Incident Report: Sighting of Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, Reno, Nevada, 3 July 1953

On 3 July 1953, two civilians in Reno, Nevada, observed a stationary, metallic white, circular object in the sky for approximately two hours. The primary observer, a former meteorologist and radio operator with 15 years of experience in airline work, first noticed the object at 11:45 AM while sitting on a lawn at 9th and Lake Streets. He initially suspected it might be a weather balloon but ruled this out due to the object's appearance and the lack of movement. The observers attempted to report the sighting to local police, the sheriff's office, and the FBI, but encountered significant difficulty in finding an authority willing to investigate or verify the object while it was still visible. Eventually, the primary observer contacted Stead Air Force Base and spoke with several officers, including a Colonel Worth, who requested that he obtain a disinterested third party to verify the sighting. The observer then stopped a passing motorist, who identified himself as a professor of geology at the University of Nevada, to confirm the observation. Following this, two sergeants from the Air Force visited the observers at their motel for a debriefing. The report notes that the observers were considered reliable. The object was estimated to be at an altitude of 20,000 to 30,000 feet, with no sound, trail, or exhaust observed. The Air Force intelligence report, authored by Lt. Col. Robert E. Work, concludes that the sighting was caused by the planet Venus, a finding supported by Project Blue Book's contract astronomers. The document highlights the frustration of the observers regarding the lack of interest from military authorities during the active phase of the sighting.