PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 2. LOCATION . ' c '-. 12. CONCLU~IONS ' Scatt;\C(d pa:.hincton o Wu Balloon II , E?z J., 0 Probably Balloon 3.. DATE-:TiMEGRO-U-:P---------!!-4-~T~Y--PE OF 08H.AVATION Pouibly Balloon ~S.~P;,..ttO~TOS 7. LENGTH 0, OIIERVATION IRIEF SUMMARY OF liGHTING . II Groun4Vlsuol AI.-Visvof 0 GroundRacfar 0 Alrlntor~opt Radar I. NUMBER OF 08JECTS t. COURSE 11. COMMENTS Vid blue. Sphere v/ta11. b'teep dive. Two aatronomera aaicl it vas a meteor! te. 0 Wos Aircraft 0 Probably Aircraft 0 PoniWy Aircraft Jll Wos Astronomical f.O:!!'.i.'t:.'Orl D Probably Astronomical 0 Possibly Astronomical 0 Insufficient o ... for Evaluation ' D Unlcnewn parls of Wt!Stem Wa~hhlS:\fll'\, .. astror.t-n!Pl"S cxpres."Ced ~he op:r.. I'U;,., n l ChC' rriul tthj\, t lh:tt Uu oht"l tn,r -..r~rn auth c. '" Suncl'. A riK mall' hcun, rille uhj\"'1 srr"r~ntlr .... ~rc:.w, ~elc:d froM ~o11tlt te ._. .. h and hunt int. fru;.!n.:nts t the poiat lttdie.atc:d os alae fl Pilie .., tktcrie4 ~, ern itnc.. rc,....rs f . airliacr allll Yan.ut ,, _. MMn-cn. .\Iter lluntiC. InC en tJ al die elajcet truele'tl .. alae .. a .. na ito aa ..,. .... taYere4 ltr die ~P. Deucd li all4 .,.,. .. , is&alc ircO... al ri'tt al IJ'CWi&=cuet wit. ion \hat an unuaually bJ& fireball bad been d e a t r o 1 e d aloft in epeetaeuJar Jn&DDft", CaL T. AJ"a Blmnett. ~ mandinr olfwr ol the 25th Atr --~J'on:e Defeaae Dlvtaloa, UcChord Air Force Base, l e a n e d ftls .. lilatll ., .. ariesac laeioa f alae unt. ~ the theory that the object wiUdl UJ~ at 1:21 a. m. wu a wtear. But-be uld his offite ta IDIIdnl a tborouah dlk of eyewibleu 1epotn anct II anxious to l'fteive them. -- uld hi> doubtN that the objeet eould bave been aa aJrera1t ~ mluDe. None ol the rad8r inlhllaticms ln the Padfte Northwaf Del work picked up the object on their 10 ee~ be seid. . Asked U the speed of the ol> jeet may have eluded tbe radar. Betmett said that the &n~Je, nth er than speed, probably wu what caused it-DDt to &how at a ''bUp" OD the radar aeopell. . . "'t H wu a meteor, It wu ,......bly eomlac .early atrai&'ltt "tlowa. Tba& woul .. te lt fti)' dltfbU to tnck. Tile II'Miiea Uoat mipt be M wlplllcant tlaM ~ar WIMIYD'& pi'* It up," u a& wu u alrenlt or a pHN m&sslle, we woaW uve .1 picked lt up, lie e1atiauH. REQUEST . 1 Bennett asked that anyone find- an, a atranle piece of material !report lt to his OfJ&DiUtiOD at Bennett said that the ground observer phase of the air defense setup is not at present on a 24 hour basil. and said no 1round observers h a d reported aeeJnr the flash. The t\\'0-se<:Ond blast, a t~men dous blue-white 1lare, caused no asc:ertainable dama1e, but police, tire department and newspaper awltehboards were jamrMd by hundrecia ot anxious cans from suddenly-awakened persons. Man)' believed. alter the blast, '-..,nun!'~ ~n~ t5e ~ foiumn i l ourti Meteor Explodes With A Roar; JOn Scares Thousand. In Seattle a, AnnJial.. Po 11 I SEA'M'I.E,. May 11-A alant meteor swlahecl acrou western Wuhtnaton 8114 exploded wlth a tmnendous fluh and roar over S.attle at 1:28 a.m. today. lt"''frllhten.d thousands of per10ns. u lt llahted the sky and rattled doors and windows. No pleeea were found. however, and the areatest damage aeemed ~ to have bftn lnftlcted on the people' nerves. lf 11.-(UP) A .30cond rumble followed thel-.. ------.