Project 10073 Record Card - Middletown, Ohio - August 1961

This document contains a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported by a civilian in Middletown, Ohio, in August 1961. The witness, a 40-year-old male, reported observing an object in orbit around the earth starting on August 6, 1961. He described the object as appearing like a star to the naked eye, but through a telescope, it appeared as a large, burning object with red, white, green, and blue colors. The witness claimed to have observed the object multiple times over several weeks and calculated its orbital period to be approximately 24 hours, estimating its speed at 15,000 to 18,000 miles per hour at an altitude of 65,000 miles. He initially suspected it might be a satellite, though he noted it was too large to have been launched by the U.S. or Russia, and speculated it could be an asteroid pulled into orbit. The witness reported his findings to the Middletown Journal and the Public Information Officer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The official Air Force evaluation, recorded on the project card, concluded that the object was the star Capella (Auriga). The investigators noted that the witness's calculations for the orbital period closely matched the length of a sidereal day, and that all evidence pointed to the object being a star rather than an artificial satellite or unidentified aerial phenomenon. The file includes the original correspondence from Colonel Edward H. Wynn to the witness, acknowledging the report and requesting further information, as well as the completed technical information sheets provided by the witness.