Project 10073 Record Card — 20 March 1956 Sighting, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

This document is a Project 10073 record card detailing an unidentified aerial phenomenon sighting that occurred on March 20, 1956, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The report describes a single object observed by civilians, including a metal worker and his son, at approximately 0132Z. The witnesses described the object as a mass of brilliance, significantly brighter than a standard star, appearing white and incandescent before shifting through colors including pale red and pale orange, and eventually reverting to white. The object was observed drifting in a west-northwest direction for approximately five to ten minutes, during which time it appeared to diminish in size and brilliance. The weather conditions at the time were reported as clear and cold with visibility of 15 miles or more. The report explicitly notes that there was no radar contact made with the object. Following the investigation, the Air Technical Intelligence Center concluded that the sighting was undoubtedly caused by the planet Venus. The document includes administrative details regarding the forwarding of witness statements to the Staff Judge Advocate at Otis Air Force Base and notes that no weather balloons were in the area that could account for the sighting, with the exception of a possible Navy balloon in the vicinity of Otis AFB or a weather balloon from Nantucket that may have had a light attached.