Project 10073 Record: Report of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOB) - Gray Air Force Base, Killeen, Texas

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (SAC IR 17-54) detailing a sighting of an unidentified flying object on November 14, 1954, at Gray Air Force Base in Killeen, Texas. The report was prepared by the 4001st Air Base Squadron and transmitted by Headquarters Strategic Air Command. Three military personnel—1st Lt. David C. Brown, Sgt. William E. Jones Jr., and Cpl. Andrew D. Turek—observed a single, spherical, dark brown object for approximately two and a half minutes. The witnesses, who were on duty as security guards, described the object as being roughly the size of a wash tub when observed from a distance of 250 to 300 yards. The object exhibited a near-vertical ascent, followed by a rapid movement in a southwesterly direction. The observers reported no sound, no exhaust, and no visible means of propulsion. The report notes that the witnesses were initially reluctant to report the sighting, and that the Director of Operations and Training at the base expressed skepticism regarding the 'balloon' theory, noting that the object's rapid disappearance and velocity could not be explained by existing wind conditions. A preliminary investigation by the base confirmed there were no known weather balloon releases, no similar sightings, and no unidentified radar returns on the GCA scope. One witness, who had studied astronomy for two years in college, stated that the object was unlike any celestial body he had studied. Despite these observations, the official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 form is 'POSSIBLE BALLOON'. The document includes administrative correspondence regarding the transmittal of the report to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and mentions that the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron was tasked with distributing further information sheets to the observers.