Project 10073 Record — Chicago, Illinois, 26 June 1966

On the night of June 26, 1966, a resident of Chicago, Illinois, reported observing five to six unusual white lights in the southern sky. The witness, who had previous experience working for TWA at Midway and O'Hare airports, described the lights as being the size of automobile headlights. The objects appeared to move in a straight line from west to east. The witness observed a methodical sequence where one light at the head of the formation would disappear, only to reappear a second later at the end of the row, a pattern that repeated throughout the 30-second observation. The witness estimated the altitude to be approximately 1,000 to 1,500 feet and noted no sound. Following an initial letter from the witness and the submission of a formal U.S. Air Force technical information questionnaire, Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief of Project Blue Book, responded on August 11, 1966. Major Quintanilla concluded that the sighting was caused by an aircraft towing an electrical advertising sign. He explained that such aircraft were common in the Chicago area and that at a distance of approximately one mile, an observer would likely only perceive the sequential rows of electric lights rather than the aircraft itself.