Project 10073 Record Card — Dayton, Ohio, 17 April 1958

This document is a Project 10073 record card detailing a sighting of an unidentified aerial object in Dayton, Ohio, on April 17, 1958. The witness, a 19-year-old male, reported observing a single, stationary, silvery-colored object that appeared to be the size of a pinhead at arm's length. The observation lasted for approximately ten minutes. The witness described the object as circular and noted that it made no sound. The weather conditions at the time were reported as dry with clear skies and a slight breeze. The witness was outdoors at the time of the sighting and was looking north. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the object was a balloon. This determination was based on a check with a local weather station, which confirmed that a balloon had been released at 1827 on the same day. The investigators concluded that the wind direction and velocity at the time would have carried the balloon to the location reported by the observer. The file includes the standard U.S. Air Force technical information sheets, which contain the witness's responses to a questionnaire regarding the sighting, including details about the object's appearance, the witness's location, and the environmental conditions. Handwritten notes on the document suggest some skepticism or confusion regarding the report, with one note asking why the object was reported if it showed no signs of hostility, and another note mentioning that there were no balloons from the Patterson weather station at that time, though this appears to be contradicted by the final conclusion on the record card.