Project 10073 Record — Blytheville AFB, Arkansas, 21 October 1967

This document contains a collection of reports and correspondence regarding an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed on 21 October 1967 near Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas. Multiple witnesses, including military personnel and civilian flight crews, reported seeing a bright light or object that appeared to be a jet exhaust or a pair of jet exhausts. The object was described as dark with an orange-red glow, roughly the size of a Volkswagen, and appeared to break into two pieces. Radar operators at the base reported a target moving at 60-90 MPH, which they initially suspected might be automobiles on the ground. The Air Force, through the Foreign Technology Division, conducted an investigation and ultimately concluded that the phenomenon was a large meteor that entered the atmosphere and fragmented. This conclusion was supported by correspondence with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the American Meteor Society, who noted that other reports of a bright fireball were received from the southern United States around the same time. Despite the official conclusion, the documentation highlights the confusion and uncertainty experienced by the witnesses, who initially suspected an aircraft in the control zone. The file includes multiple completed 'Sighting of Unidentified Phenomena' questionnaires (AF Form 117) from witnesses, internal Air Force memos, and correspondence with external organizations like United Air Lines and the University of Colorado, which was conducting a study on UFOs at the time.