Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — Potomac, Maryland, July 1963

On July 29, 1963, a PhD-holding electrical engineer and physicist observed an unidentified aerial object in Potomac, Maryland. The witness, who was with two other college professors, described the object as a bright point of light, slightly brighter than Sirius, which appeared stationary but exhibited extremely slow, regular angular motion. The object was observed for approximately 10 minutes near the moon before moving behind clouds. The witness reported the sighting to the U.S. Air Force using a technical information questionnaire. The Foreign Technology Division (FTD) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base investigated the report, forwarding it to Dr. J. Allen Hynek at Northwestern University. Further investigation involved contacting Mr. Vince Lally at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). It was determined that three research balloons had been launched from Palestine, Texas, on July 24, 1963. One of these balloons was tracked across the United States, through Canada, and back down through Maine and New Hampshire. The tracking was lost after 102 hours with the balloon heading southwest toward the eastern coastal states. The Air Force concluded that the estimated flight path placed the balloon in the vicinity of Maryland at the time of the sighting. Although the instrument package from the balloon was never recovered, the Air Force informed the witness that this was a possible cause for the sighting. The correspondence between the Air Force and the witness, dated November 1963, apologizes for the delay in providing this evaluation.