Project 10073 Record Card — Long Beach, Mississippi, 8 May 1955

This document is a Project 10073 record card detailing an unidentified aerial phenomenon sighting that occurred on May 8, 1955, near Long Beach, Mississippi. The primary witness was identified as Melvin H. La Poyne, an Airman Third Class (A/3C) assigned to the Headquarters Squadron Section of the 335th Air Base Group. The witness reported observing a formation of nine or ten dimly glowing, white, half-dollar-sized lights moving in a slowly changing arc at a high rate of speed on a straight and level course toward the south. The observation lasted approximately 15 to 20 seconds at an estimated 45-degree elevation. Weather conditions at the time were reported as having very high scattered clouds with a surface visibility of 10 miles. The report explicitly states that there were no aircraft reported in the area at the time of the sighting. The investigating personnel concluded that there was insufficient data for a definitive evaluation. They suggested that the phenomenon might have been caused by a sky reflection of lights or, alternatively, that it could have been meteor activity where the perceived positional change was an illusion. The report notes that there was no repetition of the event, which the investigators contrasted with typical searchlight activity. A notable remark included in the investigator's notes suggests that approximately 30 degrees of local UFO sightings occur within the same general geographic area, and this report represents the second sighting reported to the base by a person attending a drive-in theater.