PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD - 27 Feb 61 - Yuma, Arizona

This document contains a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding an unidentified radar contact observed on February 27, 1961, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona. The sighting was reported by A/2C Paul E. Reuter and Captain Morris Royster of the 864th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (ACWSQ). The object was detected solely via the MPS-14 radar system. Initially, the radar presentation appeared identical to that of a single aircraft, leading observers to briefly consider it a balloon. However, the object, moving at approximately 20 knots, began to break up and became diffused at an altitude of 42,000 feet. It left a trail of diffuse echoes that slanted downward at a rate of approximately 300 feet per minute. The observation lasted for one hour and 48 minutes before contact was lost. The reporting officer noted that this presentation was unique in their eight years of experience, with the sole exception of chaff dropped from balloons in Alaska. Subsequent internal Air Force correspondence, specifically a memorandum dated May 9, 1961, from the Acting Chief of AFCIN-4E1, Roy L. James, evaluated the report. The evaluation concluded that a chaff drop was the most plausible explanation for the radar returns and recommended that Air Force activities be checked for any possible chaff exercises conducted in the area at that time.