Project 10073 Record Card and Related Press Clippings — July 1961

This document compiles reports, correspondence, and press clippings regarding a UFO sighting on July 4, 1961, by pilot Ernie Stadvec. Stadvec, a former World War II bomber pilot and owner of Stadvec Aviation, Inc., reported that while flying between Akron and Cleveland, he and his passengers observed a greenish object on a collision course with his aircraft. According to his account, the object stopped, performed a violent turn to the northwest, and then shot straight up into the sky. The sighting was corroborated by reports of radar contact at the Cleveland-Hopkins Airport tower. The Air Force, represented by Major Robert Friend of the UFO investigation at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, officially concluded that the object was an atmospheric refraction of the star Capella. This explanation was met with significant skepticism and public criticism from Stadvec and the Akron UFO Research Committee. Stadvec maintained that he had been flying since 1942 and was well-acquainted with atmospheric phenomena, asserting that the object's maneuvers—specifically its rapid climbing and leveling off—were inconsistent with a star. The document includes various press clippings from the Dayton Daily News and the Akron Beacon Journal, which highlight the tension between the official Air Force explanation and the witness's firsthand account. Further correspondence between a civilian and Major William T. Coleman, Jr. in October 1961 confirms the Air Force's continued adherence to the 'Capella' explanation, despite the witness's persistent rejection of the theory. The file also contains technical weather data, including adiabatic charts, which appear to have been used in the evaluation of the atmospheric conditions at the time of the incident.