PROJECT 10073 RECORD 1. DATE TIME GROUP 4. NUMaER OF OBJECTS 5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 6 . TYPE OF OBSERVATION Ground ~.risual 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 2. LOCATION Loui svi J le, Kent, t c k-y 10. CONCLUSION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY ANO ANALYSIS Obj r our:d. 'IJ. ..:~ gl a.ming \1!1ite r~d, the:1 fi.d~d Inve.:;ti.::;ation re.ve.,.ls obj~ct to '.;r 'c;y t Ge:1., r a l Hills Co r poratio:1. FTD SEP 63 0-329 {TOE) Prevlou. edltlon o r thh f orm may b uud. exn. talloon . RelP.a..:;~d FI:i '\L EVALUATION On 18 Hovamber 1954, T/Sgt. D'..repperd cul!.e d TJt Ccmdr Ros:;, Office or Nav;J.1 Resecu-c!l, relative to the UF0' 3 observerl over 1; 1e Xentuck:r Tcn.&e.3s~e are1. co r Ross stated he wasn' t sure i.f th.P. WO ' s could hare 'been the ~1avy s research balloons. He ~ n:for=ted Sgt Dre3)perd he 't/Ould chec~ and call h:..m back . On 22 Nov 54, -:: Sgt Drepperd recei~led a call f:-.:>!:2 ~tr. ~.f.\i. :<eith OiiR Resident Representative e.t the University of t'.inne sota. !..fr. Keith ste. ;:,ed th.a t on 12 & 13 Nov 54, t-:ro ( 2) balloons '"ere lau.."lc !Jed I'r oct he Unive::-sity or :4innesota. The :Payload s came dovn; one (1) .:;ver Dnn'ri1le, Ken tucky, the other oYer Carlisl e , Kentucky. >tr. !<ei th furthe r st.a ted that he believed t he UFO' s i...."1 question could rery possibly h2.ve been these balloons . Due to all available inf ormation from observers, which basical~y conpares to t~ose descri?~ive c cteristlcs of a balloon ln fligh~, n.nd since there 'iolere t wo ( 2) research balloons in the same c.rea at the ti:.:::e or' the sightings, the UFO' s observed ;.;ere high altitude res e?..rch b::-.lloons. CA:>E Ili 3 roRY AND .SVALUATION 12 ~ov 5~, LJ UL:iVILLE., K:,TUCKY Fl t 3 - B , 46o2nd AISS to r epo:=-t an UFO ob~ecved over Louis.ril.'!.e on 12 Nov 54. Ret~r to Attu= ent # 1 . 13 & 15 ' ov 54: T":.;o n~uspaper e.rticles -:rere extracted rom Daytou newspaper s relative t o the se.me u"FO s ighting over Louis.;ille. rtei'er to Attac hme.at #2. 17 ~ov 54: Mr. , P~ysicist T..ri th the 03.k Ri~e Na.tio.aal Lab oratories., e.tte:nding a confer e nce -~i th AttlC off i cials at WPlu~., visited ATL4.E- 5 relati 1.re to a UFO ob s er ve d b y him over Knoxville stated the UFO w s observed t h e 1 4th or described b y Mr. tra.Ilsparent, rmmd and hovered at ver y higa el~itude. sta'ted he sa:.r what appeared exhausts i"ro:m 2 ,jet e./c pas:; -che obje c t , one in f r ont of it a.."ld one behind it. ~D:- .-.a f u=t!ler stated that he and his associ~tes had alays bad an u official i nterest in U?O' s d had i~ t~e pas t , bee n able to sati s factorily identify most of t he tJFO r~por t:ed by t ne n e wspapers . Eo..re .rer, in tn:i:s parti~ular instance, ~e ~s startled b y the 3i~e o: tne UFO w1ica he .:auld see extte:nely well., but was unable to s e e che ~e-r.s tha-c passed b y it. He sa~ only the jet exhausts. H~ realized that the ob.ie c t c ould have been, and :;;>robaoJ.y 'ft-as a ba.llooo of s 0me s or t , but des ixed the o:fficial. e '' alu!:!.t.io:l i.t' possiole. ~TIC .\CTI O)J: T/Sgt Drepp~-:-d, vho in~rviewed ~. .., -col a hi:n t.h:l.t .4'ro:n all .ind.lco.'tiOn5 th~ objec t ite ::::r..7 .,;a.s the ~n..:-:e o :1e or o. e sL'Uilu.r o'lJsc.:ed o .rc r Lonl~ ville, Ken. e. fe..t u~:rs e::u-lier. Al:io, prelioi u:u-y inv~::;t. gatio::1 .J'..l$8~-:.ted t ill!. t -en~ obj~ct was prooa":lly ::m expcrjz::enta.l ba.llooo rele.':!.sed oy r.:-1e General ~1ill:; Corporation in !-ii:l."leapl)lis Hlnn. Sgt. Drepper d l.n.for=.ed ~-h-. Green tha" .;hen po3itive identification is !:lade of the object, th.:1t he, Hr. Gree . ..rill be notified per his ~rson3l request. Tne identity of t he ADC Unit in Knoxville was established as e 460th FI~ of ~-kGdi':!'