Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting of 5 January 1956, Indianapolis, Indiana

This document contains the records for a UFO sighting reported by a pilot on 5 January 1956. The witness, an employee of Brown-Bridge Mills, Inc., was flying an Aero Commander aircraft at 5,000 feet MSL between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, Indiana, when his passenger, a former Air Force pilot, drew his attention to a bright, intermittent light. The witness described the object as a circular, round light that appeared to be at his altitude and off his right wing tip. He estimated the object's speed to be 180 mph, matching his own, and noted that it flickered regularly. The witness contacted the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) radio, and while he was communicating, an airline pilot over Chicago also reported seeing the same light. The witness initially believed the object might be a flash from an aircraft used for night photography. The sighting lasted between five and ten minutes. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) investigated the report. In a letter dated 25 April 1961, Colonel Philip G. Evans informed the witness that the object was likely a mirage of the star Canopus, which was just below the horizon, and that atmospheric refraction had brought it into view in a distorted state. The document includes the original technical information sheets, correspondence between the witness and the Air Force, and meteorological data in the form of adiabatic charts used to analyze the atmospheric conditions at the time of the sighting. The witness had initially misreported the year of the sighting as 1955 but corrected it to 1956 after reviewing his flight logbook.