Project 10073 Record Card — Tampa, Florida, 17 November 1962

This document details a UFO sighting reported by J. F. Swindle, a former U.S. Marine Corps Captain and official at the Swindle-Powell Company, which occurred on the evening of November 17, 1962, near Tampa, Florida. Mr. Swindle and his wife observed three star-like objects of second magnitude while on the front porch of their ranch home. The objects initially appeared to be an airplane approaching from the Northeast at a high altitude. However, the objects suddenly stopped in the sky, hovering for approximately three to five minutes. During this time, the witness compared their position to a post on his porch to confirm they were stationary. After hovering, the objects departed rapidly toward the Southeast, maintaining an irregular, 'bouncy' formation. The witness noted that the objects did not fly in a straight line like an airplane and that they varied the distance between each other during flight. The entire observation lasted between 11 and 15 minutes. The weather was described as an unusually clear night with no visibility restrictions. The report was forwarded by the 836th Air Division to the Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) at Wright-Patterson AFB. The investigating officer, Major Jack H. Bond, characterized the witness as a mature, stable, and credible individual of sound judgment. The official conclusion of the report was that the sighting remained 'UNIDENTIFIED' and that the phenomenon was beyond the scope of the headquarters to explain. The document also includes subsequent correspondence from Mr. Swindle to Dr. J. Allen Hynek in 1963, in which the witness mentions that he and his wife observed the same 'stars' again on a later date, suggesting a recurring phenomenon.