Project 10073 Record Card — Niles, Illinois, August 14, 1963

On August 14, 1963, at approximately 1935 hours local time, a civilian witness and their family observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon while driving west on Dempster Street in Morton Grove, Illinois. The witness described the object as being shaped like a drop of water, tilted at a 30-degree angle, and positioned at a 40-degree elevation. The object was observed to be white, approximately four times as bright as the brightest star, and exhibited no surface reflections. During the eight-minute observation, the object descended behind a cumulus cloud, reappeared, hovered briefly, and then moved westward against the prevailing north-west wind. The witness noted that the object gained speed and eventually disappeared from view, explicitly stating that no metallic surfaces or protrusions were visible that would suggest it was an aircraft. The official evaluation by the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center concluded that the sighting was likely a misinterpretation of a conventional object, noting that the observation occurred toward the setting sun, which may have influenced the witness's perception.