Project 10073 Record Card — New Bedford, Massachusetts, 28 January 1956

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype reports regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed over New Bedford, Massachusetts, on January 28, 1956. At 2226Z, a civilian witness, identified as a 34-year-old spray painter, reported observing a single elliptical object. The witness described the object as being twice the size of a 100-foot water tower. Initially red, the object reportedly changed to a very white color during the two-and-a-half-minute observation. The witness noted that the object traveled from the west to the northeast, appearing to pace a contrail, before disappearing into cloud cover. The report explicitly mentions that contrails were observed 15,000 feet below the object. The sighting was reported to the 762nd ACW Squadron at North Truro, Massachusetts, and subsequently processed through military intelligence channels, including the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating authorities was that the sighting was likely an aircraft, citing the presence of contrails as the primary indicator. The report includes administrative details, such as the witness's reliability being listed as unknown by S/Sgt Lovejoy of Detachment 4, 4673rd GOC, and confirms that no photographs were taken and no radar contact was made during the incident.