Project 10073 Record Card and Naval Message — Sasebo, Japan, 3 August 1961

This document consists of a Project 10073 Record Card and a supporting Naval Message detailing an unidentified aerial phenomenon sighting that occurred on 3 August 1961 near Sasebo Harbor, Japan. The sighting was reported by two naval officers, CDR Robert J. Callahan and LT Thomas B. Green, both of whom were noted as excellent observers. The object was described as a brilliant red-orange light moving at great speed in a horizontal flight path. The observers noted that the object left an exhaust trail, which disappeared and then reappeared, leading them to speculate that a second ignition might have occurred. The duration of the sighting was approximately 10 to 12 seconds. The observers explicitly stated that the description did not fit a meteor. The official evaluation on the record card notes that while the phenomenon appeared to be a meteor, the interval of disappearance made this conclusion problematic, ultimately resulting in a classification of insufficient data for evaluation. The Naval Message confirms that separate interrogations of the witnesses yielded consistent details regarding the event. The weather conditions at the time were reported as scattered cumulus clouds, but the observers noted that no clouds obscured their vision of the object during its horizontal flight. The report was processed through naval channels, including CINCPACFLT and ITZAKE AB, and was eventually filed under Project 10073, which was the Air Technical Intelligence Center's (ATIC) project for tracking such reports.