Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting Report 16 September 1960

This document consists of a series of reports and internal communications from the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center regarding a UFO sighting on September 16, 1960. The primary incident involved a sighting by a Strategic Air Command (SAC) aircraft flying from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Lufkin, Texas. At 1000Z, the crew observed a large, bright ball, estimated to be 50 to 60 feet in diameter, which rose from the ground to an altitude of approximately 60,000 feet before disappearing. The object was described as appearing like a large explosion. Following an investigation, the official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that the sighting was an Atlas missile launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, occurring at 1000Z. The document also includes references to other unrelated reports, such as a telephone call from a civilian in Ironton, Ohio, regarding a rotating object seen near the Ohio River, and a report from Major Messenger at the Air Force Command Post regarding a separate sighting. These reports were compiled by Captain Louis I. Harrell of the AFCIN-4X2 unit to document the events and their subsequent evaluations.