Project 10073 Record Card — Alexandria, Louisiana, 23 June 1958

This document details an investigation into a UFO sighting reported by a Louisiana State Trooper on 23 June 1958, near England Air Force Base. The trooper, while attempting to photograph cloud formations with a Polaroid Land Camera, reported seeing two round, white, dime-sized lights in his camera viewfinder. He noted that the lights were not visible to the naked eye. The objects reportedly moved with a jerky motion to the left, then up and to the right, before appearing instantaneously overhead. The entire event lasted approximately 30 seconds. The trooper took three photographs during the incident.

Following the report, the Air Force conducted an investigation, including an analysis of the photographs and the circumstances of the sighting. The investigating officer, 2/Lt. Julian H. Gelenter, determined that the trooper was sitting in his car at the time, shooting through a curved windshield. Subsequent tests by the Air Force suggested that the 'lights' were likely caused by internal reflections of the sun or a light leak in the camera's bellows. The official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that the objects were not real phenomena but rather photographic artifacts.

The document also includes correspondence from the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), which challenged the Air Force's handling of the case. NICAP argued that the Air Force was attempting to discredit the sighting and withhold information. The file contains various internal Air Force communications, including a Project 10073 record card, a TWX report, and formal intelligence information reports. The investigation highlights the tension between civilian UFO research organizations and the military's official assessment of such reports during the late 1950s, specifically regarding the use of photographic evidence and the tendency of the Air Force to provide conventional explanations for unexplained aerial phenomena.