Project 10073 Record — Louisville, Kentucky, 12 November 1954

This document collection details the investigation into a series of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sightings reported in Kentucky and Tennessee in November 1954. The primary incident occurred on 12 November 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky, where a round, gleaming white object was observed for three hours. The object reportedly changed color from white to yellow and then red before fading. Following public interest and media inquiries, the Air Force conducted an investigation. Major C. Williams of the Armored School at Fort Knox was approached by a reporter from the Louisville Courier Journal and subsequently consulted with the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron (AISS) regarding official policy on releasing information about UAP sightings. It was determined that the object was a high-altitude research balloon. Further investigation by T/Sgt. Albert W. Drepperd of ATIC linked this sighting to other reports in the region, including one in Knoxville, Tennessee, where a physicist from Oak Ridge National Laboratories observed a transparent, round object at high altitude. Through coordination with the Office of Naval Research and the University of Minnesota, it was established that the General Mills Corporation had launched experimental plastic balloons from the University of Minnesota on 12 and 13 November 1954. These balloons, which were significantly larger than standard weather balloons, were part of an atmospheric research program conducted for the Air Force and Navy. The Air Force concluded that the sightings in Louisville, Knoxville, and Brandenburg, Kentucky, were all likely attributable to these experimental balloons. The documentation includes internal correspondence, a joint message form, and a formal letter from T/Sgt. Drepperd to the witness in Knoxville confirming the identification of the object as a high-altitude research balloon.