Project 10073 Record Card — Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 15 Jan 61

On January 15, 1961, at approximately 20:55 local time, three individuals in an automobile near Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, observed a sphere-shaped object. The primary witness, an Air Police Airman, reported that the object appeared at 45 degrees above the horizon in the northwest, initially white before changing to a dull red. The object moved slowly straight down, shifted horizontally to the left, increased speed while moving upward, and finally angled down toward the horizon, disappearing at 30 degrees above the horizon. The duration of the sighting was estimated at 10 to 20 seconds. A second witness described the object as pink, turning bright red, while a third person in the vehicle did not observe the object because they were not wearing their required corrective glasses. The object disappeared from view when its flight path descended behind an outdoor movie screen. Following an inquiry from the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) regarding the nature of the maneuvers and the disappearance, the 832nd Air Division clarified that the movement was observed relative to the movie screen and that the size of the object did not appear to vary during the descent. ATIC concluded that the sighting was an observation of the planet Venus. The reported maneuvers and color changes were attributed to atmospheric conditions and cloud cover in the area, with the object's apparent movement coinciding with the planet's descent toward the horizon.