Project 10073 Record Card — Haverhill, Massachusetts, 24 June 1961

This document contains a collection of records regarding a UFO sighting reported on June 24, 1961, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The primary record is a Project 10073 card, which documents a report from a female witness who observed a stationary, greyish-black object resembling an airplane body with short swept-back wings. The object was estimated to be hovering 300 feet above trees during a period of low clouds, drizzle, and an electrical storm. The witness, who was in a moving vehicle, initially believed the object was solid and distinct from an airplane. However, the official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that the witness had misidentified a common object, most likely a scud-type cloud, with the perceived motion and characteristics being a result of the witness's own movement and the atmospheric conditions. The file also includes correspondence between Air Force personnel and the witness, as well as a letter from the witness's husband, who identifies himself as a minister and a long-time student of the UFO question. He expresses his belief that the public should be told the truth about UFOs to prevent mass hysteria. The document also contains a list of additional reported sightings from July 1961, which includes various locations across the United States and Canada, with evaluations ranging from 'Insufficient Data' to 'Satellite' or 'Aircraft'. The correspondence highlights the Air Force's attempt to gather more specific data from the witness through a questionnaire, specifically asking about the object's elevation and the witness's direction of travel, to better assess the validity of the report.