Project 10073 Record Card and Incident Report — Fallon, Nevada, 9 October 1963

On 9 October 1963, a control tower operator at Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada observed a bright, silver, round object at dusk. The object, which appeared to be the size of a dime, was initially mistaken for an inbound aircraft. The witness, using binoculars, noted that the object had a faint tail, possibly with two lights at the end, and was rising from 10 to 20 degrees above the horizon over a 20-minute period. The object moved slowly toward the south before disappearing behind a thin layer of clouds. Radar sites at Tonopah, Fallon, and Winnemucca confirmed the presence of a light on the eastern horizon. A flight of four US Navy aircraft was operating in the area at the time; one pilot, LT W. Spear, observed the object and identified it as Venus. Another pilot, LT Commander Charles G. Harnden, pursued the light briefly before concluding it was a planet. Major Donald E. Post, the investigating officer from Stead AFB, concluded that the object was the planet Jupiter. He noted that the presence of a cloud layer at altitude created an illusion of motion, which confused the observers. No other reports of the object were received, and the investigation was closed with the determination that the sighting was an astronomical event.