Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence — Ft. Meade, Maryland, 27 February 1961

This document collection details a UFO sighting reported on 27 February 1961 at the Fort George G. Meade Missile Master Center in Maryland. The incident involved a radar-visual sighting of three objects, which were tracked by an AN/FPS-33 ground radar system for approximately 20 minutes. Witnesses, including 2nd Lieutenants Paul Poster and Shelby Adams, as well as SFCs Miguel A. Ocasio and Andres Rivera-Claudio, described the objects as having an erratic flight path, the ability to stand still, and high rates of speed and direction change. The objects were estimated to be at an altitude of approximately 6,300 feet. The report was initially processed by Detachment 1 of the Washington Air Defense Sector and subsequently forwarded to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for evaluation. Correspondence between ATIC and the local unit highlights confusion between this radar-visual sighting and a separate visual-only sighting that occurred near Herndon, Virginia, on the same date. Following an investigation, ATIC officials, including Roy J. James, concluded that the sighting was likely a false radar target caused by a temperature inversion, a phenomenon associated with nocturnal surface cooling. The report notes that while equipment malfunction could not be entirely ruled out, the behavior of the objects was symptomatic of false targets generated by atmospheric conditions. The documentation includes the original Project 10073 record card, official joint message forms, and a technical information sheet completed by the witnesses.