Project 10073 Record Card and Joint Messageform — Silver Spring, Maryland, 15 January 1963

On 15 January 1963, at 0400Z, two civilian witnesses in Silver Spring, Maryland, observed an unidentified aerial object. The primary witness, an engineer at Operations Research Inc., and a second witness, an engineer at the Navy Yards and Docks, reported seeing a circular object that appeared like a large, bright star. The object exhibited alternating colors of bright white and dull red. As it approached, a long, yellow-white vertical trail was noted, extending at least two feet behind the object. The witnesses observed the object moving from the south toward the north, performing erratic maneuvers, including a smooth sweeping turn to the west before returning to a northern heading and eventually disappearing below the horizon. The observation lasted approximately two minutes. The witnesses reported no sound and estimated the altitude to be above 30,000 feet. The report was processed by the 1001st Air Base Wing at Andrews AFB and forwarded to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson AFB. Following an evaluation of the flight path, maneuvers, and the presence of a trail, the incident was officially classified as an aircraft sighting. The trail was attributed to a contrail, and the maneuvers and duration were deemed consistent with aircraft behavior, effectively ruling out a meteor sighting. The witnesses were considered reliable, and the weather conditions at the time were reported as clear.