Project 10073 Record Card — Danvers, Massachusetts, 27 June 1960

This document contains a Project 10073 record card and supporting correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported by a 37-year-old male in Danvers, Massachusetts, on June 27, 1960. The witness, while visiting his brother's home, was sunbathing and shielding his eyes from the sun when he observed a jet aircraft flying nearby. He then noticed a rocket-shaped object emerging from the sun. The witness described the object as metallic, featuring an indentation in the middle and a scallop-like shape extending from the side to the back. He noted that the object produced no sound, smoke, or vapor trails. The observation lasted approximately 40 seconds before the object disappeared into a hazy cloud while heading in a northerly direction. The witness expressed significant distress and confusion regarding the nature of the object, stating that he had never seen anything like it before. He did not attempt to alert his brother or anyone else at the time. Following the incident, the witness wrote to the U.S. Air Force to report the sighting, expressing frustration that the public was not being informed about such phenomena. In response, Lt. Col. Lawrence J. Tacker of the U.S. Air Force acknowledged the letter on August 29, 1960, noting that the initial report lacked sufficient information for a valid conclusion. He provided an Air Force questionnaire for the witness to complete and return to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The witness subsequently completed the questionnaire, providing detailed sketches and a narrative account of the event. The official evaluation concluded that the sighting was likely an optical phenomenon, specifically an afterimage caused by staring at the sun, noting that Venus was within three degrees of the sun at the time of the observation.