----- teef lndustey'breakina apart of the c:eiNtlal! It wu blt-whtte mqneslum I'JWnenta a.e.j,uitor into an estimated rour t.? color," they reported uvn the po- rt tomorrow 1c, large piece&. Ike radio. "It lit up th aky like 'OnatltutlonaJ cheln Ughtnina." Tru Altltll t:.llmaW N nd rlty t lz ewspaper a iJO ace awetc:h ae e Wltneaaea found it difficult to hoards were jammed b)' excited Htimate the object's altitude a:lfl .vm contend aperd, but trlanaulation fixed th., r.allen whOM fear &anged frur.t ample power' exploalon point aomewh~re over th co,rploalon of an atom bomb to an April 8 toljuat north of Greenlake in northleerthquake. Very few thought of Jtrlke by the' central Seattle. I" meteor. ttcthvorken.l The Coaat Guard estimated rrotn Pollee and state patrolmen pa- tcr that the early reports that it rr.aght ha~e troll made fruitless f'fforta to ttutlonal au-:been u Jow u 2,000 ftet when It lind pl~. of .~-~!.leur. _I to aelze Ita ""rat. However. Capt. Bert Cari . ,.,n, a Northwest Airhnes pilot, actin~ said It appeared to ~only a lltt~ Up n. Pert.,below hla altitude of 8,00CI reet. r BAltimore. CarJ.on said he \Yat flyino( at~ qalnst toward Seattle when the ball oi. attorney-fire appeared, traveUn: rrom the nown~ con-southwest toward the northeut. 1924 Demo Il t'xplodecl in a brllllant flash and - esldent. hroke apart Thfore were no estimates tmm_. dtatPIY. avallable...u to the llze ol e-court hu the meteor. . . y rlu "N rl " . wh.-n It wm cr both atd"l -~ -.---L k _. M I I ~ntl proba Reportl to th Coaat Guard aai~ OC 811 Y 0 nfS. It may hand tne obJ-et broke into eight or ]I) t.ia ... ri., ...... "'"' .a 111e ,...._ un.Je of weeka ptecea Pollee- Sat Lee Drake ,. I . aeur:tlt a11tl rlleuw:atu~ ,.,._ much later a patrollln1 in the north end uf '1111 minc:lt llledic;" (ulle.t Nonot JtK action !Seattle said the mf!tf'Or brok., _, .. , topopetcl. ' ' i"l Mrft aa4 aaucle ,..,_,,_ acllilw (>avis put the, into four to six pieces over GrNn of ,.., .. u~n Joa. til' statements lake Two other policemen J 'H XORITO It aafe, IIClft~bil'o""ia .. n!"''" ,."' whOJ ltne Uptrlm r..t h ' WOICIAI ot'hcr develop. l ,avis and R. G. Carmody, wlt "''!'n are lilna *i'""'' Pifn 11...- dlspute: laC~liif'd the Incident from th~ a:'NCir,nn ........ ,., .... JOUr ,.; . a fter .... were slu.ling t:radge across Laktt Wa1hlngton, err llnt "'' ;I'OH" -"'Y 4 ...Jfl. "* lctcrt'd thP "de live miles southeast or Gt-eenlake. ,_, II"'CCIII ,_ NO.I TO, .... ,. brotMrhoodA. row tiM! 1950 "l"rt'rd with Wat ffl' uce&H KIUI.lr DJII'Eaft1a UL ti i JI.JII, 61 '7 II Ill MONDAY~ &Y u; lBU rua = wa.e In'"' at a height' utimatecl aa low U:ATI'I.E-All unidenU u 2,000 teet.. titd mis.Ue ~libly a giant meteor -Hr a D" b 1 e d like a THOUSANDS of pe180U fre~ht train" acroas the aky were awakeaecl by the COD . and exploded over Seattle cuuion, but then .U ao re- early Sunday. port of d1m11e. . The Air Dcfe~:~ Command The pheJIOIIM'DCMl wu at becu aa immediate invcsti-first definitely believed to be catioa. caURd by a meteor explodlnl The explo.ion bathed thls within the earth' atmoaphere. industrial dty of 500,000 But utromoaen uid it persons ill an eerie blue-white \\'U lllm08t impoaible for a ~ht and knocked city dwell-meteor to cet within 2,000 en from their beds. feet of the JTOUDd ~fore dis- The blast was \'isible from int.egraUn,. GO miles away, and occurred Some ,Otated o~&t, llow ,ver, that it JUI;ht Jar.n lteea Jalrlaer ~ reporW ._, Jaun"UUo . Dr. Fred L. W h i p ph, H&;rVard University meteor expert, said that if the Wash- iqton blut bad been a little lower thaD reported it might have wiped out all of Seattle and it. inhabitant&. Northweat Airlinea Pilot Bert Carlaon lighted the ob- ject as he prepared to land at Seattle Tacoma international He said it wu at about On Guard for Over a Century 7,000 feet when It auddenly battered into eight pieces which looked like chain llPt nine. What appeared to be fireballs trailed to the earth, .