Project 10073 Record: Balloon Sighting near Snow Hill, Maryland

This document details the recovery and identification of an unidentified aerial object that landed in a field behind a hatchery in Snow Hill, Maryland, on October 20, 1965. The object was initially observed by multiple witnesses across the Eastern United States. Following the landing, the Air Force received reports via radio and newspapers, and subsequently, a call from Dover Air Force Base. The object was described as being 13.7 to 16.5 feet long, blimp-shaped, constructed of metalized mylar plastic, and equipped with five valves and three inflated fins.

Upon notification, the Air Force coordinated with the G.T. Schjeldahl Company of Northfield, Minnesota, the manufacturer of the balloon. A company representative, Robert Ladd, and an engineer, Kenneth Witt, identified the object as a test balloon manufactured for NASA. Bob Long of NASA Operations at Wallops Island Station, Virginia, confirmed that NASA had been conducting a series of experimental balloon tests and that wind conditions on October 20 made it possible for a balloon launched from Wallops Island to have drifted to the location in Maryland. The object was positively identified as a NASA test balloon, and arrangements were made for its return to NASA. The document also notes that the Air Force UFO Information Office had been queried regarding a separate balloon incident in Vero Beach, Florida, which was also investigated as a potential NASA test balloon, though it was described as being shaped like a light bulb.