Project 10073 Record Card and Associated Incoming Messages — May 1961

This document collection details a UAP sighting reported on May 4, 1961, by the crew of a C-124 aircraft (tail number 532207) operating 100 nautical miles northwest of Wake Island. The crew, including Captain Carrol L. Holley, 1st Lieutenant Wiley S. Brooks, and Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Kahler, observed a white object with the magnitude of a star in the belt of Orion. The object was first noticed in a group of stars at a 40-degree angle to the horizon. It maintained a straight and level flight path for approximately seven to eight minutes before disappearing from view, reportedly due to vision limitations imposed by the cockpit configuration. The sighting was reported via the CIRVIS (Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS) system. Initial evaluations suggested the object might be a satellite, and the report references a similar sighting by another source (V43209) in the same general timeframe. However, follow-up checks with Space Track produced negative results. Captain Johnny W. Shanks of the 313th Air Division noted that the object's apparent movement was too fast for a planet and too slow for a meteor. He further stated that there was no way to compare this sighting with other personnel in the area and that no firing data was available to definitively confirm the satellite hypothesis. The documentation includes detailed weather data from the Kadena Air Base weather station to assist in the evaluation of the atmospheric conditions at the time of the incident. The final assessment remains inconclusive, noting that while the satellite explanation was considered, it could not be verified by the available data.