Project 10073 Record Card — Hyattsville, Maryland, 21 July 1960

This document consists of a Project 10073 Record Card and associated correspondence regarding a sighting of an unidentified aerial object on the night of 21 July 1960 near Hyattsville, Maryland. The sighting occurred at approximately 2130 local time. Three or four witnesses reported seeing a falling object. Two observers, identified as a flight engineer and a housewife, described the object as a pale yellow, 25-cent-piece-sized object at arm's length, while a third observer, a flight crew member in a Navy aircraft, described it as bluish-white and the size of a pea. The object was reported to have fallen straight down without maneuvers, leaving no tail or trail. The duration of the observation was approximately five seconds. The weather conditions were clear with zero-tenths cloud cover and 15 miles visibility. No radar contact was made, and no interception action was taken. The official conclusion recorded on the card is that the brief duration and area of the sighting indicate the object was a meteor. A follow-up letter dated 22 July 1960 from Lt. Col. Lawrence J. Tacker of the Air Force Public Information Division to one of the witnesses stated that the initial report contained insufficient information for a valid conclusion and requested the completion of an Air Force questionnaire to be forwarded to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for further evaluation.