Project 10073 Record Card — Vega, Texas, 29 December 1952

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report regarding an unidentified aerial object sighting on 29 December 1952, near Vega, Texas. The report details an incident involving two USAF Captains, Herbert T. Lange and William T. Bowley, who were flying a B-26 aircraft on a routine night navigation flight from Perrin Air Force Base to Tucumcari, New Mexico. At approximately 2105 CST, while flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet, the pilots observed a bright, blue-white light with a greenish tint. The object was estimated to be three times the size of a C-54 aircraft and was observed for approximately ten minutes. The pilots reported that the object maintained a horizontal flight path before performing a rapid vertical climb, ascending from 7,000 feet to 13,000 feet in approximately five seconds. The object exhibited no visible exhaust or trail and made no sound. The pilots contacted the CAA operator at Tucumcari to report the sighting, but the operator was unable to confirm the object on their equipment. The weather conditions were reported as clear with visibility of fifty miles. Both officers, who had nearly ten years of military service and significant flight experience, were considered reliable. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card identifies the object as 'Possibly Astronomical,' with handwritten annotations specifically identifying the object as the planet Venus, noting its position on the horizon at 250 degrees. The report includes formal statements from both Captain Bowley and Captain Lange, confirming the details of the observation.