Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — December 1956 Sighting

This document contains a collection of records, correspondence, and teletype reports regarding an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sighting that occurred on December 18, 1956. The primary incident involved a witness driving on Route 24 near Long Valley, New Jersey, who observed a large, brilliant flying object at approximately 7:30 PM. The witness described the object as having a symmetrical shape with a long streamer, colored brilliant bluish-green at the front and transitioning to greenish-yellow and orange at the rear. The object moved in a steady, horizontal path from southwest to northeast before breaking into several smaller pieces and disappearing suddenly. The witness, a 55-year-old driver, noted that the object was visible for approximately 15 seconds through his car windshield and appeared to be many miles away. A second observer, identified as a CAA control tower operator at New Castle County Airport in Wilmington, Delaware, also reported the sighting. The official military evaluation, conducted by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) under Project 10073, concluded that the sighting was likely caused by a large meteor. The documentation includes a Project 10073 Record Card, teletype messages between various military units including the 645th ACWRON and the Air Technical Intelligence Center, and a formal letter from the Air Technical Intelligence Center to the primary witness dated December 28, 1956. The letter acknowledges the report and requests that the witness complete a U.S. Air Force Technical Information Sheet to assist in further analysis. The records consistently categorize the event as a meteor, noting the lack of sound, the steady flight path, and the eventual disintegration of the object as characteristic of such phenomena. The documentation provides a detailed look at the administrative process for handling civilian UAP reports during the mid-1950s, emphasizing the collection of witness testimony and the subsequent evaluation by intelligence officers.