\..~ ASTJW)ION EB at the Yerke 1 Obaervatory. Lake Geneva, Wla., aaid the Seattle phenomenon apparently wu a ''fireball" -a big meteor heavy enough to penetrate into the earth's lower atmos- But the Yerkes expert, Prof. Gerard Kuiper, aaid he wu inelilled to doubt that the object even u low .. l'ireball1 usually explode 10 to 15 milea up," he 11id. ''However, anythinc can happen, and the reported fo~ of the exploaioa aug- rests that it wu aomewhat than the usual h~ht. "METEORS' aurfteel bum off npidly from friction with the air and they often explode from the tremendoUI beat." F rag m e n t s are ~eldom fOUDd. Kui): cause they reachiD1 c: oae atrikb .. extremel) sona is nr. recent litr Canada ap1 belon the: gional dim II tile Wuh a.. a little fll SeaUie iawraatiocal raa at about WE VISIT AD.IAN Beporter Loals OlaiE !'1111 .uout CltJ. DOac Keaecl7 .40 Paps VoL 122-No. 'I Plw Cat~ On Guard for Over a Century 7.000 feet whea tt nddeDij battered into elcht piece whlcla looked like chain UcJrt nin&-What appnrecl to be fireballl tra1Jecl to tbe earth, A..~ .&8TB0110NEK at the Yerke 1 Observatory, X.ke Genna, WU.. 11id tbe SeaWe pbenomtDOil apparently wu a ..,.ll'eball" -a bir meteor heavy enough to paletrate. into tbe earth' lower atmos- But the YerkH expert. Prot. Geri rd Kuiper, said he wu Inclined to doubt that tbe object exploded even u low ''Fireballs usually explode 10 to 1S miles up," he aaid. ''However, anything can happen, and the reported force or the explosion aug- gut. that it \\._. somewhat lower tbu the usual height. -vETEORS' aurfaeet bum off npidly from friction with the air Jnd they often explode from the tremendous beat." F r a r me n ls are aeldom found, Kuiper taicl, either be- cause they burn up before reacblnc Jl"'UDd or because they are too tmall to be . noticed. Tbe ehlaces of a meteor or a Jarp fragmeat from oae abfldag the earth are "extmueiJ rare," Kaipu The famed erater in Ari sona is very old. he aaid, ud ftC~nt aitea discovered in Canada appear to date from before the Ice A(e. J. Hugh Pruett, Pacific re- rtonal direetor of the Ameri .can Meteor Society, uid: ''Unleu ft wat an infernal machine of some kind, it could have been a huge meteor." THREE SEATI'LE police prowl cars reported the ob- ject exploded over Green Lake ~vei'JW& twiaed Wae. As IOOD u It weat oat tllere were fireballs or Mmdld& fa111Dg atralglat doW1l llke fireworks. That came Ia u other couple af aecoY.. Two or tJuoee minutes Jater I Jleard the rumble. .. in North Seattle at about Most observers agzeed the 2,000 feet. object wu travelliDI from Sidney Howick, wtather southwest to northeut when o b 1 e r v e r at the Seattle-:t bln up. Tacoma airport weather bu Ten hours after the ex- reau, said: n was sort of a plosion, there were no reports lights-on, lighta-off thing. It of damage or recovered trag- luted two seconds at most. _ menta. UNCLJ\SStFI ED ilr!.:; t-Puttc:..cHl~l ~r I:1tclli~ .m~ce Force :a~oo ~:4tt:c\ ll .i.:>ril l!h)l. 2. If illclosu.:.:e is i : i ~;~dln,,n or ::ot ~.tt."'.Cie:..'., tl:o I:-~ .. o on Vacoavcutional Ac:ft, lJir of I:.l~cll, :D~C/0, 1o:c: U;i~ (ley) CG, .!,.:.XJ, .;.ttn: Dil' o:r Iatell (lc::) CG, ii~j?, "*'t~n: jJ1r of I iltoll (ley) lfARY d!: ROTHER Znd Lt USAF Ad~utant General UNCLASSIFlED .~r ~iv:uioa (llc~)l 'L~c .ilot n: ui~ tcU. e;.o t:lo :iut : .') t UZ.10 U:r..iv~l'tl t~r of