Project 10073 Record: UFO Sighting, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 7 July 1966

This document contains the official Air Force Project Blue Book record regarding a UFO sighting reported in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 7, 1966. The report includes correspondence from Robert Lynn, an associate member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), who submitted the report on behalf of two witnesses. The witnesses described a bright, multi-colored object, likened to a skyrocket, traveling eastward and downward toward the ground. The object was estimated to be at an altitude of approximately 400 feet and was described as being as bright as an automobile headlight. The witnesses reported that the object did not emit smoke, sparks, or vapor, and made no sound. Following the report, Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief of Project Blue Book, consulted with Dr. Charles Olivier of the American Meteor Society. Dr. Olivier concluded that the object was definitively a bright meteor or fireball. Major Quintanilla concurred with this assessment, noting that the case was straightforward and would be filed in the project's 'fireball card file.' The documentation includes the original sighting report, correspondence between the Air Force and the American Meteor Society, and a copy of a local newspaper article describing the event.