Declassified UFO / UAP Document
Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report — Great Falls, Virginia, 13 October 1957
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AI-Generated Summary
This document details a 1957 UFO sighting in Great Falls, Virginia, by two witnesses. The Air Force concluded there was insufficient data, though internal notes suggest the object was likely a Navy aircraft.
This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (Report No. 5-57) concerning an Unidentified Flying Object sighting that occurred on 13 October 1957 near Great Falls, Virginia. The report includes a Project 10073 record card and a supplement to AF Form 112. Two witnesses, a 24-year-old male and a 19-year-old female, reported observing a single, round, black object while they were attempting to locate the Sputnik satellite. The object was described as being the size of a pinhead at arm's length and was observed moving on a true course of 007 degrees for approximately five to six seconds before it was obscured by trees. The weather at the time was reported as mostly cloudy with 10/10 cloud cover at 5,000 feet. The report was prepared by Major James E. Geurtz of the Headquarters Command, USAF. The official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that there was insufficient data for a definitive evaluation. However, the document contains handwritten annotations from an evaluating officer who expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the report. This officer suggested that the object was likely an aircraft, pointing out that the observers were located near a Naval Air Station and that Navy aircraft are frequently painted black or blue-black. The report was distributed to the Air Defense Command at Ent AFB and the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson AFB.
This is not a good report from an intelligence viewpoint.
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Official Assessment
Insufficient data for evaluation.
The object was observed by two witnesses near Great Falls, Virginia, on 13 October 1957. The observers were attempting to locate Sputnik when they spotted a black object moving on a course of 007 degrees. The object was lost from view behind trees after five to six seconds. An evaluating officer noted that the report was not a good report from an intelligence viewpoint and suggested the object might have been an aircraft, noting that observers were located near a Naval Air Station and that Navy planes are often painted black or blue-black.
Witnesses
Key Persons
- James E. GeurtzMajor, USAF, Asst for Plans and Intelligence