Project 10073 Record Card — Falls Church, Virginia, 24 May 1961

This document contains a collection of records and correspondence regarding a UFO sighting in Falls Church, Virginia, on May 24, 1961. The primary witness, a civilian, reported observing a silver-white, light-like object moving slowly around the moon for approximately 20 minutes. The witness, who observed the object through binoculars, noted that it appeared to be at an extremely high altitude and eventually separated and vanished. The sighting was reported to the U.S. Air Force, and the documentation includes a Project 10073 record card and subsequent correspondence between Major William T. Coleman, Jr., and Dr. Donald H. Menzel of the Harvard Observatory. The official Air Force evaluation concluded that the object was almost certainly a weather balloon. The analysis suggests that the object's brightness and color were due to late evening sunlight reflecting off the balloon, and that the reported 'breaking up' or 'separation' was consistent with a balloon bursting at high altitude. Major Coleman noted in his correspondence that he had been in contact with the witness, providing them with information about balloon schedules and high-altitude winds to explain the phenomenon. The file also includes internal Air Force technical information sheets and copies of the original questionnaire completed by the witness, who initially suspected the object might have been a weather balloon or a missile. The documentation reflects the standard procedure for investigating civilian reports during this period, emphasizing the identification of known phenomena such as balloons and astronomical events.