Project 10073 Record Card — 1 Mi W of Zahl, North Dakota, 30 July 1958

On July 30, 1958, at 3:30 am, a District Sergeant with the State Highway Patrol observed an unidentified object one mile west of Zahl, North Dakota. The witness reported the object for two hours and thirty minutes. He described the object as emitting a white light with irregular shades of red, blue, and green, possessing an undetermined shape with a fuzzy outline. The object was observed traveling from the northeast to the east and was estimated to be the size of a pea at arm's length. The witness, who was on official state police duty at the time, reported that there was no sound associated with the object. The report was corroborated by a policeman from Tioga, North Dakota, and other local officials, including a state attorney and a deputy sheriff. The Air Intelligence Information Report, prepared by Major Eldon H. Wright of the 780th AC&W Squadron, indicates that the object was not detected by any radar site within range. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center was that the sighting was an observation of the planet Venus, as astronomical charts and computer data confirmed Venus was in the exact location indicated by the observers at the time of the sighting. The report explicitly notes that the investigation determined the sighting was of a valid object and not the result of imagination or hysteria, and that the details provided by the reputable observers precluded the possibility of familiar celestial bodies or normal natural phenomena, though the final conclusion ultimately identified the object as Venus.