Project 10073 Record Card — Unidentified Flying Object Sighting, 27 February 1959

On February 27, 1959, at 1045 hours, two naval aviators from VMF(AW) 513, MAG-15, flying F4D aircraft, encountered an unidentified flying object over the point NG 1070, San Diego Sheet, California. Captain Tom D'Andrea and Captain Henry L. Schwell Jr. reported the sighting. Captain D'Andrea initially detected the object on radar while flying at 36,000 feet on a course of 090 degrees at 250 knots. The object was located 12 miles distant, 15 degrees starboard, and at a higher altitude. As D'Andrea executed a climbing turn, the radar lock broke at 43,000 feet. Upon reaching 43,000 feet, the object was sighted visually. It was described as heart-shaped, resembling an F4D aircraft without a nose cone, white-buff in color, and lacking any exhaust trails or protrusions. The object appeared to remain stationary in the air, with the point of the 'heart-shape' turning in the same direction as the F4D. Captain Schwell, also in the vicinity, observed the object visually while flying at 39,000 feet, noting it resembled a pure delta-wing. The total duration of the observation was approximately ten minutes. Weather conditions at the time were reported as unlimited with no cloud cover or thunderstorms. Following the report, the preparing officer (Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2) concluded that the object, given its high altitude and lack of apparent forward speed, was undoubtedly a weather balloon. The report was forwarded through the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing and the Headquarters of the Fifteenth Air Force to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for further information.