Correspondence regarding O'Hare Air Force Base UFO photograph

This collection of documents details the investigation of a photograph submitted by a civilian to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) regarding a potential UFO sighting at O'Hare Air Force Base on 17 May 1959. The witness, a civilian, captured an image during the Armed Forces Day Air Show that displayed a streak in the sky. The witness initially believed the object was not visible to the naked eye but sought an official evaluation of the photograph. Throughout the correspondence, which spans from July 1959 to January 1960, the Air Force requested the original negative to conduct a thorough analysis. There was some confusion regarding the request for the negative, with the civilian correspondent noting that their records did not reflect an earlier request from the Air Force. Eventually, the negative was provided for examination. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center and the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center was that the streak appearing on the photograph was not a real object, but rather a result of a processing defect or a developing flaw. The correspondence concludes with the Air Force returning the negative to the civilian and maintaining their assessment that the image did not represent an unidentified flying object. The documents also include a brief inquiry from the civilian regarding a separate, unrelated sighting at Oxnard AFB, California, in 1957, indicating the correspondent's ongoing interest in UFO research.