Project 10073 Record — Rochester, Minnesota, March 12, 1967

On March 12, 1967, at approximately 1500Z, a twelve-year-old boy named Mark Hrubetz observed an unidentified flying object in Rochester, Minnesota. The witness, who was at his home, described the object as an inverted mushroom, slightly larger than a car, and approximately two feet thick with a stack on top. He noted that smoke or a plastic-like streamer was emanating from the stack. The object was initially observed hovering about twenty-five to thirty feet above the ground. It subsequently tilted forty-five degrees, wobbled, and disappeared toward the northwest. The entire observation lasted approximately two minutes. The witness took three photographs of the object using a camera he had won in a contest. The Rochester Post Bulletin published one of the photographs, and the images were briefly in the possession of a local television announcer, Gary Petersen. The Air Force initiated an investigation under Project 10073, but the initial conclusion was that there was insufficient data for evaluation. The Air Force requested the original negatives and specific camera data from the witness to conduct a comprehensive photographic investigation, but the case remained pending as of the date of the correspondence.