Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting at Camp Carson, Colorado, 1 February 1958

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype communications regarding an aerial sighting reported on February 1, 1958, near Camp Carson, Colorado. The witness, identified as a Major serving as the Battle Group Adjutant for the First Battle Group, 39th Infantry, reported observing four distinct, stationary, red-orange lines in the sky that appeared to be burning like flares and pointing downward. The witness described the objects as being approximately one-half the size of a pencil and noted that they eventually faded from a bright fiery color to pink before disappearing. The observation lasted for four minutes. The teletype correspondence, addressed to the 34th Air Division and other military commands, provides additional details, noting the sighting occurred at sunset while the witness was getting into a car. The location was specified as being near Hoyles Market on South Nevada, with the objects positioned south of Cheyenne Mountain. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating agency, ATIC, was that the phenomenon was a typical manifestation of contrails seen at sunset, likely emanating from multi-engine aircraft or aircraft flying in formation. This conclusion was supported by a weather officer's assessment that, while the chance of contrails was less than 50 percent, the description provided was characteristic of such phenomena. The document includes a reference to an attached Department of Defense release regarding similar sightings.