Project 10073 Record: Sighting in Montevallo, Alabama, 3 October 1966

This document contains the official Project Blue Book record for a sighting that occurred on October 3, 1966, in Montevallo, Alabama. A civilian witness, identified as a student at Alabama College, reported observing four blinking red dots in the night sky between 0619Z and approximately 0652Z. The objects were described as having varied movement, with two blinking regularly and two blinking irregularly. At one point, the objects were close together before the irregular blinkers moved rapidly apart. One object performed a U-turn and disappeared, while another moved straight up like a rocket for several seconds before returning to its original position. The witness noted that the only sound heard during the event was from a jet aircraft flying to and from Birmingham. The Air Force initially deemed the information insufficient for evaluation and requested that the witness complete a formal FTD Form 164. Subsequent analysis by Captain Warren J. Carter, an Emergency Actions Officer, suggested that the observed lights might have been weather balloons released from Memphis at 0523Z, with the visual effect caused by sunlight reflecting off the balloons. The document includes the original project record form, correspondence from Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr. to the witness, and a military teletype message detailing the specific observations.