Project 10073 Record Card and UFOB Report IR-6-57 — Lake City AFS, Tennessee, 12 December 1957

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and an associated operations intelligence report (IR-6-57) regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on 12 December 1957 near Lake City AFS, Tennessee. The object was detected by an AN/FPS-10 radar system and tracked for 41 minutes. According to the report, the object was estimated to be the size of three B-47 aircraft flying in close formation. It was observed descending from an altitude of 13,000 feet to 11,000 feet at the point of fade, with an estimated speed of 90 knots. The report notes that the object exhibited no maneuvers and maintained a heading of SW/WSW. The weather conditions at the time were described as windy with occasional snow flurries. The reporting officer, 1st Lt. E. Horton of the 663rd ACWRON, suggested the object was likely a balloon. However, the official assessment included in the document highlights significant inconsistencies in the data, specifically noting that the radar range of the target was not provided. Furthermore, the report points out that at a speed of 90 knots, the object should have moved out of radar range well before the 41-minute observation period concluded. Because the object moved in the direction of the wind, the possibility of it being a balloon was considered, but the report concludes that neither a balloon nor an unidentified aircraft could be ruled out completely due to the missing radar range data.