Project 10073 Record Card — New York City, 14 August 1957

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated military correspondence regarding a sighting of five or six unidentified objects over New York City on 14 August 1957. The objects were observed by civilian witnesses in the vicinity of the Empire State Building and the center of Manhattan, moving in pairs in an easterly direction toward Long Island. The witnesses described the objects as having steady, bright white lights and producing a sound described as 'like loud thunder.' The objects were noted to be flying in an abreast formation. Initial reports suggested the objects were seen on radar; however, subsequent investigation by the 2500th Air Base Group at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York, concluded that there was no supporting evidence for the radar claim. Major Richard D. Ramsey, the Base Operations Officer, formally reported that radar observations were negative. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) analyzed the reports and concluded that the sighting was likely caused by aircraft. The documentation includes a series of teletype messages and a formal memorandum from Major Ramsey to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, confirming the negative radar findings and clarifying the time of the sighting. Handwritten annotations on the documents suggest skepticism regarding the report, with one note stating, 'Appears to be an "UNKNOWN" aircraft and not UFO. Unknown aircraft reported to ADC filter centers and recon units, not to ATIC.' Another annotation dismissively refers to the report as a 'Waste of govt time and money.'