Project 10073 Record Card — Wadena, Minnesota, 4 January 1957

This document details a UFO sighting report filed by the 739th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in Wadena, Minnesota, on January 4, 1957. The primary witness, a caretaker at the Shady Lanes Rest Home, reported observing a multi-colored, X-shaped object resembling a child's jack for approximately 20 minutes. The witness described the object as having luminous balls on its ends, exhibiting a yawing motion, and emitting a humming sound. The object was observed using 7x50 binoculars and eventually disappeared to the East. The report was investigated by 1st Lt. Ivan R. Weiss, who noted that the object appeared to revolve. The 739th ACW Squadron attempted to track the object via radar but reported no detection. Subsequent inquiries were made to Wessons Balloon Research, General Mills Inc., and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to determine if any balloons or aircraft were in the vicinity; all these inquiries returned negative results. The official conclusion reached by the Director of Intelligence for the 31st Air Division was that the sighting was, in all probability, a star of unusual brightness and size, despite the witness's detailed description of physical characteristics and movement. The file includes correspondence between the 739th ACW Squadron and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) regarding the submission of the report, as well as a standardized Project 10073 record card summarizing the incident details.