AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT - Project 10073 Record

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report regarding a sighting of an unidentified flying object at Santa Maria Airport in the Azores on September 21, 1954. The primary witness was a civilian guard at the airport who reported that a cigar-shaped, light metallic blue object, approximately 10 feet long and 5 feet high, landed near his post. The object featured an orange light in the nose, four poles, and a plexi-glass front section. The guard observed a blond man, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, exit the craft and approach him, attempting to speak in a language the guard did not understand. The guard, described by the Airport Director as a reliable worker with no prior record, was reportedly too frightened to interact with the individual. The object subsequently took off, rising at a slight angle before leveling off and departing. The report includes details of a secondary, related sighting by a Pan American Airways employee on the opposite side of the island, who observed strange white lights. Additionally, the document references a local newspaper article from October 1954 describing a similar sighting by a pilot of a DC-4, who observed an area of abnormal brilliance while flying near the Azores. The reporting officer, 1st Lt. Robert D. Gammell, conducted multiple interviews with the guard and concluded that the account remained consistent. Despite the guard's own skepticism, the incident remained officially classified as unidentified.