Project 10073 Record Card — Oakton, Virginia, 11 April 1957

This document is a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported on April 11, 1957, in Oakton, Virginia. The sighting involved two white objects that were initially observed by an eleven-year-old boy. The objects were described as saucer-shaped and brilliant white. According to the report, the objects appeared to hover as if attempting to land in an open field between the towns of Vienna and Fairfax, Virginia. Subsequently, the objects moved in an erratic flight path at an extreme rate of speed toward Fairfax before disappearing to the northeast in the direction of Washington, D.C. The duration of the observation was reported as several minutes. The incident was reported to authorities by Colonel W. L. Stanton of the Civil Air Patrol. Following the report, an investigation was conducted by flight 3-D. The official conclusion reached by the investigation was that the sighting was not an unidentified phenomenon, but rather a General Mills-owned DC-3 aircraft. The aircraft was reportedly in the air conducting an experiment involving two new high-intensity collision lights, which the investigators determined were the cause of the sighting. The report notes that air traffic was usually heavy in the vicinity of the sighting. The document includes technical details regarding the sighting, such as the estimated altitude of 18,000 feet at the time of disappearance and the weather conditions, which were described as clear and hazy with a bright moon. The report is classified as unclassified and was processed through the Directorate of Intelligence at HQ USAF.