Project 10073 Record Card — St. Paul, Minnesota, January 30, 1962

This document contains a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon sighting in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 30, 1962. The primary witness, a 23-year-old graduate student in physics at the University of Minnesota, reported observing an object at approximately 1640 CST. According to the witness, the object was descending at a high speed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, glowing a dull red and leaving a trail. The object reportedly exploded and disappeared within approximately half a second. The witness, who was walking with his wife at the time, initially described the event as a 'shooting star' or 'meteorite.' In his detailed follow-up correspondence, the witness provided technical observations, noting that the object's trail remained visible for several minutes, which he compared to the contrail of a high-altitude jet. He explicitly discounted local news reports that claimed the object was only 300 feet above the ground, citing the lack of sound and the behavior of the vapor trail as evidence against such a low altitude. The witness also provided sketches and angular estimates, leveraging his academic background in cosmic ray physics and experience with high-altitude balloons. The correspondence includes a letter from Major C. R. Hart of the Air Force Public Information Division, dated February 8, 1962, acknowledging the witness's letter and requesting that he and his wife complete the official U.S. Air Force technical information forms for submission to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Major Hart suggested that the object could have been a jet afterburner or a bolide, but emphasized that these were merely conjectures until a more complete report could be analyzed. The file includes the completed questionnaire, which confirms the witness's observations, including the lack of sound and the object's appearance as a light that changed from a dull red streak to a bright flash before disappearing.