Project Blue Book Record — West Galveston Bay, Texas, 4 July 1966

This document contains a Project Blue Book sighting report regarding an unusual astronomical event observed on July 4, 1966, in West Galveston Bay, Texas. The primary witness, accompanied by his two sons, reported observing a stationary, comet-like object in the northern sky between 0100 and 0115 hours. The object was described as having a bright orange, fluctuating light, a blunt southern end, and a feathered northern tail. The witness estimated the object's altitude at approximately 60 degrees and noted that it maintained a fixed position relative to a nearby star. The witness explicitly ruled out balloons, aircraft, and weather phenomena, theorizing that the object might have been a stellar collision. The official conclusion recorded by Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief of Project Blue Book, was that there was insufficient data for a definitive evaluation. The file includes a formal letter from Major Quintanilla to the witness, acknowledging the report and its value to the project's data base, as well as a hand-drawn diagram by the witness illustrating the object's position relative to Polaris and other celestial markers.