Project 10073 Record Card and Report of UFO - Crystal Springs, Mississippi

This document is a formal report concerning an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sighting that occurred on November 18, 1959, near Crystal Springs, Mississippi. The report was generated by the 627th Radar Squadron (SAGE) of the United States Air Force and addressed to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The witness, a 35-year-old woodworker and deacon at the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, reported observing a horizontal row of red lights that appeared to be slightly higher at the rear than the front. The witness initially mistook the object for a warning beacon but noted that the lights varied in intensity. Upon stopping his truck to observe the object, the witness remarked on the extreme silence of the environment, stating that one could hear a pin drop. The object reportedly moved off slowly before increasing speed immensely and disappearing in a North or North-by-North-East direction. At the final point of observation, the witness noted two rows of red lights. The witness, whose reliability is described as unquestionable, served in the Armed Forces during World War II. The report notes that the witness was consistent in his account and reluctant to provide his name to avoid personal recognition. Official analysis by the Air Technical Intelligence Center concluded that while there is a possibility a helicopter was observed, there is insufficient evidence to substantiate this conclusion. The document includes detailed weather data from the United States Weather Bureau Office in Jackson, Mississippi, and notes that a weather balloon was released at 1700 hours, reaching an altitude of 114,000 feet, though it carried no lights. The report is marked as unclassified and was downgraded at three-year intervals per DOD Directive 5200.10.