced the object against known upper air research balloon tracks. The final evaluation provided in the documentation is that the object was 'possibly balloon,' specifically suggesting it may have been a large, pear-shaped upper air research balloon equipped with a pilot light.