Project 10073 Record — Sioux City, Iowa, 14 March 1967

On March 14, 1967, at 0340Z, a civilian witness in Sioux City, Iowa, observed an unidentified aerial object. The witness, described as a 53-year-old dictaphone operator deemed reliable, reported seeing a round object, approximately the size of a small aircraft, moving from south to north. The object was described as having a red flame and emitting black and light gray smoke from its rear. The witness noted that the object appeared to be engulfed in flames, which extinguished suddenly, leaving only a smoke trail. The object was observed for approximately one to one and a half minutes at an altitude of roughly 1,000 feet off the horizon before disappearing instantaneously. The weather conditions at the time were reported as cloudy and overcast with 10/10 cloud cover and a strong inversion layer between 4,200 and 5,500 feet. The report was processed by the 30th Air Division at Sioux City Municipal Airport and forwarded to Air Defense Command and other military units. The official conclusion reached by the investigating officer, Captain Neville C. Herbert, was that the object was a 'Probable AIRCRAFT'.