Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting Report 5 Dec 60

This document contains a formal sighting report and subsequent correspondence regarding an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon observed on December 5, 1960, by the crew of a WB-50-D aircraft from the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The aircraft, commanded by Captain E.J. Slemmon, was flying at 18,000 feet over Banks Island, Canada, when the crew observed a bright object with a pale green tail. The sighting lasted approximately one second and was described as having a near-vertical descent from northwest to southeast. The crew noted that the object appeared to burn up as it entered the atmosphere. The report was submitted to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The crew had been briefed prior to their flight to be alert for the potential re-entry of the Soviet satellite Sputnik VI. Following the submission of the report, military authorities evaluated the sighting. The official conclusion reached by the investigators was that the object was a classic 'fireball' class meteor. The report explicitly states that there was no evidence to suggest the object was anything other than a meteor. Lt. Col. Lawrence T. Keohane noted that if the object had been Sputnik VI, there would likely have been sufficient information to confirm its re-entry time and location, implying that the observed object was likely not the satellite. The documentation includes the original record card, the teletype message reporting the sighting, and a formal letter submitted in lieu of standard forms due to supply shortages at the station.