Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting in Midwest City, Oklahoma, 18 July 1958

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and an associated military teletype report regarding an unidentified aerial object sighting in Midwest City, Oklahoma, on July 18, 1958. The object was first observed by a family sitting on their front porch. They described the object as round, white, and similar in size to the evening star. The witnesses reported that the object moved swiftly in a straight line to the South before turning North, jumping from side to side, and disappearing several times. The report notes that there was no sound, no trail, and no exhaust associated with the object. The altitude was estimated to be over 20,000 feet. The military investigation, conducted by T/Sgt R. D. Ryans of the 33rd Air Division, concluded that the object was a balloon. This determination was based on U.S. Weather Bureau charts showing balloon releases in the area and an analysis of wind direction, which was generally from the South. Additionally, the report notes that RAPCON had reported a balloon in the area northeast of Tinker Air Force Base. The investigator explicitly noted that the observed maneuvers were typical of balloon characteristics.