Project 10073 Record — Sighting near Waterloo, Illinois, 17 November 1968

This document contains a Project 10073 record regarding a UFO sighting reported by a civilian witness, identified as Mr. Mudd, on 17 November 1968. The witness, a former Army veteran and current railroad employee, observed a white, rectangular, self-luminous object while driving on a dirt road between Wartburg and Burksville, Illinois. The observation lasted approximately two minutes, during which the object moved slowly from the east toward the ESE before fading out of view. The witness noted that the object appeared to move over the top of a tree, which he estimated to be two to three miles away. He described the object as having fuzzy edges and being brighter than a cloud, noting that it did not resemble stars. The witness explicitly stated that he could not compare it to anything else, though he noted it was not a napalm bomb explosion, which he had seen previously. The Air Force investigation, conducted by the 1400 Air Base Wing at Scott Air Force Base, concluded that the sighting was likely a hot air balloon, specifically comparing it to a garment bag hot air balloon. The report includes weather data from Scott AFB, which indicated an overcast sky with a 1,200-foot broken ceiling and 3,000-foot overcast, with light drizzle. While Scott AFB was overcast, weather charts suggested that conditions to the southwest and south were clearing, supporting the witness's account of the weather in the vicinity of Burksville.