2. LOCATION 10073 IICORD Retlect1oa ot ... J1a78 betq carried b7 ice c tor.atioae. . L LIMOTM 011 TIOII n. Utili AND ANAL Yltl . t. '"YIICAL IYIDINCI Br1111qt Vb1te lipt b7 ur1al e-ra. RICBMOID, lltDIAIA At 1225 (EST) on 24 May 195t., an Air Force Major, t1y1na a photo&r~Phic PPlna mlsaloa near Riohft10Dd oberved aDd pbotopapbed wat appeared to be a larse, hlsh-intenait;y lisht movlq belav hia alrcraft. 'Die ltpt traveled a dltaace ot six 1111 owr the 81'0""" at a apeecl tvice that ot the aircraft. IDteu1ve atudlea ot the pbotosrapba wre cte. 'l'be stud1e aU poa1ble cluea aacl Tbe 4 uncter botb tbe patb by tbe aircraft aad the obJect wre e..tMcl with a tootb coab. Pbotop apba 1-.. re Jade ot tbe area tor a tud7 of pound lc or other ell&. Airoraft otber operatlona vere d1ate1.)P c:heckecl caretu117, vltb Mptlve re.ult ., ec1al1ata, , torolopata, aad a J)b1alc1t. It at.ptU. wa a wr,y rare aerial pbeDcMD& cauae4 a ra,a UJ)Oa u 1ce-cryetal platellew Ca.and, A!IC 1. to obklA approYal tor travel b7 captain CU.lea A. BINlD te 11o,_.., Indiana and Y1o1n1tJ. 2. On 2' ar lf51t an 1llddlll'lft.t tlJlnl obJeot -s ,_ a MPPS..W u.....n _.. lle-.nd, lad1aM ). lbe .....,... et ta. tft' VW be te dfteralM , .. UM ..... . and U.Nl AI!C. . Allll I.*. Col. c. ton, lnftob Cider --------- Aft& Col. Varae L. 0 N t.~ S BRANCH SAM'OI)II (MaJ~ 1'ae-..) la tae .d%0 file u nllt.oa. ..... a ( au.nn ,.._ wllia u at.pal.._ J WJa.l.~ .._...... 1a npenU.. wlu pi'OM'q o~ "' .-.. tata-poalU fl6 &rLe B-17. lenea ao u. 0 le a ol .aae a.a ,._ lM Jatale P..atl,. a. IVAW CJ ltr :5 Oot 59 tra. RII'Mrt s. TQ COORDIW.'li OI~: u Air Force MaJor, ~a photoSNPhlc Mppiq m1aa1on near Ricbmon4 obHnecl aDd. photogz aphed vbat appeared to be a larp h1&Jl-1Dteul t7 lisbt moviq below bia aircraft. 9le 11sht travelAcl a 41ataDce of alx ld.lea over tbe at a apeecl tvlce tbt or tbe alrcrart. IDteuiw tu41ea or the photoP'apba wre 1'be atudtea 1n41cate4 tllet tbe 11pt waa DOt. a Mtez1.a1 object. Bxteu1w 1Dwat.1ptlcma explortDc all poa1ble cluea aD&l aveuuea ot approach to tbe probable raature ot the object vere 4e. botb tbe path taUD by tbe aircraft aDd tbe object w1 tb a tlae tooth CCDb. Pbotop apha wre ot the area tor a tu47 ot arcuad character1at1ca or other cluea. Aircraft ntpta, radar uzai ta aDd. other operatiODa vere cU.ate~ checked to a pael or ac1at1ata aDd ap ecl&liata, vbich 1aclu4a4 aatl'oDoMrs, meteol'Olo&lata, a'D4 a ph)fa1clat. -It wa by the ren.ctlon ot the auna raya upon an ice-cryatal platel.l.ete ton::AtlOil. RICHMOND, I~DIAl'JA At 1ZZ5 (EST) on Z4 May 1954, an Air Force Major, flying a photographic mapping mis&~ion near Richmond Indiana, observed and photoaraphed what appeared to be a large, high-intenaity light movin1 below hia aircraft. The light traveled a diatance of six miles over the around at a speed twice that of the aircraft. Intenalve studies of the photographs were made. The studies indicated . that the light appa~antly was --neil a material object. Extanaive investigation, exploring al~ ~r,~si~le clues and avenue of approach to the probable nature of the object were made. The ground under both the path taken by the airc~aft and the object were examined with a fine tooth comb. Photographs were made of the area for a study of arouncl characteriatica or other clues. Aircraft flights, radar units and other operations