PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD - Sighting of 2 Nov 59

This document details a Project 10073 record card and subsequent intelligence report regarding an Unidentified Flying Object sighting on November 2, 1959. Two observers, identified as professional gamblers of poor reputation, reported seeing an oblong object, approximately six feet long and four feet wide, with a golden center and blue reflection. The object was observed for 20 minutes while the witnesses were driving south on Highway 90, 20 miles north of Statesville, North Carolina. The witnesses claimed the object rotated, rose and fell, and intermittently disappeared and reappeared. The Wing Intelligence Officer, Captain Richard J. Mc Glynn, initially suspected the witnesses were attempting to establish an alibi due to their poor character, but concluded after investigation that they had indeed experienced a visual phenomenon. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the object was the planet Venus, which was approximately 10 degrees above the horizon at the time. The report suggests that the observers' movement along a winding road, combined with the object's low position on the horizon, created the illusion of movement. The file includes press clippings from the Statesville Record and Landmark and other sources, which describe the object as a 'mystery fireball' that 'chased' the witnesses' car. The report also notes that other individuals in the vicinity of Hickory and Salisbury, North Carolina, reported similar sightings.