Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — Saudi Arabia, October 1963

This document contains a Project 10073 record card and subsequent correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported by a civilian in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on October 31, 1963. The witness observed a fiery object in the sky at 7:40 PM local time while looking out of a living room window. The witness described the object as having a main body the size of a tennis ball with small fiery pieces trailing behind, with a total length of approximately one to two feet. The object moved from the northeast to the south for two to three seconds before extinguishing suddenly. The witness noted that the object appeared to be moving much slower than a typical shooting star and estimated its altitude at approximately 1,000 feet. The Foreign Technology Division of the Air Force Systems Command evaluated the report and concluded that the object was a meteor. This determination was based on the duration and description of the object, as well as the direction of flight. The evaluation explicitly noted that the direction of flight to the southwest ruled out the possibility of satellite decay, and that the duration of the sighting was not consistent with known decay analysis for objects like Sputnik IV or Discoverer VIII. The correspondence includes a formal response from Major Maston M. Jacks of the Office of Information to the witness, confirming the evaluation of the sighting as a meteor.