Project 10073 Record Card and Incoming Message — Kadena AB, Okinawa, April 1961

On April 27, 1961, at approximately 1040Z, a sighting of an unidentified aerial phenomenon occurred near Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. The report, filed by Lieutenant Colonel F. E. Bullock of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, describes a single, bullet-shaped object that was bluish-white in color. The object possessed a fiery tail approximately the same length as the object itself. The sighting lasted only a few seconds, during which the object followed a descending arc trajectory, moving in a northerly direction, and appeared to burn out at an altitude of 24,000 feet. The weather conditions at the time were clear with scattered clouds at 3,000 feet and 15 miles of visibility. Three pilots, two of whom were in the same aircraft, were questioned independently by the Wing Intelligence Officer, and their accounts were found to be harmonious. The investigating officer concluded that the object likely passed over Kume Shima, west of Okinawa, in a north-northeasterly direction. The official conclusion recorded on the Project 10073 record card identifies the object as a bolide, noting that a check of records revealed no satellite reentries for that date and that there was no evidence to suggest the object was anything other than a bolide observation. The message was originally classified under AFR 200-5 but was later marked as having its classification cancelled in January 1968.