Project 10073 Record Card — North East, Pennsylvania, December 1954

This document details a UFO sighting reported by a housewife in North East, Pennsylvania, occurring on the nights of December 4 and 5, 1954. The witness, whose identity was withheld by the local newspaper, The North East Breeze, observed a bright, pulsating, disc-shaped object hovering approximately six to eight feet above the surface of Lake Erie. The object was described as orange, resembling a 'ball of fire,' and featured ports or windows along its upper and lower sides. The witness reported that the object made no sound and, after hovering, moved rapidly to the east and then west. The sighting was reported to the Air Force via the local newspaper editor, Joe Backus. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) conducted an evaluation of the report, concluding that the object was likely a reflection phenomenon. ATIC investigators suggested two primary possibilities: a reflection of a ship on Lake Erie or a reflection of a lighted observatory dome from a nearby college. The report notes that Father R.A. Bosick, an astronomer at St. Mary's College, had jokingly suggested that the object might have been attracted to his observatory's dome, which gleamed like a silver rocket in the moonlight. The official Air Force conclusion, documented in the Air Intelligence Evaluation Record, categorized the event as a 'probable reflection' and determined that no further investigation was required. The file includes the original U.S. Air Force Technical Information Sheet completed by the witness, correspondence from the 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron, and clippings from The North East Breeze detailing the local public reaction to the sighting.