Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting near Noshironinato, Japan, 14 February 1959

On 14 February 1959, at 1000Z, three pilots (1/LT Donald A. Holtz, 1/LT Henry B. Williams, and 1/LT James Manzel) of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon west of Noshironinato, Japan. The pilots were flying two F-86 aircraft and one T-33 aircraft at an altitude of 40,000 feet. The object was described as being larger and brighter than a star, appearing white with alternating colors of red, green, orange, and blue. The white light reportedly dimmed and brightened every three to four seconds, with each brightening accompanied by a different color. The object appeared stationary, though it seemed to lose altitude at one point during the observation. The pilots noted that the object was too bright and that they could not estimate its range, comparing it to a runway light at about one hundred yards. Despite the visual sighting, radar systems on the F-86 aircraft failed to detect the object, and two other radar sites in the vicinity also reported negative results. The weather conditions at the time were reported as twenty-four hundred overcast with fifteen miles of visibility. Following the incident, an evaluation by the Air Technical Intelligence Center concluded that the object was the planet Mars, noting that the observed color changes could be attributed to haze or smoke in the atmosphere. The report was subsequently declassified under authority AFR 205-1D.