!-Tuson Ai.:port. If' thc:re were jet a/c in t he n.ir near t h e object~ as statad by ~-lr. Green, they were more likely assigned to this ~"lit. A wi..re of inquiry dated 18 Nov 54 was forwarded to the Intelligence Officer of this unit relatire to t~ sighting Refer to Attachment ~3. Ylov 54 : On this date, 3 ci vil:.ans observed a UFO over the vic Ll'li ty of Br~ndenburg, Ke ucky. 1st Lt. A~hens, Flt 3- 3 , 46o~d AIJS interrogated the observers on 11 Ilov 54. Refe r t o At~chment ~. ATIC EV.U.UATI0:-1: .Preli..,.,; nary investigation s~ges ts objects ob8erved in all of the cases abo,re to be balloons. Qui -ce p ossibly it '"3.3 the sarre e .xperi:nental balloon released b y the Ge~eral ~lill~ Cor poration. General ~ills is pr~sectly unde r c ontrac t with t.he Al.r Force a.."'ld Navy for experii""entat.ion research program o~ the up at~osphere. SECURITY ct .FICA TION (If..,,.., FILE t-:0. SUUJECT Record of Telenh011e Con7ersation TO A'fL '3 FR01'14 ~f'icer in Charge OAH 16 November 195lf0MMNT HO. I Flight 3-B, 4602d ~ISS Lt :t!mens 1. On 15 November 1954 a telephone conversation betwedn 1/Lt Athens, Fl~t 3-B, 4602d Air Intelli.geoce Service Squadron and 1-Iajor C. :/ill i a.ms, AF represent- ative, The ~red School, Flt. Knox, Kentucky took place. The follo~ing is a seneral account of t h e discussion which ensued . a. jor ~illiams stat ed he had been ap~roached by a . George Hart, a reporter on the Louisville Courier Journal. Mr. B.art wa s S-oliciting info~tion regarding an observation of an Unidentified Flying Object made over the city of Louisville, Kentucty on Friday 1 2 November 1954. Major 'iill..iams stated that he had informed Mr. Hart, on direct q_uery by that individual, that t~e object in question had posti7ely been id~ntified a s a (v'a :~ hieh--al"titude(Jeat~alloon. No further queries '" ere made b y Mt-. Eart ,.---regarding theaf04"Emient 1bned. . b. The purpose of Major 'Nilliams' call to Flight 3-B was to obtain information regarding the AF policy on the release of informatio n to newa regarding UFOB' s and vhat his act i on should be shoulj similar occassions arise in the future . Lt Athens illf'ormed jor 'II illia.ms that in those cases where such sight~ have been positively identitiad as known objects, as a s t he cas e in question, then i t was within Major ~illiams authority to release s uch information to any of the news :nedia which may be :naking inquiries. Major 'llill1.3ms vas also informed that only in those cases where sucb. sight ings ere not identified he was instructed not to r elease any information, but to inform the individnals making queries that suc!:l releases would come from AF sources authorized to give such jpformation. 200- 2 ~as br oubht to the attention of Major Williams. ~orementioned ~VR governs the release of UFOB information as well as a!fi:ing responsibility for the i~estigation there~f. c . T.he abo"Te situation is in general the discussion as occured in ; hone onversation between the individuals stated i~ par. l JOINT MESSAGEFORM ( 1 "'""'"""'<"' ;~, :t i'"-SPACE AD 0 V E PO R COl'tl.'d U N LCA Tl ONS CENTER ON L l' .-D-.\Tf:. n. M.,EG -RO\.? ------y-St-CtiMOJR.I.ITY~C.-.l.A_.:>.o l~rl~CA .. r~IO~N---"'1 Fi!OM: (Ori!linator>---_ _Q;lCU.SSIFISJ _ llllFOR'~..%710;-4 f CC!DR ATIC I . -PRECEDENCE Acr:O:I / roR. RvUTI;n;; 46~ t h F!S 1-IcGHEE- 'l"'tfSO.I A!RPO~T ROUT I: IE KNOXVILLE, TE m .,J L _5 c './ D/I HQ USAF :-lASH D C C O~!DR ADC ENT AFB, COLO. ::_!'f)}:, V CnYPTOPRECA~110H krJ MULTIPlE AODR.53 0 Yt.S 0 NO REFERS TO MES<::AGE: IDEJ'ITIF1CATIOH CU\SSIFIC.