Project 10073 Record Card — Vicinity Juneau, Alaska, 24 April 1961

This document comprises a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype correspondence regarding an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sighting reported in Juneau, Alaska, on 24 April 1961. The report was prepared by MSGT Edward L. Richmond, Acting Station Commander of the US Army Alaska Communication System. A 34-year-old female civilian witness reported observing a round, white ball of fire with a red triangular tail, approximately half the size of the main body, moving in a straight northerly direction at a constant speed. The observation lasted approximately 15 seconds. The witness, who was located one-quarter mile north of the Juneau Douglas Bridge on North Douglas Road, reported that the object appeared to be the size of a baseball held at arm's length. No sound was heard, and no maneuvers were noted before the object faded from sight. The witness contacted the FAA flight plans office at Juneau Airport prior to 2300 hours on the date of the incident to inquire if others had reported the object, and was informed that someone else had reported seeing what could have been a meteor. Official investigation by the military confirmed that there was no air traffic in the vicinity at the time, and the FAA had no entries in their logs to substantiate the report. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating agency, ATIC, was that the object was a meteor. MSGT Richmond noted in his report that the preliminary investigation was not sufficiently conclusive to base a definitive analysis and that any physical evidence to support the report was doubtful and unknown.