Project 10073 Record Card and Incident Report — 27 Sep 60

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and a subsequent teletype report regarding a UFO sighting that occurred on September 27, 1960, in the vicinity of Alamogordo, Las Cruces, White Sands, and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The sighting involved a bright green, round object with a blunt tail that developed to three or four times the diameter of the object itself. Observers described the object as being approximately half the diameter of a dime held at arm's length. The object was observed for five to fifteen seconds, moving in a straight and level flight path before fading out of sight. Some observers noted an orange tinge on the outer edge of the tail. The investigation was conducted by Captain Jack H. Patterson, the Unidentified Flying Objects Investigation Officer for the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC). Captain Patterson interviewed four reliable witnesses from the affected locations 24 hours after the event. While one observer at Las Cruces reported that the object hovered, the investigation officer concluded that this was likely an optical illusion resulting from the relative motion of the UFO against stationary objects as viewed from a maneuvering vehicle. Furthermore, the officer posited that the object was likely at a greater distance, altitude, and speed than the witnesses initially perceived, noting that all witnesses pointed to a location 10 to 15 degrees to the left of the North Star. Despite the investigation, no definitive conclusion was reached regarding the nature of the object. The report includes detailed meteorological data for the area, confirming unlimited visibility at the time of the sighting.