Project 10073 Record Card — Orleans, France, 22 April 1960

On April 22, 1960, at 1415 hours, an Airman Second Class (A2C) assigned to Detachment 4 of the 7th Weather Squadron, stationed at the Orleans-Saran operations building in France, observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon. The witness reported seeing a single, round, white object that appeared to be the size of a thumbtack head held at a distance of five feet. The object was described as having a flame trailing behind it and was observed falling at a 20-degree angle toward the southeast. The total duration of the sighting was approximately two seconds. The witness explicitly noted that the object did not appear to be an aircraft and was moving very fast. The report was submitted in accordance with Air Force Regulation (AFR) 200-2, paragraph 15, and was processed through the 7370th Flight Service Squadron at Orly Airport, Paris, before being forwarded to the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC). Weather conditions at the time were reported as high scattered clouds with good visibility and moderate surface winds. The official conclusion reached by the reporting authorities was that the object was likely a meteor. The documentation includes a Project 10073 record card, a formal transmittal letter from the European Detachment of ATIC signed by Colonel Paul E. Villars, and a detailed breakdown of the sighting conditions and object characteristics provided by Major Jack Thompson.