Project 10073 Record Card — Randolph AFB, Texas, 4 October 1959

On October 4, 1959, at 0620Z, a civilian employee at Kelly AFB, Texas, and his wife observed an unidentified aerial object while traveling in their automobile. The witnesses reported seeing an oval-shaped, white, fluorescent object that appeared to be the size of a baseball. The object remained in the vicinity for approximately 25 minutes, appearing almost stationary before moving very slowly in a southerly direction. The observers noted that the object had no discernible features, no tail or exhaust, and made no sound. The sighting occurred two miles southeast of Randolph AFB, Texas, under generally clear skies, though thunderstorms and lightning were reported to the north. The investigating officer, a staff officer in the Wing Operations Section of the 3510 Flytrawg, interviewed the primary observer and deemed him to be a reliable, stable, and intelligent witness with experience in light aircraft. Despite the witness's qualifications, inquiries made to Randolph Tower, GCA, Brookks AFB Tower, ACW GCI at Lackland AFB, and the San Antonio Center Radar yielded negative results regarding any tracked objects. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card categorized the event as a probable balloon sighting, noting that the object's characteristics and movement conformed to this analysis, although the preliminary analysis stated there was no probable cause for the sighting.