\TIOH F OR INTElLIGENCE OFFICER ATic'advised of unidentified flying object r eported over Knoxvil l e during past week . Exact date u nknown . Reques t info as to possible intercept of objec t by your a/c and results of intercept. Refer to .~R 200- 2 , dated 12 August 195~. st:C'.JRI'TY cussrrrc .. moN OF PA::iES PAGF U)fC LASSI?IZD I :,""""""'!'! s 'IA~E !znd 19"att.lte, tolten requrred'lf A~IHG CFF1Cilt S SIG ... :.TURE T!I..E?HOI'I E RP1..ACES NI4E FORM 173, I MAY 49. WHICH MAV SE USED. OFTIC I A l T1 :n:f c:uc ?.1dge tlational L:lborstorles .10AttA, ?:>s t Oft1~e 3oJE O:Jk Ridge, r!'~nnessee L"l ~terence to your personal :ooqueat inade to :. tlu.ring J'O\&r recent v1s1 t, na;r I sa,-that our origi:lal suap1elona ~81U'd1n& the ~"ll.dent1t! ed flJins object 1.."'1 CJ\.'8S t1on have :lOW been cont Ut!Qed. ob_:eet wbich yoa obsuved oYer Knoxville waa one o f tvo high plaat1o balloons released on the 12th 31XI 13th 1954 t!;:a the Univen1 ty of !4 sota. The tJ. s . 01'tiee ot l&Yal aesearcb 3nd the Un1ve:PS1ty ot mnne- Rota are rn-eseratl7 ang11gect in an at110SJ)her1e experimentation Hsearcb program am aa a result, launch special t:JPea ot balloons which are eons!dersbl7 larger than the average weather balloon. T"r.ar* :rou for your i::1te~st i n the u...,1dentif1ed !lj"L"'lg obJect pro- .:;raa l.nd please feel t~e t o con~aet 113 fo-r an, assistance you 387 re- ~uire i."l tht! ru ture. AIJ3Fll2 W. DR!PP!IW .. LOUISVUJ.E, Ky., No,. 13.-vPi -Despite efforts of the Air Force and speculation by curious onlook ers, that shiny object over Loui!\- ille was recorded officially today as ''unidentified." SeeminglY' motionless at an esti mated altitude of 80,000 feet a 1ew egrees northwest from downtown Louis\'ille, the silvery object caught !the stares of thousands of persons lveste.rday from about 3 p . m. to I A jet fighter pJane from Wright- Patterson Air Force base, Dayton, cruised the sky for a closeup, but the pilot said he failed to s ight t11e bject after climbing to about The object was a gleaming while a_t first, slowly turned yellow, maUy red, and then faded into the Reminiscent of the "!Jyin g aaucer" da~s, newspapers and ra.dlo 5fatlons here were ""'amped with telephone caUs while the think" he~ered cryptfcall:l' Charles StruU, veteran member ! the Louis,riJle Astronomical so-1 citry, !\aid "Ji's not a celestial body' ' because its color changed as/ the sun went down. . Meterologist 0 . K. Ander~or. said: " From our obsenation it c ertainlv didn't seem to b e a balloon-it showed so little mov ement. Wright-Paterson Air Force base spokesmen said Saturday that in- vestiga tlon of the "unidentified ob- j ect" ~i!Jed ;-n 'ec t and refused to contirm or eny t h P re--I port abo u t the fighter plane from) /the .. ~ase ~ere. r.f~,.sLerious Ob]ect Could Have Been Plastic BallOon '\..\ 1\nNNEAPOLIS. NO\', 15-(AP) \ ~A General Mills, Ir.c., rese a:-ct. J labor a tory spokesman said today ~ that an object sightet,; over Loui.- '-"":i ,iJle, K~ .. l a,;t Friday possib ly w as ~ a. large p lastic balloon released ' near :!\iinneapolis a (lay earlier. '..:> The Minneapolis milling f irm's " r;cientific -laboratory manufac- ture!: the white plastic balloons a'nd sends them aloft in co-opera- -~ t ion with the office o f naval re- ..! ~earch ... .,hich is ~ondt!cting cosmic -ray and othe r upper a onospheric ':::::. studies. Hundreds of the balloon.: -....._ ha\'e been launched. \.u The balloon relea.ed la!'t Thurs- ':::::::::..da\' measu red 90 f~t in d iameter and is JOO feet long. IL<; cargo ._) o f i n struments was released b.v c::::. parachute o ver southern Minne- -!iota the s ame day and was re- ::-covered near Austin, ~f1nn. . "-K o reports on finding the bal- -:. loon had been J'eceive d up to noon today. A mechan1cal de,1ce r c - 3ea .. es the cargo when the ba !