Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — Canton, Ohio, May 1958

This document contains a collection of records, correspondence, and internal routing slips related to two separate UFO sightings reported by a civilian in Canton, Ohio, in May 1958. The primary witness, a night watchman, submitted detailed accounts of his observations to the Air Force. The first incident, occurring on May 12, 1958, involved a slow-moving, erratic red light observed for 5 to 8 minutes. The Air Force investigation concluded that this object was a weather balloon launched from Warren, Ohio, noting that prevailing winds at the time would have carried such a balloon directly over the witness's location in Canton. The second incident, reported on May 20, 1958, involved a cigar-shaped object with streamers, observed for approximately 3 seconds. This event was officially classified as a meteor sighting. The documentation includes the witness's original correspondence, where he mentions his interest in the subject sparked by Donald Keyhoe's book, 'Flying Saucers From Outer Space.' Military officials, specifically Major Lawrence J. Tacker, handled the reports and emphasized the importance of directing such information to the Air Force rather than civilian ufologists. The file also contains internal military communications, including a memo routing slip and a formal letter from the Base Provost Marshal at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, confirming that the reports were forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) for evaluation. The records provide a clear view of the military's administrative process for handling civilian UFO reports during the late 1950s, focusing on identifying conventional explanations such as weather balloons and astronomical phenomena.