Project 10073 Record Card — 14 November 1957 Sighting, Hill City, Kansas

On 14 November 1957, at 2334Z, a B-47 aircraft crew reported an unidentified aerial phenomenon while flying 20 miles northeast of Hill City, Kansas. The crew, consisting of Major William B. Taft and 1/Lt Jushua M. Hinson of the 339th Bomb Squadron, observed the object for approximately 8 to 9 minutes. They described the object as having the shape of a football with rounded ends, appearing the size of a pea, and colored metallic silver-grey. A notable feature was a brighter ring running horizontally around the oval, which the observers compared to the rings of the planet Saturn. The object was initially stationary for about four minutes, then appeared to follow another B-47 for one minute before rising vertically and disappearing. The weather conditions were reported as VFR on top of a thin stratus layer with clear skies above the aircraft. The report was forwarded by the 819th Air Division at Dyess AFB in accordance with AFR 200-2. While the aircrew insisted that the object was not a reflection of cockpit lights or a natural phenomenon, the official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the sighting was likely caused by the planet Venus. This conclusion was supported by reports from ground observers at Dyess AFB who noted that Venus was quite bright on the horizon at the time of the incident, and the position of the observers' aircraft relative to the planet could have created the visual effect.