Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting Report - Montgomery, Alabama, 29 August 1956

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated military teletype communications regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on 29 August 1956 in Montgomery, Alabama. The sighting was reported by personnel from GOC Detachment 12, 4674th GOS, including Sergeant Glenn H. Blocher, Staff Sergeant Henry Lewis, and a civilian observer. The witnesses described a round, white object that appeared larger than any star or planet. The object reportedly changed shape and emitted points of reddish light, which the observers compared to a jet exhaust. The object was tracked visually and through binoculars for approximately four hours, moving from the southeast to the east. It was noted that the object disappeared and reappeared in the same location, eventually vanishing 'as if a light switch had been turned off.' The military investigation, conducted by the 35th Air Division and evaluated by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), concluded that the sighting was likely an astronomical phenomenon, specifically the planet Mars. The report notes that the object's characteristics aligned with the Mars hypothesis. However, investigators also considered a terrestrial explanation, suggesting that because Maxwell Air Force Base is located six miles east of the observers and the weather conditions included scattered clouds, the object might have been a ceiling light from the base's weather station being diffused by the cloud cover. The documentation includes the original record card and the subsequent teletype report sent to the Air Defense Command and other relevant military headquarters.