Project 10073 Record Card — Bradenton, Florida, 6 January 1955

This document is a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding an Unidentified Flying Object sighting that occurred on 6 January 1955 near Bradenton, Florida. At approximately 2000 hours, three airmen from the 305th Tactical Hospital Group at MacDill Air Force Base were driving north on U.S. Highway 41 when they observed an object in the sky. One of the witnesses, A/3C Keith Brakins, reported that the object appeared as a dark, black shape at an altitude estimated between 800 and 1000 feet. During the ten-second observation, the object emitted two blinding flashes and was described as being intensely bright. Brakins noted that the object was not the moon, which was visible and bright at the time, nor was it stars. He compared the illumination to a photoflash bulb or a short-circuiting high-tension line. Following the sighting, Brakins reported the incident to the Florida Highway Patrol and later provided verbal confirmation to his command. The official conclusion recorded on the project card is that the object was a 'possible meteor.' The documentation includes a formal forwarding memorandum from the Headquarters 5th District OSI (IG) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to the Air Technical Intelligence Center, confirming the details of the report.