Project 10073 Record Card and Associated UFOB Reports — December 1957

This document is a collection of Project 10073 record cards and associated teletype reports concerning a series of sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena across the Northeastern United States between December 5 and December 7, 1957. The reports originate from various military units, including the 771st ACWRON, 773rd ACWRON, and the 551st AEW&C Wing, as well as civilian observers. The sightings describe a bright, often round or elongated object, frequently reported as white, blue, or green, with a burning or sparky tail. The duration of these sightings varied significantly, ranging from a few seconds to nearly a minute. Many reports note the object's movement as straight and relatively slow, though some observers estimated speeds as high as 1500-2000 MPH. The reports were routed to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) and the Air Defense Command for evaluation. Throughout the documentation, investigators consistently annotated the reports with conclusions identifying the phenomena as astronomical in nature, specifically referencing the Geminids meteor shower. Several reports include handwritten notes from investigators questioning the reliability of specific civilian observers, particularly those who provided extreme size estimates, such as claiming the object was three to four times the size of a C-54 aircraft. These notes emphasize that such claims were inconsistent with the observations of others and would have been visible across a much wider area if true. The document provides a clear view of the military's process for handling mass-sighting events, where multiple reports are aggregated, analyzed for common characteristics, and ultimately categorized as natural phenomena.