Project 10073 Record Card — Batesville, Arkansas, April 2, 1959

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and an associated military cable regarding an unidentified aerial sighting near Batesville, Arkansas, on April 2, 1959. A witness, identified as a 37-year-old TV engineer, observed a round, transparent, egg-shaped object that appeared silver in color. The witness observed the object for two hours using a high-powered telescope, noting that it appeared to be made of clear plastic with nothing hanging from it. The object was reported to be rising straight up at a rate of approximately 800 feet per minute. A second witness, an associate of the TV engineer, also viewed the object through the telescope and remarked that it appeared to be a weather balloon. The military response included a Navy MINK 26 (T2V) aircraft, which climbed to 34,000 feet and circled the object. The pilot of the aircraft reported that the object looked like a weather balloon. Based on these observations, the official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the object was a weather balloon. The documentation includes technical details such as the coordinates of the sighting (35 42'N, 91 35'W) and the classification of the report as unclassified.