Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting near Las Vegas, Nevada, 17 August 1955

On August 17, 1955, a 51-year-old female elementary school teacher reported a sighting of an unidentified aerial object while driving on a highway northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. The incident, which lasted between one and a half to two hours from night until dawn, involved a pear-shaped object described as resembling an electric light bulb emitting an intense blue or bluish-white light. The witness reported that the object suddenly appeared in front of her car, hovered, and moved in such a way that it appeared on all sides of her vehicle at various times. She expressed a belief that the object was interested in capturing her and her car. The object eventually departed as dawn approached, disappearing behind a mountain range to the east. The report was processed under Project 10073 and in compliance with Air Force Regulation 200-2. Major Curvin E. Miller Jr., the Wing Intelligence Officer, conducted an evaluation of the witness. While he noted that the observer appeared sincere and intelligent, he also highlighted the possibility of paranoiac symptoms and deemed her reliability unknown. Consequently, the official conclusion reached by the investigating authorities was to ascribe the report to the psychological causes of the witness rather than an external physical phenomenon. No radar contact was made, and no photographic evidence was obtained.