Project 10073 Record Card — Charleston AFB, S.C., 8 Oct 63

On October 8, 1963, at approximately 0030Z, a sighting of an unidentified aerial object was reported at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina. The witness, TSgt Shannon W. Calvert, a GCA operator with the 1966 Comm Sq, described the object as an orange, comet-like entity with a tail or exhaust approximately 15 times the length of the object itself. The object was first observed in the Southeast horizon at an azimuth of 145 degrees and moved toward the Northwest. The witness noted that the object appeared to be climbing initially before assuming a flat trajectory and eventually appeared to be breaking up and shredding as it disappeared. The total duration of the observation was 30 seconds. Official records indicate that the object was evaluated as an astronomical meteor (bolide). Despite the witness's belief that the object's appearance and trajectory distinguished it from a typical falling star, and the determination that it was likely not a weather balloon based on winds aloft reports, the military concluded the case as a meteor observation. Inquiries made to the Coast Guard, the US Navy, and other local agencies yielded no additional explanatory information, and no other UFO reports were received by those agencies.