PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD — Sighting of 15 March 1961

On March 15, 1961, at approximately 2020 hours local time, a significant aerial sighting occurred near Misawa Air Base, Japan, at coordinates 4020N, 14210E. The event was witnessed by three individuals: an airborne pilot, Captain Jphn Hoek of the 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Lieutenant Jack Weatherby, who was on duty in a mobile control unit, and Staff Sergeant Charlies Kuhl, stationed in the Misawa control tower. The witnesses reported observing an extremely large object with a long, fiery tail that appeared to fall from the sky. The pilot described the object as having a fiery green color, while the mobile control officer noted that the colors shifted from white to greenish-blue and then to orange as the object descended. The object was observed traveling in an arc from behind the pilot's aircraft and eventually appeared to disintegrate into at least ten pieces at an altitude estimated to be slightly above the horizon. Following the incident, the 39th Air Division at Misawa Air Base filed an operational report to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. An investigation was conducted to rule out man-made causes. The Japanese Self-Defense Force (JASDF) liaison office confirmed that no test firings were conducted by the Japanese rocket project (KAPPA) at the time of the sighting. Furthermore, it was determined that no satellites were reentering the atmosphere on that date. Based on the characteristics reported—specifically the fiery tail, the color changes, and the disintegration—the official conclusion reached by the evaluating agency was that the object was a bolide, a type of meteor, exploding during its descent through the Earth's atmosphere.