Project 10073 Record Card and Naval Speedletter — St. Louis, Missouri, 14 July 1954

On the morning of 14 July 1954, at approximately 0750 CDT, a sighting of an unidentified aerial object occurred at the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. The incident was observed by approximately ten McDonnell employees, five of whom provided formal reports. The witnesses, described as reliable individuals with aeronautical experience, observed a single, pale, milky-white, irregularly rectangular object measuring approximately 15 to 18 feet. The object, which possessed a consistency likened to cotton candy or spun glass, exhibited no trail, exhaust, or sound. Its flight behavior included an approach from the East, a descent from 30 feet to the ground, a brief stop, an elevation to 4 feet, a right-angle turn to the North, and a final ascent over an 8-foot cyclone fence before disappearing into the overcast sky. The duration of the observation was between three and five minutes. Weather conditions at the time were reported as overcast with light, variable winds from the Southeast at 2 to 6 MPH. Following the event, a search of the area was conducted, but no physical fragments were recovered. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card identifies the object as 'DEBRIS IN WIND.' The report was formally documented via a Naval Speedletter by C. H. S. Murphy, addressed to the Director of Naval Intelligence and distributed to the Air Technical Intelligence Center and various Air Defense commands.