Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting Report 4 April 1962

This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated military message traffic regarding a CIRVIS (Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings) report filed on April 4, 1962. At 1557Z, a single unidentified object was sighted visually at coordinates 31.40N 177.20W. The object was described as having the brightness of a first-magnitude star and was observed for a duration of 10 minutes. Its flight path was noted as moving through the star Polaris in an easterly direction. The report explicitly states that the object was not picked up on radar and that there was no radar correlation for the sighting. Weather conditions at the time of the observation were reported as CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited). The official evaluation, recorded on the Project 10073 card, suggests that the object possessed orbital characteristics. Although specific ECHO data was not available to the investigators, they concluded that the object's speed, the duration of the sighting, and its directional heading were consistent with the analysis of a satellite. The report was disseminated to various military commands, including CINCORAD and HADD KUNIA, via separate transmission. The documentation provides a clear record of the military's process for handling aerial sightings during this period, emphasizing the integration of visual reports with orbital analysis to identify potential satellite activity.