Project 10073 Record Card — 7 April 1957 Sighting

On April 7, 1957, at approximately 2200Z, two officers from the 427th Air Refueling Squadron at Robins AFB, Georgia—1st Lt. Dean L. Beach and 1st Lt. John R. Cassarini—observed an unidentified aerial object. The sighting lasted for 25 minutes, during which the object was observed visually without optical aids. The witnesses described the object as having blurred edges, appearing triangular or square in shape, and being approximately one-tenth the size of a half-moon. Initially, the object appeared stationary and was twice as brilliant as the moon. Over the course of the observation, the object was seen to ascend slowly and then very rapidly, drifting about 5 degrees eastward. At one point, the object appeared orange and changed color and size rapidly. The witnesses noted that the object was not a star, planet, or weather equipment. The sky conditions were reported as very clear with slight haze. Following the incident, the report was forwarded to the Air Defense Command and the Air Technical Intelligence Center. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating agency was that the object was a radar corner reflector, typically made of aluminum foil and suspended from a balloon. The report suggests that the characteristics of the object, including its changing color and size, may have been caused by the setting sun in the west, and that the object might have been present for hours after it appeared to be out of sight. No physical evidence was recovered.