Project 10073 Record Card — 17 Mi S of Minot, North Dakota, 30 November 1957

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and an associated military teletype report regarding an unidentified radar contact observed on 30 November 1957, near Minot, North Dakota. The sighting involved a single radar return, described as a one-inch blip on an HRI (Height Range Indicator) FPS-6 radar scope. The object was observed to climb from an altitude of 5,000 feet to 25,000 feet and travel 100 miles in a straight line over a duration of 20 seconds. The report was filed by the 786th ACW Squadron. The witness, A/2C Charles A. Wagner, was a radar maintenance technician with five months of experience. Following an investigation, it was determined that the radar equipment was under the control of maintenance personnel at the time of the incident. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center was that the radar return was likely a false target caused by equipment malfunction or testing, rather than an actual aerial object. The report highlights that the equipment may not have been in perfect adjustment and that the antenna might not have been rotating, as the azimuth of the target remained constant throughout the observation. It is noted that regular operating personnel might have been more reliable observers than the maintenance staff involved.