Project 10073 Record Card — Dhahran Airfield, Saudi Arabia, 26 September 1960

On September 26, 1960, at approximately 1930Z (2330LST), a weather observer stationed at Detachment 1221 of the Weather Squadron at Dhahran Airfield, Saudi Arabia, reported an unidentified aerial phenomenon. The observer described seeing a very bright light followed by an orange streak of flame, which appeared at a high elevation angle of 70 to 80 degrees, almost directly overhead. The object moved from the southeast to the northwest. The observer estimated the total duration of the sighting to be five seconds and noted that the object appeared distinctly different from any shooting star he had previously witnessed. The report was transmitted via an operational immediate message to various military commands, including USAF Washington, ATIC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and Space Track at Hanscom Field. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card indicates that while the direction and color of the object suggested the possibility of a reentry, the short duration of the sighting resulted in the event being classified as a meteor observation. The report explicitly notes that no reentries were reported for that date.