Project 10073 Record Card — Arlington Heights, Illinois, 5 May 1963

On May 5, 1963, a sighting of an unidentified aerial object was reported in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The witness, a patent attorney, observed a small, circular, silver, and highly reflective object through 7x25 binoculars at approximately 0130Z. The object was initially observed at an elevation of 75-80 degrees at dusk. The witness reported that the object remained stationary for a period, moved slightly, and then returned to a stationary position before eventually fading out. The sighting lasted for 45 minutes. An evaluation by the Chicago Air Defense Sector concluded that the object was a balloon. This conclusion was supported by the fact that the University of Wisconsin at Madison had released a balloon in the area at 2000Z. The report notes that while the direction of the object was not reported, its description, motion, and the reported presence of the balloon in the area led to the analysis that it was a balloon sighting. The Chicago Tribune was notified of the event, but the story was not printed. Weather conditions at the time were clear with scattered cloud cover at high altitudes.