Project 10073 Record Card — Lake Erie, 25 July 1954

This document details an investigation into an unidentified object sighting reported on July 25, 1954, on Lake Erie. A witness, whose name is redacted, reported observing a black, cylindrical object approximately 20 feet long and 20 inches in diameter traveling at a high rate of speed on the surface of the water. The object reportedly passed 50 feet behind the witness's boat. The incident was initially reported to the Erie Ordnance Depot on July 26, 1954, and subsequently investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Air Force. The investigation involved interviews with personnel at the Erie Ordnance Depot and the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Marblehead, Ohio. Robert Hauser, Assistant Chief Range Operations Officer at the Erie Ordnance Depot, stated that their targets do not travel on the water's surface and that he had never seen an object matching the description. Similarly, Lieutenant D. M. King of the 68th AAA Detachment noted that their radio-controlled targets are propeller-driven and would sink upon hitting the water, and that no targets were unaccounted for at the time of the sighting. The U.S. Coast Guard also confirmed they had no reports of such an object and noted that weather conditions on the day of the sighting were clear with low winds. The investigation concluded that the report was negative, with no identification of the object achieved. The document includes a Project 10073 record card, a cover memo from the Department of the Air Force, and the detailed FBI report of the investigation.