Project 10073 Record Card — Rhinelander, Wisconsin, 19 January 1957

This document is a Project 10073 record card detailing an unidentified aerial phenomenon sighting that occurred on January 19, 1957, in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The report is based on the testimony of a civilian night watchman who observed a single, round, white object, estimated to be the size of a basketball. The object was seen heading south at an elevation of approximately 20 degrees above the horizon. The duration of the sighting was recorded as 15 to 20 seconds. The report explicitly notes that there were no photographs taken and no radar contact made during the event. The official assessment provided on the card states that there is insufficient pertinent or supporting data to form a definitive conclusion. While the investigators noted that the object could potentially have been a meteor based on the duration of the sighting, they qualified this by stating there was no information regarding the object's speed to confirm such a classification. The document includes handwritten annotations on subsequent pages, which appear to be internal notes or queries regarding the sighting, including references to wind conditions and the possibility of the object being a weather balloon or aircraft navigation lights, though these remain speculative. The record card concludes that the data is insufficient for evaluation.