Project 10073 Record Cards and Correspondence Regarding U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot Sightings

This document collection contains official reports and record cards regarding Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings at the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot in Crane, Indiana, during October 1956. The primary incident occurred on 11 October 1956, when an 18-year-old youth reported a large, glowing red or amber object, approximately 40 feet in diameter, hovering 75 to 100 feet above the ground. The witness observed the object for 30 seconds before it moved across the depot at a speed comparable to a shooting star. The report notes that no aircraft were in the vicinity and no radar contacts were made. Investigators from the depot, including the Criminal Investigator, noted that the witness's father had also reported a UFO less than a month prior, leading to the conclusion that the sighting might have been a conventional object or light, exaggerated by the youth's suggestibility and his father's prior reports. A subsequent series of sightings occurred on 27 October 1956, involving multiple witnesses, including security guards and a police chief. These witnesses described a luminous object that changed colors like a prism. Following an investigation, these reports were officially attributed to the planet Mars. The final assessment by the depot's legal officer suggested that the descriptions were consistent with celestial bodies, and that atmospheric conditions, specifically a sudden cold snap causing supersaturation and condensation around dust particles, may have increased the brilliance and twinkling effect of these objects. The documents include transmittal letters from the 2466th Air Reserve Flying Center at Bakalar Air Force Base to the Air Defense Command, confirming that these reports were handled in accordance with Air Force Regulation 200-2.