Project 10073 Record Card — Rapid City, Michigan, 24 February 1959

On February 24, 1959, at approximately 06:30 local time, a sighting of an unidentified aerial object occurred over Michigan. The object was described as round and bluish-white in color, traveling on a horizontal path from the East-Northeast to the West-Northwest. Witnesses, including two operators at the Grand Rapids airport control tower named John Moore and Robert Boylan, observed the object for a duration of 30 to 45 seconds. The witnesses reported that the object appeared to be a large, bright meteorite that was shooting off sparks before it broke apart. The sighting was corroborated by reports from various locations, including Port Arthur Tower in Ontario, Canada, and other airport control towers in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. The event was documented via a Project 10073 record card and a military teletype report originating from the 30th NORAD Division. Official evaluation by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) concluded that the object was likely a large meteor. While the investigators noted that the reported duration was somewhat long for a typical meteor, they determined that this did not rule out the possibility of a meteoric origin. The sky was reported as clear at the time of the sighting, and the object was also noted by a caller to radio station WHGR in Houghton Lake, Michigan, who expressed significant alarm regarding the event.