Project 10073 Record Card and Incident Report — East of Grand Rapids, Michigan, 5 January 1959

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and an associated military teletype report regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on January 5, 1959, east of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The witness reported observing a single cigar-shaped object that appeared to have a large brown flame at its end. The object was observed for approximately 10 seconds, appearing from the northwest and disappearing at 30 degrees above the horizon in the southeast, at an estimated altitude of at least 10,000 feet. The observer noted that there was no sound and no tail or exhaust other than the flame itself. The report was filed by the 781st ACWRON CAFS and directed to various Air Force commands, including the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The radar director, 1st Lieutenant Raymond M. Mischon, provided an assessment that the sighting had a possibility of being a shooting star or a satellite falling from orbit. The official conclusion recorded on the card categorizes the event as an astronomical meteor.