Project 10073 Record Card — Holt, Minnesota, 15 Jan 61

On January 15, 1961, at approximately 1900 hours local time, a witness traveling in a private automobile on Highway 32 near Holt, Minnesota, observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon. The witness, identified as a fixed station air base operator and pilot with 20 years of experience, was accompanied by four passengers who also verified the incident. The object was described as a round, blue-white light, approximately the size of a basketball. It appeared directly over the automobile and traveled on a 210-degree heading. The witness reported that the object was bright enough to illuminate the countryside, causing the automobile's headlights to appear dim. The object did not produce any sound and, after approximately two seconds, appeared to break into several small chunks of blue-white light before disappearing as if extinguished by a switch. The incident was reported to the 692nd RADRON at Baudette AFS, Minnesota, and subsequently forwarded to the Air Defense Command and the Air Technical Intelligence Center. Official conclusions reached by the Air Force suggested that the object was likely a meteor, noting that the earth was passing through several meteor showers during that month and that similar reports had been received from other parts of the country. Despite these conclusions, the internal record card notes that preliminary and final investigations revealed no information as to the probable cause or identity of the object.