Project 10073 Record Card — Joplin, Missouri, 8 November 1957

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype communications regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon reported in Joplin, Missouri, on 8 November 1957. The witness, identified as Tylor, reported observing a round object, approximately four times the size of a basketball, displaying a bright white light and an intermittently trailing red flame. The object was observed for one and a half hours, moving from the southeast to the northwest. The report was prepared by 1st Lt. Jack L. Breid and T/Sgt. Donald E. Vance of the Joplin Filter Center. While the initial conclusion on the record card suggested the object was possibly the planet Jupiter, the internal teletype notes provide a critical rebuttal to this assessment. The investigators explicitly noted that Jupiter does not trail a flame and was not positioned in that part of the sky at the time of the observation. Furthermore, the object's movement from southeast to northwest was noted as evidence against it being a balloon. The documentation includes technical details such as wind conditions at various altitudes and the specific involvement of the 797th ACWRON and the Joplin Filter Center. Despite the official 'Possibly astro (Jupiter)' classification on the record card, the supplementary notes highlight the investigative conflict regarding the object's true nature.