Project 10073 Record Card: Mount Zion, West Virginia

This document file contains a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding the recovery of metallic slivers in Mount Zion, West Virginia. A citizen reported finding piles of silver-colored, tinfoil-like slivers in a wooded area on June 9, 1961, noting that similar material had been found in the same area in November 1957. The witness sent samples of these materials to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) for analysis, seeking information on their origin and purpose. In a response dated June 23, 1961, Colonel Philip G. Evans of the USAF confirmed that the material was 'chaff,' a substance used by the Air Force to interfere with radar frequencies during training and testing. The correspondence explains that chaff is typically released in bundles from aircraft at high altitudes—approximately eight miles up—and is designed to fall slowly, which accounts for the material drifting into the witness's area and being found in small, neat piles. The official conclusion recorded on the project card is that the material was definitely identified as chaff from a USAF source.