Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — Mobile, Alabama, 19 February 1962

On 19 February 1962, at approximately 1742 hours, two civilian witnesses observed an unidentified object while driving across the Dauphin Island toll bridge in Alabama. The witnesses described the object as a reddish-orange, round light, approximately one-third the size of the sun, which remained stationary just above the horizon. One witness reported that the object changed shape to resemble a football before eventually disappearing, seemingly surrounded by fog. The sighting lasted approximately twelve minutes for one witness and three minutes for the other. Captain Thomas C. Alfsen of the Mobile Air Materiel Area interviewed the witnesses and concluded they were reliable and not prone to exaggeration. The 693rd Radar Squadron at Dauphin Island was contacted, but they reported no radar contact corresponding to the sighting. A subsequent investigation revealed two additional witnesses, both airmen from the 693rd Radar Squadron, who observed the object while traveling toward Mobile. The official evaluation of the incident, as recorded on the Project 10073 record card, concluded that the witnesses had observed the planet Venus, which was rising in the west at the time with a magnitude of -3.4. The report notes that the atmospheric conditions were perfect, clear, and cloudless, facilitating the observation of the planet.