Project 10073 Record Card — Clayton, Alabama, 21 June 1954

This document is a Project 10073 record card and accompanying OSI report detailing a sighting of an unidentified aerial phenomenon on June 21, 1954, in Clayton, Alabama. The witness, Mr. Edward C. Ventress, a local hardware merchant and outgoing president of the Rotary Club, observed the object while standing on a lawn in front of the Rotary Club at approximately 2045 hours. Ventress described the object as cigar-shaped, resembling the wings of an airplane but lacking a tail, and noted it had the brilliance of a 'bunch of stars.' The object traveled from the southeast to the northwest at an elevation of 45 degrees. During the 30-second observation, the object made a sharp left turn before the witness lost sight of it behind a tree. Ventress reported that the object did not change in brilliance and made no sound. He was subsequently interviewed on June 22, 1954, at a Sherwin-Williams Paint Store in Montgomery, Alabama, by Special Agents Carl Langlois and Donald T. Scaff of the 8th District OSI. The agents noted that Ventress appeared to be a very stable individual, though he was initially hesitant to report the sighting due to the fear of being ridiculed. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center was that the object was a very brilliant meteorite, with a possible association to a similar sighting in Savannah, Georgia, on the same date. The report includes detailed weather data for the time of the sighting, confirming clear, dark conditions.