Project 10073 Record Card — Ashford, Kent, England, 20 September 1956

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated report regarding two separate sightings of unidentified flying objects reported to the Control Tower at Manston Air Force Base in England on the night of September 20, 1956. The first report was received at 1900 local time from a civilian woman in Kent, who described seeing a bright object in the sky 15 miles southwest of Ashford. A second report was received at 2350 local time from a Sergeant in Rochester, Kent, who reported observing an object in the sky at 1840 and 1940 local time near Gillingham, Kent. The witness described the object as moving in a southeasterly direction before changing to a south-southeasterly heading. Both reports were forwarded to the Flight Service at the base, which subsequently passed the information to the RAF Liaison Officer at Oxbridge. The Liaison Officer suggested that the objects might have been cosmic ray balloons. The investigating officer noted that the information was obtained four days after the events occurred and that no further details could be gathered from the tower operator. The addresses of the witnesses remained unknown, and the final evaluation of the incident was categorized as having insufficient data for a definitive conclusion.