Project 10073 Record: Weston, Massachusetts Sightings, January 1966

This document contains a comprehensive record of two UFO sightings reported in Weston, Massachusetts, on January 14 and 17, 1966. The primary witness, an associate director at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, described observing an intense, white, light-emitting object that hovered and meandered in the southern sky. The witness, described by Dr. J. Allen Hynek as a highly technically trained and sincere observer, reported that the object exhibited a white spectrum with greenish and pinkish scintillations, and at times appeared to have an hourglass shape when viewed through binoculars. The object was observed for approximately 20 minutes during the first incident and several minutes during the second. The witness explicitly ruled out aircraft, noting that the object's motion and light intensity were inconsistent with known aircraft lights. Dr. Hynek, acting as the investigator, conducted an interview on January 20, 1966, and expressed concern that the case was a 'potential troublemaker' due to the high caliber of the witness and the nature of the report. Subsequent correspondence between the Foreign Technology Division and NASA's Wallops Station confirmed that chemical cloud experiments, involving the release of sodium vapor and trimethylaluminum (TMA) to measure wind velocities, were conducted from Wallops Island on January 17, 1966. These experiments generated reddish-orange and blue-green clouds visible along the East Coast. The document includes transcripts of the interview, sketches provided by the witness, and meteorological data, ultimately concluding that the sightings were likely associated with these NASA experiments.