Project 10073 Record Card — Washington, D.C., 11-12 December 1963

This document contains a collection of reports and correspondence regarding a sighting of unidentified aerial phenomena over Washington, D.C., on December 11 and 12, 1963. The primary witness, a U.S. Coast Guard officer, reported observing two black, smoke-like objects near the 14th Street Bridge and National Airport. The witness described the objects as generally round, roughly the size of a house, and noted that they changed size and shape continuously, appearing more like black gas than a solid object. The objects remained largely stationary, moving in short bursts back and forth. The witness, who was driving in heavy traffic at the time, observed the phenomena through his car windshield. Following the report, the Foreign Technology Division of the Air Force Systems Command investigated the incident. A representative from the Netherlands Embassy contacted the Air Force, noting that he had read about the sighting in an Air Force Fact Sheet and that it was of particular interest to him. He further advised that he had observed similar phenomena on several occasions, which he identified as a flock of starlings being chased by a bird of prey. The Air Force concluded that the observations were likely natural phenomena, specifically a flock of birds, noting that there was no evidence to support any other conclusion and that no reports were made by aircraft or tower personnel at the airport during the time of the sighting.