Project 10073 Record Card — Buffalo, New York, 28 August 1956

On 28 August 1956, at 0500Z, a civilian witness in Buffalo, New York, reported observing an unidentified aerial object. The witness described the object as a round, orange, basketball-sized entity that appeared to emit fiery gas from its bottom. When viewed with the naked eye, the object resembled an ordinary star, but through binoculars, the witness claimed to observe a small crater. The object was sighted at a very high altitude and was observed moving in a north-westerly direction for approximately one hour and thirty minutes before fading out of sight. The report was processed by the 763rd ACWRON at Lockport Air Force Station and forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) under the provisions of AFR 200-2. The investigating officer, 2nd Lt Beryl N. Stokes, noted that the witness was initially confused and provided contradictory information regarding the object's azimuth. However, after consulting with others, the witness concluded that the object was the planet Mars. The official conclusion of the report concurs with this assessment, identifying the planet Mars as the cause of the sighting.