Project 10073 Record Card and Associated Correspondence — Sea of Okhotsk Sighting, 22 January 1958

This document collection details a UFO sighting reported by an RB-50 crew on 22 January 1958, near the Sea of Okhotsk at coordinates 57 10N 140 35E. The crew observed a brilliant blue-green object with a matching trail, which appeared to descend near the aircraft in a flat trajectory before disappearing with a whitish-yellow flash. The sighting lasted only a few seconds under clear weather conditions with excellent visibility. Notably, the report mentions that voice communications were intercepted and recorded, and that these communications stopped abruptly during the event. The incident was documented on a Project 10073 record card and subsequently processed through military channels, including the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing and CINCPACAF. Internal Air Force correspondence between AFCIN-4E4 and AFCIN-4F3 in February 1958 reveals that the military was actively investigating these sightings as potential indicators of foreign missile activity. Analysts noted that the characteristics of the object were consistent with a bolide or fireball, a phenomenon frequently reported in the area during the preceding year. However, the possibility of missile activity was not ruled out, as similar objects had been reported by both Air Force and Navy personnel within the same region over a two-month period. A plot of the objects' trajectories suggested a potential point of origin near the northernmost point of the Sakhalin islands. Despite the investigation, AFCIN-4F3 concluded by 21 February 1958 that there was no known surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, or air-to-air missile activity in the area on the dates in question, and offered no further explanation for the incidents.