Project 10073 Record Card — Unidentified Flying Object Report, 23 January 1959

On January 23, 1959, at 1800Z, a civilian observer reported an unidentified flying object southwest of Herschel Island, Canada. The object was described as a round, orange-colored entity with a flat bottom, appearing to be the size of half an orange held at arm's length. The witness observed the object for approximately 20 minutes, noting that it appeared stationary at an angle of elevation of three to four degrees above the horizon. No optical aids were used during the observation. The report was relayed to Captain Donald R. Sandvig, the Data Center Duty Officer at the Barmain Station of the DEW Line. Weather conditions at the time were reported as clear with a few scattered clouds and an unlimited ceiling. Intelligence personnel from the 11th Air Division conducted a follow-up investigation, which included checking the position of the moon. The final assessment concluded that the object was the moon, which was in the exact position reported and partially obscured by cloud cover just above the horizon. Despite this identification, the intelligence comments noted that the duration of the observation and the stationary nature of the object led to the belief that it was not a man-made object.