Project 10073 Record: Possible UFO Sighting, St. Louis, Missouri

This document details the investigation of a series of photographs taken on the night of October 29, 1966, in South St. Louis, Missouri. A witness, identified as the father-in-law of a USAF officer, captured four 35mm slides of an unidentified object between 2300 and 2330 hours. The witness reported that at the time of the sighting, Scott Air Force Base indicated they had a UFO on radar. The slides were submitted to the Foreign Technology Division (FTD) for analysis under Project Blue Book. The St. Louis Planetarium initially identified the object as the planet Jupiter after comparing the images to a star chart. Subsequent photo analysis by the FTD confirmed this conclusion, noting that the images were consistent with the planet Jupiter. Regarding other slides submitted in the same case, the analysts suggested that some images showed light sources or reflections, while others displayed linear patterns resembling smoke or exhaust trails, potentially from an aborted skywriting attempt. The report concluded that the evidence did not support the presence of an unidentified aerial phenomenon, but rather astronomical bodies and conventional aircraft-related activity. The Air Force later contacted the witness to request permission to distribute the photographs for public information, while offering to protect the witness's identity to avoid undue publicity.