Project 10073 Record — St. Mary Ranger Station, Glacier National Park, Montana

On October 1, 1965, at approximately 7:55 PM, civilian observers at the St. Mary Ranger Station in Glacier National Park, Montana, witnessed an aerial object. The observers reported that the object was visible for approximately three seconds, traveling from the Northwest to the Southeast. They described the object as yellowish, nearly as dark as the moon, and noted that it possessed a tear-drop shape with a wide tail, which they compared to the flowering head of a Beargrass plant. The observers noted that no sound was heard, which they attributed to the windy conditions. They initially believed the object to be fragments of a space vehicle re-entering the atmosphere. Following the report, the Air Force conducted an investigation under Project 10073. A check with SPADATS indicated that no specific satellite was scheduled for re-entry at that time. However, the Air Force concluded that the duration, direction of flight, and general description were characteristic of a re-entering satellite component or space debris. It was determined that the observers likely witnessed the re-entry of a smaller component of space debris for which no track is maintained. The official conclusion categorized the event as a satellite decay, noting that the shape was consistent with space debris, with a meteor also being a possibility.