Project 10073 Record Card — Milan, Missouri, 14 February 1955

This document details a UFO sighting report filed by the 790th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (ADC) at Kirksville Air Force Station, Missouri. On February 14, 1955, at approximately 1715 CST, two civilian witnesses were driving north on State Highway 5, five miles north of Milan, Missouri. One witness observed a metallic, disc-shaped object, estimated to be 100 feet in diameter and 12 feet thick, hovering at an altitude of 500 feet. The object was described as reflecting sunlight. The primary witness alerted their companion, who only caught a brief glance and could not provide a detailed description. The sighting lasted approximately five seconds. The report notes that the witness later contacted the editor of the Green City Paper to report the incident, and the investigating officer, Captain Lawrence B. Watson, was subsequently contacted by a Mr. Elmer Morris. The investigating team concluded that the object was likely a weather balloon released in the area, a finding with which the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) concurred. Captain Watson noted that the brevity of the sighting and the delay in reporting made further investigation impractical, though he also suggested that a helicopter could have potentially caused the sighting.