were immediately checked carefully, with negative resulta. The data waa aubmitted to a panel of scientists and apeclaliata.,which included aatronomera, meteoroloJlafa, and a phyaicist: It was concluded that the alahtlnl waa a verr rare aerial phenomena caused. by the reflection of the sun' rays upon an ice -cryate1 platellete formation s Jun T95t Mill*-,. DlreetoP or Intellipnce Aftla Chief ot Jlanagnen' Capt. H-u-din/rl/73147 SWiftt (RCL) Vn1dent1t1ed JlJiftl <*.J' IntOP!at1on t171JW ob.teo waa aipted 8Dd pbetopa IlNneil, Aerial 17, ..... a JltOM PP-Jdaa1. 851fJ- tbe ot the obMrYiiW lenctb ot U. -'5 1ft vbleb s.e Uae ob.Jeet a dla te lte poai ....._ tM alrantt. 1M alrentt (17) 2. 1M 'Gp'aJib nU deaor1pt1on b7 tbe observer, lnllla.. lsaJat vu or Yft'J .!Dtana1t7. lo detail ot ~ . obJed .-ld ,._ ..-b7 ottaernl' u the Cal- ' Jbotapllpll -a ._.. v1tb a .... s. --- or--:~ etA L llL2 COPY E~ECTt<6'"~f r:1NC:i 6. A!IC bel1efta that thla un1dent1t1ed fly1118 obJect ls a N flection p~a ot ocae and v111 oa&*l'' out tuJtther 1nYests.a- t1on and atlldJ in an attast to detePII!M 1ts nature FOR THE COMIMNDGR Ca.DIIA!IOW: R. C. SCHUM Asst. AdJ -Charles F. Squire, The Rice Ins~i~ !!ouaton, Texas (Recaived June 9, l?Sfr'f I vbaerTAtions of the reflected liGht from ice crystals in t he sky 1ave ;:,~en r.~de for centuries and such natural phenomenon a s ";nock su."ls" are '~ell lm:Jvn.l On February 6, 1952, I o'.laerved o.nd repeatedly photographed the rer:ection ot sunlight trO'!Il ice crystals while f'lying in an airplane at 12 f't. over the mountain c::untry of Tennessee. The ti:Je of day was approxtcrtel y and it waa cold. T"Ae aronad below vaa visi'ule thr:)ugh the blue haze cau.ed by tile ice crystals. The retlected image ot: the sun W&s s" inteD8e that the camers speed vu l/200 sec and the aperture waa nearly closed. T'ne dark green or the mountain trees and s strem 1n a valley can be seen in Fig . l The dittraction ring aro,md the central iage ia Juat what one W\)uld expect tor light com1 ng tbrough these f'ine crystals. It ia 1nt3rest1Dg to n:Jte tbat the image and diffraction ring have an elliptical shape c:>nf'ess that I do n~t lmov why this is so. Certainly the ice cry'Stals have t heir flat aurt'aces all normal to the verticl. The assw:tpti~n that a viD4 could produce &D ordering orientation ot tbe crystal in the horizontal plane vouJ.4 allow one to suppo.e a d1tterent d~:tract1on spacing in the x direction in the y direction. 'l'bis would g1ve an elliptics.l dittraction but I do n:)t underatDd vby the central !cage ail::uld be out ot ronm. '!'C'.e spot ot light would ao.til:lea be close to the a1rcr3t't ( 1 t appeared large} aDd would s~mtia be tar away (it appeared small). ~ tmaae kept t:te angle ot retlect1~n of' the sun's rays, and this wa.a checked repeatecU~ v:~en t!le image coincided Vi th the S".ln' s reflection n-om 3. bod;, of' vater on tne ground below. A change or density of the ice crystals vould ca.uae the ap~arent sattt in distance. Since the apot or light kept pace with the air- cr.aft ( 3CO milea/br) and since 1 t changed ita d1a tanee rapidl;; -indeed it vanished ~ith incredible speed vhen the plane flew on lnto vnrm air -we eonel~de that this muat not be taken tor a !l)~ng saucer or disk! 1. R. . Wood, Physical Optics (MacmillBJJ Company, !lew York, 1936), Chapter XI