Project 10073 Record Card and Investigation — Chestertown, Maryland, 24 May 1957

This document details the investigation into a UFO sighting reported on the night of May 24, 1957, near Chestertown, Maryland. The primary witness was a high-level official within the Department of Defense, specifically an Assistant Secretary of the Army, who observed a series of strange, lighted objects floating in the dark, moonless sky over the Chesapeake Bay. The witness, along with his family, described the objects as a cluster of twelve to fourteen white lights arranged in an oval pattern, with red lights at either end. The objects appeared to be suspended and stationary, and the witness noted that there was no sound associated with them. Following the report, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) initiated an immediate investigation. M/Sgt Oliver D. Hill was assigned to the case and conducted interviews with the witness at the Pentagon, as well as with other family members and local residents near Wharton's Creek. The investigation included a thorough check of weather conditions and radar records, which revealed nothing unusual. However, interviews with local fishermen near a wharf provided a crucial clue: a brush fire had occurred nearby at the time of the sighting. Further inquiry with the Aberdeen Proving Ground, located northwest across the bay, confirmed that they were conducting an aerial demonstration for visiting West Point Cadets on the night of the incident. This demonstration involved the use of aircraft, flash bombs, and World War II-era parachute flares. Based on this evidence, the investigation concluded that the sighting was not an unidentified aerial phenomenon but rather the result of the military exercise at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The case was subsequently closed and categorized as 'OTHER' (flares) of an unusual nature. The documentation includes correspondence from the Assistant Secretary of Defense expressing satisfaction with the thoroughness of the Air Force's investigation and the findings provided by M/Sgt Hill.