Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting between Sterling City and Garden City, Texas, 12 Feb 61

This field report, prepared by Major Jack H. Crawford of the 3560th Pilot Training Group at Webb Air Force Base, details an investigation into a UFO sighting reported on February 12, 1961. Four witnesses, traveling in a car between Sterling City and Garden City, Texas, reported observing a green and white object, described as being the size of a baseball, which appeared to dive toward the ground and climb back up. The witnesses claimed to have seen the object three times over a fifteen-minute period. The investigation involved coordination with multiple agencies, including the Midland U.S. Weather Bureau, the 683rd AC&W Squadron, and various regional airports. Major Crawford noted significant discrepancies in the accounts provided by the witnesses, specifically observing that the primary witness's testimony was contradictory and 'more imaginative' than that of the other passengers. After a thorough review of flight plans and radar data, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) concluded that the object was the planet Venus. The report suggests that the planet's exceptional brightness, combined with atmospheric refraction, the movement of the observers' vehicle, and the presence of a thin cloud layer, created the illusion of movement and color changes reported by the witnesses.