Project 10073 Record: Sighting Report - Milbank, South Dakota, 3 August 1967

This document contains a Project 10073 sighting report regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on 3 August 1967 near Milbank, South Dakota. A civilian witness, driving a truck on U.S. Highway 77, reported seeing a globular, light pink, hazy object that appeared to be the size of the moon. The object moved from the northeast to the southwest, hovered, and then retraced its path while gaining speed before vanishing. The witness, deemed credible, was accompanied by a second witness driving a truck on the same route. Following the report, the Air Force's Aerial Phenomena Branch initiated an inquiry into potential chemical cloud releases from the Churchill Research Range in Manitoba, Canada. Correspondence between Colonel James C. Manatt of the Foreign Technology Division and N. Hussain of the Churchill Research Range confirmed that two Black Brant VB rockets carrying barium payloads were launched on 3 August 1967 and 6 August 1967. The official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that the observer had likely witnessed a barium cloud resulting from these upper atmospheric experiments.