Project 10073 Record Card — Watertown, Connecticut, 29 September 1961

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported by a fourteen-year-old student at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut. On September 29, 1961, at approximately 3:00 PM, the witness observed seven small, silver objects moving at an extremely fast speed across the sun's corona while sitting on a soccer field. The witness initially suspected a rocket or missile but later questioned if they were U.F.O.s or military weapons. The witness wrote to the Department of Defense on September 30, 1961, seeking clarification on whether others had reported similar sightings or if the U.S. Air Force was responsible. Major William T. Coleman, Jr., of the Air Force, responded on October 10, 1961, stating that it was impossible to definitively identify the objects due to a lack of corroborating reports. He suggested the phenomenon might have been a 'Sun Dog,' a concept discussed in the writings of Dr. Donald Menzel of the Harvard Observatory, and noted that the witness's observation of the sun's corona likely caused eye strain, further complicating the perception of the objects. The official record card for the incident concludes that there was insufficient data for a formal evaluation.