Project 10073 Record — Lancaster, California, 22 August 1965

On August 22, 1965, a 41-year-old service engineer for General Electric, who possessed over 3,000 hours of military and private flying experience, observed two unidentified objects near Lancaster, California. The witness, who was alerted to the objects after hearing a light plane, described the larger object as round and white, flashing at a rate of approximately one flash per second. The smaller object was described as brownish-grey and shaped like a fly wing. The smaller object was initially observed on the left side of the larger object before performing an extremely rapid crossover to the right side, estimated to take about two seconds, with no apparent lag in speed. Neither object exhibited tails, trails, or exhaust, and no sound was associated with the sighting. The larger object remained visible for three minutes, while the smaller object was visible for one minute. The objects eventually disappeared into the desert haze to the northeast. The Air Force Flight Test Center investigated the report, querying Detachment #5 of the 2d Surveillance Squadron (ADC) for potential satellite or spacecraft data, which returned negative results. Captain John D. Balent, the investigating officer, concluded that the most plausible explanation was that the objects were an escort or chase aircraft, though he noted that the unusual features left the observer with some doubt. The observer only decided to report the incident after hearing about other UFO sightings in the Los Angeles area on an evening telecast.