Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence — Hartford, Connecticut, September 1960

This document details the investigation into an aerial sighting that occurred in Hartford, Connecticut, on September 4, 1960. Witnesses reported hearing a loud 'swish' in the air, followed by the appearance of a green, cone-shaped object that landed in a backyard, causing a fire in a shed. The incident was reported to the Hartford Police Department, and the recovered material was subsequently turned over to authorities for analysis. The investigation involved multiple agencies, including the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the Geophysics Research Directorate. Dr. John T. Wasson, representing the Geophysics Research Directorate, conducted an on-site investigation on September 17, 1960, interviewing witnesses and collecting background samples. Laboratory analysis of the recovered material, including emission spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence, indicated that the substance was furnace slag rather than a meteoric object. Correspondence between Dr. T. Townsend Brown of Whitehall-Rand and various military officials, including Major R. J. Friend of ATIC, documents the coordination of these analyses and the eventual conclusion that the material was not of extraterrestrial or meteoric origin. The report includes detailed laboratory data, correspondence regarding the analysis, and photographs of the site and the recovered samples. The investigation was formally closed after the material was identified as furnace slag, with researchers noting that the 'true' samples were difficult to distinguish from the background material found at the site.