Project 10073 Record Card — Towner, North Dakota, 5 November 1957

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported in Towner, North Dakota, on November 5, 1957. The witness, identified as a cattle trucker and a gas station operator, described observing a saucer-shaped object, approximately the size of a basketball, which appeared reddish at first and later turned red and blue. The object was reported to be traveling at a very high speed and emitting a very bright light while positioned high in the southwest. The report notes that the object moved from the southwest toward the west, decreasing in altitude. The military investigation, conducted by the 786th ACWRON and reviewed by the Air Technical Intelligence Center, concluded that the description of the object was consistent with the planet Venus. The investigators noted a discrepancy in the reported time of the sighting, stating that astronomical charts placed Venus in that position approximately one hour earlier than the time reported by the witnesses. The document includes weather data and internal military routing information, noting that the report was forwarded to the Air Defense Command and the Director of Intelligence at Headquarters USAF. A brief mention is made by a 1st Lieutenant on duty that the sighting might have been a Russian earth satellite, though the final conclusion remained that the description was characteristic of Venus.