Project 10073 Record Card — Moorhead, Minnesota, 29 October 1962

On 29 October 1962, at approximately 2200Z, a sighting of an unidentified object was reported near Moorhead, Minnesota. The witness, an employee of the American Crystal Sugar Company, described the object as being comparable in size to a small aircraft, trailing blue-white flames and a significant amount of smoke. The object was observed for a duration of one to two minutes, during which it maintained a slow, straight-line descent toward the east-northeast before disappearing below the horizon. A second witness was identified but could not be located for follow-up interviews. Lieutenant Herbert E. Porter of the Air National Guard assisted in the investigation, which included checking for aircraft accidents or incidents in the vicinity and reviewing weather data. The investigating officers noted that the total duration of the sighting likely included the observation of the smoke trail. While the possibility of a daylight meteor or space debris decay was considered, there were no recorded decays for that date. The investigation was hampered by the difficulty of obtaining information from the primary witness, who was described as having a belligerent attitude. Ultimately, the case was classified as having insufficient data for a definitive evaluation.