Project 10073 Record Card and Technical Information Sheets — Belfast, Maine, 1958

This document archive contains a collection of reports, correspondence, and technical information sheets regarding UFO sightings reported in Belfast, Maine, during the summer of 1958. The primary record card, dated 26 June 1958, documents a sighting of a circular, flame-colored object traveling at excessive speed in a south-southwesterly direction. The observation lasted approximately five seconds. Subsequent documentation includes multiple technical information sheets filled out by witnesses, including a State Police Sergeant, describing various sightings of lights in the sky that exhibited rapid, erratic movements, color changes, and appearances that suggested they were 'jumping stars' or atmospheric phenomena. Witnesses frequently noted the presence of fog or haze during these observations. The archive also contains significant correspondence from 1965 between the witnesses, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, and the U.S. Air Force. The witnesses sought the return of photographic negatives they had submitted to the Air Force for analysis in 1958. The Air Force, through the Foreign Technology Division and the Office of Information, responded that the negatives had been analyzed by experts, including Dr. W. F. Chambers of the University of Vermont and civilian consultant Dr. Allen Hynek. The official conclusion provided by the Air Force was that the object captured in the negatives was the star Arcturus. The documents reflect the administrative process of handling civilian UFO reports, the involvement of high-level military intelligence, and the eventual resolution of the specific photographic evidence as an astronomical identification.