Project 10073 Record Card - Sighting in Genoa, Italy, 3 June 1959

This document collection details a UFO sighting report filed by a captain in the publicity office of the Lloyd Triestino Line in Genoa, Italy. On the evening of June 3, 1959, at 21:43 local time, the witness, who identified himself as an amateur astronomer, observed a luminous, pale, whitish object without a tail moving southward. The witness, who was using binoculars to observe Jupiter and its satellites, estimated the object's altitude at approximately 20 degrees above the horizon and noted it remained visible for 13 to 14 seconds before disappearing among the stars. The witness initially suspected a connection to the launch of the 'Explorer III' satellite from Vandenberg, California, and reported his findings to the Geophisic Institute of the University. The report was subsequently forwarded to the USAF Technical Intelligence Agency under Project 10073. The Air Force Ballistic Missile Division responded to the witness on July 2, 1959, thanking him for his precise observations but clarifying that he could not have been observing the Discoverer III satellite, as its trajectory and timing did not match the sighting in Genoa. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card is that the observation indicates a possible meteor sighting.