Project 10073 Record — UFO Sighting, 4-5 August 1965

This document details an investigation into an unidentified aerial phenomenon reported by the crew of a C-97 aircraft (tail number 10224) on the night of August 4-5, 1965. The aircraft was on a cross-country flight from Gulfport, Mississippi, to Oklahoma City. According to the reports, the crew observed a light approximately 10 miles off the right wing of their aircraft while at an altitude of 16,000 feet near the Alexandria, Louisiana VOR. The object reportedly maintained the same speed as the C-97 for approximately 10 minutes before accelerating to a speed estimated at Mach 2 to Mach 3 and climbing rapidly. A message was relayed from England Air Force Base, and an FAA radar observer in Houston noted a trace on their scope, though no target was confirmed. The Foreign Technology Division (FTD) of the Air Force Systems Command determined that the initial information provided was insufficient for a definitive evaluation. Consequently, the FTD initiated a formal request for the crew members to complete FTD Form 164 questionnaires to provide more detailed accounts of the sighting. The documentation includes the official correspondence between the FTD and the 137th Air Transport Wing, as well as the completed technical information questionnaires from the crew members involved. The crew members described the object as a bright white light with a slight corona, noting that it appeared to match their speed and track before performing a high-speed climb. The investigation remained inconclusive due to the lack of corroborating physical evidence or definitive radar data.