Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report IR-2-57

On 14 November 1957, personnel at the 601st ACWRON Gunpost Radar Station in Rothwesten, Germany, reported radar sightings of three unidentified objects. The initial report, filed under Project 10073, described the objects as having high speed and high altitude, with one blip splitting into two. The targets were tracked by ground-based radar equipment (AN/MPS-11) between 1101Z and 1744Z. The observers, S/Sgt Charles L. Floeck and 1st Lt Melvin Rumstein, noted that the targets appeared on the radar scope as normal aircraft would, though their reported speeds were extremely high, ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 nautical mph, and altitudes were estimated between 60,000 and 63,000 feet.

Following the incident, an investigation was conducted by intelligence personnel and radar maintenance officers. The official evaluation, dated 3 April 1958, concluded that the targets were not 'real' objects. The radar maintenance officer determined that the unusual electronic interference observed during the sightings was caused by the antenna rotation rate and Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) relationships between the Gunpost AN/MPS-11 radar and the nearby Native Son radar station's AN/GPS-4. The report suggests that the blips were 'spurious targets' or 'rabbit tracks'—a phenomenon where radar interference manifests as a series of dots or curved/spiraling tracks on the scope. The intelligence assessment, signed by Colonel Gordon C. Hoffman, stated that the short observation time and lack of confirming data prevented positive analysis, but maintained that the sightings were examples of 'unexplained paintings' on a radar scope rather than physical aircraft. The classification of the report was eventually cancelled in 1969.