Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report — Langley AFB, 17 August 1954

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report regarding an Unidentified Flying Object sighting that occurred on the evening of 17 August 1954 near Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The report details the observations of four primary witnesses, including a newspaperman, a local business co-owner, an NACA employee, and an Air Policeman from the 405th Air Police Squadron. The witnesses described a glowing white, spherical object that appeared to be non-solid, resembling a 'sparkler' in nature. The object was estimated to be between the size of a softball and a basketball. It was observed moving on a straight and level path from the WSW to the ENE before vanishing suddenly, described by witnesses as being similar to a light bulb being turned off. The duration of the sighting was reported to be between 3 and 10 seconds. The report notes that the weather was clear at the time of the incident. The Base Intelligence Officer, Major George W. Satterfield Jr., conducted the investigation. He noted that while two additional witnesses were mentioned in local newspaper accounts, attempts to interview them were unsuccessful. The report also lists known air traffic in the vicinity at the time, which included B-36 and B-57 aircraft, as well as other conventional aircraft from the local flying area, including naval aircraft from Oceania and the Norfolk Naval Air Station. Based on the evidence collected, the official conclusion reached by the Base Intelligence Officer was that the sighting was likely the exhaust of a jet aircraft or the tail light of a low-flying jet aircraft. The document includes a Project 10073 record card and is marked as unclassified, with instructions for downgrading at three-year intervals.