- loon reaches a prescribed alti tude. usually in the~ stra t ospherc ") A jet fi~htcr plan e trom \-\lr ic-ht _" P a tte~on Air Force ba c. Day- ~ lon . .,.,.as ~ent to Loui~willc. Frida} ~-.in a n attempt to identify 1l1e (Ill .ject. tut the pilot faile-d to s;~ht i: after reachin!:' abou t 40.000 len The w h it e o bject wa~ ~timatcd a t an altitude o f 8 u .U!Il.l feet. After aropp111.~ it.!: in.nrumcnt cargo. a balloon usualJ~ f 1'-es r~< p - idly and bwsW:; ... Is-f{o V Sf DllyTc?IJ J01.JRfVA L e'f Pilots sotVe Mystery Of 'Thing' i FlylnJ;" uucer experts admlt "50mdhing'!!: up," Da.\id Dlckey writes. Page Cl. Knox,ille Weather Bureau re-He said that after dark it pro,e d I ported it sent up a. weather bal-to be a red star. "I never would yesterday morning, but it have believed it," he said. burst. No other was sent up Sightings were reported as far 1 Th.e sky yesterday a fternoon yesterday by the local station. east of Knoxville as Ne...,wrt. P:OOuced a "mys_tery". which e~-Hundreds of fans at the 7en., . "I saw so~e g . . that looke d I cned peo p!e .in Kno>.'Vill~. out m nessee-Florida football game s aw like a neon li.ght, sa.Jd Jefferson J the count) m Barbourv1Ue , K.Y the object northeast o! Shields-County Sheritf John Gofonh,l and e\;en as f.ar away as LoUI S Watkins Stadium. Also observed Dandridge. "I watched it Wlth m y ! ville, till the Air Force ap)>arently was a moving v apor trail, ap-~eld glass~s till night came, and l solved it. I parently from one of jet intercep-1t looked llke a glass ball throut;h It was described by Knoxville tor s . the glasses." viewers as an almos t rectangular! Mrs. George A. Caldwell of Kingsport Highway Patrol said I object, .~'hite, with i .r reg u ! a r near Strawberry Plains, said' she recei~;d no call s about the s ides. Looked like 1t was r 1ght saw the object about 4 :15 p. m.l saucer, but observed a very over Standard Knitting Mills," "lt l ooked real bi&,'' she said. bright star in the east. t said L . 0. Graves, 1903 Jefferson Looke d 'U~hted Up' 'Traveling Slowly f;outh Avenue, who looked a t the . . "thing" with two neighbors. Another observe r rt!J:>?rf.ed at J . S. Warr~n, 1\ews-~entmel 1 Fliers in two jet planes saw 5 :4? p , m. that the c;>bJe c t was correspond;,nt ~ Barbou~ ille,. r e- the object and Oew to investigate . , vmble between Foun~ln CJty and I ported a .bnght, shm. o b] ecl . Hall' s , and looked "lighted up. " fBppeared h.igb over that c 1 t:v Game Fans See Object. At a great height it was prob-about 1 :30. lt was trzve lin;t ver~ i 'It was a balloon ," said Lt. able that a balloon ~ould have slowly .south toward KnoxviUe." ( Melvin Bowers and Lt. Mark reflected l ight from the setting In Louisville, As sociated Prec:s Studder. after they la nded back I'Un, althou~h s unset was of-reported, a shiny o bject, re- at McGhee Tyson Air Base. I ficially at 5 :30 p . m . at ground corded officially as u nidentif ied, flew a t at.>Out 36,000 feet l e vel. I caught the s tares of thousa nds" 1 and got under it. l t was still At Tazewe ll , Cl aiborne County late Friday afternoon. Motorists h some distance above us. Prol>-j Sherif! Dan Chumley said h e .in two Central Kentucky counties n ably sent up by s;ome distant watched the ob ject, v.hicb ap. reported 1eeing a n object like a v weather bureau and drifted ml peared l ike a real bright light meteor glowini green or blue Fri c here on an upper air current.'' 'b1.llb, larger than my two fists." day n ight. 1