Project 10073 Record: Unidentified Flying Object over Delaware

This document is a collection of intelligence reports and witness statements regarding unidentified aerial phenomena observed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, on the nights of February 26 and 28, 1953. Multiple military personnel, including tower operators and airmen, reported seeing a single light in the western sky. Witnesses described the object as having indeterminate shape and size, exhibiting alternating colors—specifically red, white, yellow, and green—and appearing to move slowly from west to northwest before fading from view. The reports consistently note the absence of sound, smoke, or vapor.

Several witnesses, including A/2C Karl A. Helgeson, A/1C Richard C. Taylor, and T/Sgt Harold A. Bracken, provided formal statements detailing their observations. These accounts describe the object as being approximately 20 degrees above the horizon. On the night of February 28, one witness reported that the object swerved by approximately 15 degrees in less than five seconds before returning to its original course. Despite the reports, attempts to intercept the object were unsuccessful; the 770th AC&W Squadron and the 26th Air Division were contacted, but no scramble was ordered because the object was observed to be fading or disappearing.

The intelligence reports, prepared by Major P. K. Mead of the Intelligence Division at Westover Air Force Base, characterize the observers as reliable and not prone to exaggeration. Weather conditions at the time were reported as clear with good visibility. Ultimately, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) consulted a contract astronomer, who concluded that the sightings were caused by the planet Venus, which was visible in that direction during that time of year. The document includes various administrative records, including teletype messages and formal statements from the involved personnel, documenting the military's internal assessment process for these sightings.