Project 10073 Record Card and Incoming Message — RAF Upper Heyford, 10 March 1961

On 10 March 1961, at approximately 2100 hours local time, personnel at RAF Upper Heyford in England observed an unidentified flying object. The sighting was reported by several individuals, including control tower operators, air police, and a weather observer. The object was described as a very bright, white or yellowish circular entity, ranging in size from an orange to a basketball. It remained at a 45-degree angle in relation to the ground and appeared stationary to ground observers, though radar operators reported it moving very slowly. The object was tracked by radar for approximately 20 minutes, with initial movement due east, followed by a heading of 050 degrees for ten minutes, and a final turn to 100 degrees before contact was lost. An aircraft was vectored to the object's location by Midland Radar Control, but the pilot reported seeing nothing, noting he was at 6,000 feet above the cloud layer. The object was observed to disappear and reappear gradually. No optical aids, such as binoculars, provided any assistance in identifying the object. The weather at the time was generally clear with some haze and ground fog. The base intelligence officer, who compiled the report, noted that there was no air traffic or known balloon releases in the vicinity that could account for the sighting. While a temperature inversion was theorized as a potential cause for the radar return, the brightness of the object made it difficult to explain via reflection. The report concludes that there is no logical explanation for the sighting and that no physical evidence, other than tape recordings at the Midland control center, exists.