PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD - BAKERSVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA - 12 APRIL 1958

This document file contains a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding a civilian sighting of an unidentified aerial object in Bakersville, North Carolina, on April 12, 1958. A civilian witness reported observing an object at approximately 8:20 P.M. that appeared to be a 'shooting star' traveling from north to south. The witness described the object as having a red glow and noted that it did not follow a straight path, but rather a curved trajectory resembling one leg of a parabola, and appeared to slow down at the end of its flight. The witness, writing to the Secretary of Defense, expressed uncertainty about whether they had observed the falling Sputnik satellite. The Department of the Navy, acting on behalf of the Department of Defense, acknowledged the letter and forwarded the information to the Office of Naval Intelligence for evaluation. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 card states that the object was evaluated as a meteor sighting, noting that Sputnik II decayed on April 14, 1958, and that the observation possessed the characteristics of a meteor.