Project 10073 Record Card and Associated Correspondence — Omaha, Nebraska, January 1959

This document contains a Project 10073 record card and an associated military teletype report regarding a UFO sighting in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 6, 1959. The witness, a supervisor at a teletype maintenance shop, observed a circular object that appeared smaller than a penny held at arm's length. The object exhibited changing colors—green, purple, blue, and white—and was described as having one bright light in the center with dimmer lights on either side in a horizontal plane. The witness reported that the object twinkled and moved in a westerly direction with an increasing altitude. The observation lasted approximately two to three seconds and was made using six-power binoculars. The report was investigated by Captain Howard T. Moody, an intelligence officer and commercial pilot, who concluded that the object was the star Betelgeuse. Captain Moody determined that the reported rapid movement and color changes were optical effects caused by temperature inversions at 5,000 and 48,000 feet. The observer, after discussing the star's characteristics and its orbital track with Captain Moody, agreed with the conclusion that the object was a star. The file also includes a 1961 letter from Major Robert J. Friend to a correspondent, confirming that the sighting was a meteor/star observation and expressing appreciation for the correspondent's interest in the Air Force's scientific approach to the UFO program.