Project 10073 Record Card and Associated Reports — New York, May 1959

This document consists of a series of military teletype reports and a Project 10073 record card detailing a UFO sighting that occurred on May 2, 1959, over New York. The primary witness was a Trans-Canada Airlines pilot flying a Viscount 712 aircraft at 15,200 feet. The pilot reported observing a shining, bluish-white object that initially appeared squarish and then round, resembling a silver dollar. The object was observed moving in a southwesterly direction. The pilot's aircraft, Flight 355, was heading north but reversed direction to chase the object. A second witness, an FAA controller, also provided observations. Military radar at Bradley Field tracked the object, noting that it had no definite flight pattern and that the radar plots showed no logical sequence, though most were within a 35-nautical-mile radius of the field. An F-122A aircraft from Suffolk County AFB was diverted to investigate a 'zero velocity track' reported by radar, but the target faded before contact could be made. The reports include detailed weather data for the area, noting perfect weather conditions with some cloud cover. Intelligence officers from the New York Air Defense Sector, specifically 1LT Bertram Avis, concluded that there was insufficient evidence for a preliminary analysis, though the pilot himself suggested the object might have been a balloon. The final ATIC assessment, documented on the record card and analysis sheet, concluded that the object was probably a balloon, citing wind velocity and the object's movement to the east as evidence to substantiate this conclusion.