Project 10073 Record Card — Biloxi, Mississippi, 9 June 1962

On 9 June 1962, at approximately 0100 GMT, a Technical Sergeant stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, reported observing an unidentified aerial phenomenon while fishing on a pier in Biloxi. The witness described an oval or oblong object, roughly the size of an office desk, emitting a soft, silvery, phosphorescent glow. The object featured two rows of three lights at each end with a single light in the center. The witness observed the object for approximately five to seven seconds as it rose from an elevation of 3 degrees to 45 degrees on a straight course, moving at an estimated speed between 7,200 and 36,000 mph, before disappearing into a cloud bank. The witness reported that the object made absolutely no sound. The report was processed under Project 10073. Official military evaluation concluded that the sighting was likely an optical illusion caused by local weather conditions, specifically thunderstorms, lightning, and reflections off a cloud bank on the horizon. The reporting officer, LtCol Lester Bridges, noted that the estimated speed was beyond the capability of the human eye to accurately perceive and that the observation was improbable.