PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD — Sighting Report 2 Apr 62

On April 2, 1962, at 0530Z, a radar-only sighting occurred near Melville, Labrador, involving a single unidentified object detected by ground electronics (FPS 20 and FPS 6B) and airborne fire control radar (MG10). The object was initially observed at an altitude of 47,000 feet, approximately 110 nautical miles south-southeast of Melville. The radar contact was maintained for one hour and 54 minutes, during which the object moved in a generally easterly direction at a speed of 72 knots. Ten military personnel, including the senior director 1st Lt George W McKellar, observed the radar returns. Two F-102 aircraft were scrambled to intercept the target. The pilots established radar contact on three separate passes, noting that their overtake speed indicated the target was nearly stationary. No visual contact was made by the pilots. Weather conditions in the area included snow, rain, and fog, with an overcast ceiling at 1,000 feet and layered clouds above. The official assessment, prepared by Captain Billy B Forsman of the Goose Norad Sector Direction Center, concluded that while the object's identity could not be positively determined, the evidence strongly suggested it was a wind-borne, lighter-than-air object. Specifically, the report posits that a weather balloon released from Loring AFB at 0000Z, which may have suffered from faulty inflation or a slight leak, would have been carried by winds aloft to the vicinity of the sighting and leveled off at the observed altitude of 47,000 feet.