Jl/' y::Jo:c- t:(. Civilillll Letter Tennis ball ,HJ. 1 H t: HO'Jil l Source rir::t ~a.\: contr=-.il~ then ob j ect CO:iCCndcd D. lC\-1 thouco.nd foot. l()ol~cd like t\1:0 nla.tcs ra.ce to r ..... cll TOI Ott1oer 1n ObarR Jeot Sauoer lr1Rht PattersonPield Da7ton, Ohio rt, L.I., N.Y. SUBJECT1 Unusual type aircraft seen over Lon~ Islnnd, l:a,..ch 1'1, 1950 1. I feel that the 1'ollowinR description of the subject should be forwarded to the proper authorities. 2. While drivinR alone from Uorthnort, LonP: Island to New York Cityon March 17, 1950, I observed at 9:30 o..mb between the t or East Norwich and Ros)yn, what appeared to e a smoke trail at an extremely hiR}l altitude which I thoup:ht was sky-writing. ,'!hen the aircraft appeared to drop away from the s~oke trail area and. lose altitude at a vel"'1 slow rate, the shape o.ppcared to be thnt o1' a tennis b~ll. At this point I stopped tho cnr to watch the aircraft more closely. The slow rate or descent continued and at the srume time the craft came closer toward me flyin~ from a northerly to a southerly direction. As the aircraft neared, the shape became ouite pronounced which I would describe as t.Fo plates placed face to face together. The length appeared to be sliP,htly \Vider thnn the \/idth. craft then changed direction and proceeded due west out of si~ht without an appreciable change in altitude. It was visible to me from the ttme I first noted the smoke or vapor trail until its complete disappearance for a period of approximately 10 minutes. ~e minimum altitute was several thousand feet. 3. Inasmuch as my husband is an aeronautical enRineer, I have been "exposed" to a certain amount o1' aircraft identification. I am thorour~ly convinced that the craft I saw was not a conventional jet aircraft, propeller driven aircraft. balloon or parachute. 4. I have not reported, nor do I plan to report the above observation to the news agencies or local newspapers. Very truly