Project 10073 Record — Sighting Report, 11 August 1965, Albany, New York

This document collection details a UFO sighting reported by a 62-year-old female civilian in Menands, Albany, New York, on August 11, 1965. The witness, a former teacher, reported observing two gleaming, metallic objects flying low from North to South along the Hudson River at approximately 7:25 P.M. She described the objects as solid, silent, and non-spinning, with a shape she compared to a four-leaf clover or a wide lampshade. She estimated their width at six feet and depth at five feet. The observation lasted approximately 90 seconds. The witness noted that birds in the area appeared excited and disturbed by the objects. Following the incident, the witness attempted to report the sighting to local authorities, including the Watervliet Arsenal and the local Weather Bureau, but felt her reports were ignored or dismissed as an optical illusion. Frustrated by this, she wrote directly to the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff in the Pentagon. The correspondence reveals a disconnect between the witness's firm conviction in the reality of the objects and the official Air Force response, which categorized the report as insufficient for a firm evaluation and requested further details via FTD Form 164. The witness expressed skepticism regarding extraterrestrial origins, suggesting instead that the objects might be high-powered, remote-controlled cameras launched from ships at sea, possibly related to foreign military activity. The file includes the original questionnaire, the witness's detailed narrative, sketches of the objects, and subsequent correspondence from the Foreign Technology Division and the Office of Information, which maintained that the objects were not real or were optical illusions, a conclusion the witness vehemently rejected.