Project 10073 Record: UFO Sighting Report, San Diego, California, 19 December 1966

This document is a collection of reports and internal memoranda regarding a series of Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings in the San Diego, California area during December 1966. The primary incident occurred on 16 December 1966, involving four objects sighted by three U.S. Navy officers—Ensigns John H. Schmitt, David G. Conklin, and John W. Coghill—near USNAAS Ream Field. The witnesses described the objects as bright orange, round, and moving from East to West. They observed the objects for approximately nine minutes before they flickered and disappeared. A separate report was filed by a civilian, Donald R. Carr, who claimed to have witnessed similar objects on 19 and 20 December 1966. Carr, a self-identified mechanical engineer and member of the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), provided his own accounts and previous reports to the Naval Investigative Service Office (NISO). The investigation concluded that the sightings were a hoax. This determination was bolstered by a report from a radio station KOGO newscaster, who observed similar objects in the vicinity of his residence in Lemon Grove. The newscaster followed one of the objects to the ground and discovered it to be a plastic bag, of the type used by dry cleaners, with a candle device attached to provide lift. The NISO concluded that these objects were intentionally released to mimic UFOs. The documentation includes formal correspondence between the Naval Investigative Service Office and the March Air Force Base, as well as the original sighting report submitted by Ensign Schmitt.