Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — Redlands, California, 13 December 1958

This document details an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sighting reported in Redlands, California, on 13 December 1958. The witness, a 26-year-old employee of the Marketeer Company, reported observing a dark object that appeared to be a large jet aircraft, accompanied by three smaller dark objects on top of a vertical line, with a trail approximately half the size of the main object. The witness claimed the object was visible for approximately 20 seconds while traveling in a straight line toward the East-Southeast. The sighting was reported to the Provost Marshal at Norton Air Force Base, Captain Leon W. Reilly, and subsequently forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base under the provisions of Air Force Regulation 200-2. The witness provided a photograph taken with a Linhof camera using a 127mm lens. The Air Force investigation, led by Major Loren W. Bruner, included an analysis of the photograph. The official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that the object was a lenticular cloud. The investigation was marked by significant skepticism from the Air Technical Intelligence Center. Major Lawrence J. Tacker, writing on behalf of the Air Force, informed the witness on 5 February 1959 that the report contained insufficient data to reach a valid conclusion and highlighted a 'serious contradiction' in the witness's account. Specifically, the Air Force noted that the witness claimed to have observed the object for 20 seconds, yet the camera exposure for the photograph was only 1/50th of a second, and the witness admitted they did not notice the object until after the film had been developed. Consequently, the Air Force declared the sighting 'valueless' and returned the negative and receipt to the witness. The file includes the original Project 10073 record card, correspondence between the 27th Air Division and ATIC, the UFOB worksheet, and the final rejection letter sent to the witness.