Project 10073 Record Card — Hopetown, South Africa, 25 June 1960

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype correspondence regarding an aerial sighting over Hopetown, South Africa, on June 25, 1960. At approximately 11:22 local time, an object was observed by the Assistant Naval Attache. The witness described the object as resembling a shooting star but noted it was 10 to 15 times wider, with a brilliant white color comparable to burning magnesium. The object was observed at an altitude of 8,000 feet, moving slower than a typical shooting star. It appeared at 30 degrees above the horizon and disappeared at 15 degrees above the horizon, leaving a smoke trail while traveling in the direction of the Indian Ocean. The report explicitly states that no direction was provided for the object, though it was noted to be traveling toward the ocean. The Union Defence Force was consulted and confirmed they had no knowledge of any object impacting within South Africa. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating agency, ATIC, was that the phenomenon was a daytime meteor. The documentation includes teletype headers indicating the report was transmitted from the US Naval Attache in Pretoria to ATIC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, with information copies sent to the CSAF and Project Space Track at Hanscom Field. The document was later declassified on May 12, 1969.