Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting near Duncanville AFS, Texas, 28 July 1958

On July 28, 1958, a civilian group observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon approximately 1.5 miles south of the Duncanville Air Force Station in Texas. The sighting lasted for one hour and thirty minutes, beginning at 0630Z. The witnesses described the object as a round, yellowish-brown entity, roughly the size of a pea, which exhibited a crescent shape from the lower left. The object was reported to be brighter than the surrounding stars and displayed fast, zig-zagging movements in an upward and downward direction. The witnesses used binoculars to observe the object, which appeared and disappeared throughout the duration of the event. The report was filed by the Commander of the 745th ACWRON at Duncanville Air Force Station and forwarded to various Air Defense Command and Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) entities. Despite the witnesses' earnest conviction regarding the nature of the object, the official ATIC evaluation concluded that the sighting was consistent with the planet Mars. The evaluation noted that at the time of the sighting, Mars was positioned at 15 degrees elevation and 270 degrees azimuth, and after the 1.5-hour observation period, it had risen to 35 degrees elevation and 290 degrees azimuth. An intelligence technician noted that while the witnesses were convinced of the object's anomalous nature, the movement and behavior were likely attributable to astronomical factors or potentially a temperature inversion, though the final conclusion favored the identification of the planet Mars.