Project 10073 Record Card and Correspondence — Trenton, Michigan, February 1964

This document is a Project 10073 record card and associated correspondence regarding a UFO sighting in Trenton, Michigan, on February 26, 1964. The witness, a 14-year-old male who identified himself as an amateur astronomer with a telescope, reported observing an object for approximately 35 minutes. He described the object as black and white, lacking a tail, and noted that it moved from the northwest to the northeast. According to the witness, the object traveled at a speed that made it impossible to track with his telescope, though he observed it through the instrument. He reported that the object moved across the sky, decelerated to a stop at 30 degrees above the horizon, and then accelerated out of sight. The witness explicitly stated that the object was neither a star nor a satellite. The Air Force investigation, led by Captain Hector Quintanilla Jr. of the Aerial Phenomena Branch, concluded that the data provided was confusing and conflicting. The official assessment suggested the object was possibly an aircraft or a balloon, but noted that the information presented conflicted on many essential points, rendering a definitive evaluation impossible. The file includes the original questionnaire completed by the witness, a hand-drawn sketch of the object, and a letter from Captain Quintanilla requesting further information from the witness. A handwritten note on the final page of the correspondence suggests that the investigator hoped for better funding for the Atmospheric Optics group to handle such cases more effectively.