PROJECT 10073 RECORD - Topeka, Kansas - 16 Feb 67

This document is a Project 10073 record and associated staff message regarding a UFO sighting reported on February 16, 1967, in Topeka, Kansas. An observer, while driving, reported seeing a stationary, oval-shaped, white object for approximately four minutes. The observer noted that the object resembled a flare at one point. The investigation, conducted by Colonel Walter C. Pittman of the 5th U.S. Army Advisory Group, concluded that the sighting was likely the lights of a C-130 aircraft departing from Forbes AFB. The aircraft had departed at 0436Z on February 17, 1967, and performed a right turn to intercept an airway, which would have placed it approximately two miles west of the witness's location at an altitude of 2,000 feet. The investigator noted that the 'eruptions' described by the witness were likely reflections off of light, falling snow in the area. Colonel Pittman further remarked that many observers mistakenly believe that an object appearing stationary cannot be an aircraft, noting that the relative movement of the observer's vehicle and the aircraft could create the illusion of a stationary object.