Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting near Cheyenne, Wyoming, 26 August 1956

This document is a Project 10073 record card and accompanying investigative memorandum concerning a UFO sighting reported on 26 August 1956 near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The primary witness, a 16-year-old student, observed a round, silver object, approximately 15 feet in diameter, moving at a high rate of speed from the southeast to the northwest. The object appeared smooth with no visible protrusions, trails, or exhaust. The sighting lasted approximately five to six seconds before the object disappeared behind a hill. The witness reported that as the object passed over an abandoned car body, a puff of smoke appeared to emerge from the vehicle. Upon inspection, the witness and his father discovered that the rear window of the car was completely shattered, with fracture lines forming small squares and rectangles approximately one-fourth of an inch in size. There was no evidence of heat on the car body or the window. The investigation included consultations with the U.S. Weather Bureau and the Cheyenne Airport control tower. Mr. Howard Erickson of the Weather Bureau stated that there were no meteorological or astronomical conditions that could account for the sighting, and Mr. William B. Olson of the airport control tower confirmed that no aircraft capable of creating a sonic boom were in the area. Despite the witness's firm belief that the object was a 'flying saucer' from outer space, the official conclusion of the investigation was that the object was a meteor and that it was not responsible for the damage to the car window. The report includes eight photographs of the damaged vehicle.