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Declassified UFO / UAP Document

Project 10073 Record Card — 2 December 1958

📅 2 December 1958 📍 20 Mi SW of Elmira, N.Y. 🏛 ATIC 📄 Record Card and Teletype Message
Project 10073Sputnik 3Elmirameteorcivilian pilot

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AI-Generated Summary

TL;DR

A civilian pilot reported a round object with a long white tail falling vertically near Elmira, NY, on December 2, 1958. While the pilot suspected it was Sputnik 3 debris, official military assessment concluded it was likely a meteor.

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype communications regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon reported on December 2, 1958. The sighting occurred at 0634Z, approximately 20 miles southwest of Elmira, New York. The primary witness was a civilian pilot based at Chicago Midway Airport. According to the report, the witness observed a round object with a long white tail falling vertically under the star Polaris. The pilot initially speculated that the object was the decay of the Sputnik 3 rocket. The report includes technical weather data for the Elmira area at the time of the sighting. Despite the pilot's observation that the object appeared too large to be a meteor, the official conclusion documented on the record card states that the object was likely a meteor and not satellite decay. The documentation was distributed to various military commands, including the Air Force Cambridge Research Center and the 73rd and 64th Air Divisions.

Round obj, which left a long white tail, falling vertically under Polaris which was due north of his position. Pilot believed obj was sputnik decay.

Official Assessment

Not decay, probably meteor.

The witness, a civilian pilot, observed a round object with a long white tail falling vertically under Polaris. The pilot initially believed the object was the decay of Sputnik 3, but the official conclusion recorded on the card is that it was likely a meteor.

Witnesses

Key Persons

Organizations

Military Units