Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report — Anniston, Alabama, January 1959

This document comprises a Project 10073 record card and an Air Intelligence Information Report (IR-1-59) regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on January 2, 1959, at the Anniston Ordnance Depot in Bynum, Alabama. Two civilian guard supervisors reported observing a stationary, red, ball-like object in the night sky for approximately seven minutes. The witnesses described the object as changing colors from red to silver to amber and noted that it performed up-and-down movements and moved in fast circles before disappearing to the southwest as a silver object. The report notes that this was the second such sighting at the depot within a single month, leading the investigating officer, Captain Clyde W. Snodgrass, to suggest that the 'power of suggestion' might be influencing the reports. The official assessment concluded that there was insufficient information to reach a valid conclusion. Investigators hypothesized that the phenomenon could have been a 'mirror effect' from a light source or a powerful light reflecting off multilayered clouds. The report further notes that the witnesses' size estimate of a 'grapefruit' was likely unreliable as it did not follow the 'arms length' rule prescribed by AFR 200-2. No physical evidence, radar contact, or photographic documentation was obtained. The weather at the time was reported as overcast with a 6500-foot scattered layer and 11,000-foot overcast, though the witnesses maintained they could see the object clearly. The report was approved by Colonel Leslie M. Norton of the Intelligence Division at Maxwell AFB.