PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1. DATI 2. LOCATION 12. CO~.":LUSIONS 22 Aug 55 Madrid, Spain CX Was Bnlloon 0 Probably Bo"oon si bl Y Balloon [j Wos Aircraft I sua 0 GroundRadar 0 Probably Aircraft GMT 22/l343Z C Air-Visual 0 Alrlntercept Radar Possibly Aircraft 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical 7. LEMOTH 011 OISI!RYATIOM I. NUMIEit 011 OBJECTS 9. COURSI! 0 Other _ ~ & up 0 lnsuffielent Data for Evaluation l !'lin, 15 sec + .u o Unknown 10. BRI!fl SUMMA._Y OP SIGHTING USAF Najar in Spain heard Jet sound and upon looking up he s aw ~ite spherical obj Which :1ppeared like a wx balloon. The sound f aded, but the obj remained,moving slowly and some- times hovering. ATIC POWM 329 (REV 21 SltP 52) 11. COMMENTS A check w~th Spanish WX forecaster r evealed a ball oon released at 14oO hrs which would have easily drifted ove r sight of obs ervation. Ch eck revealed 2 USAF F86's in area at time of incident accounting f o r ~und/ OFE'ICE OF SI'EI:IAL INVE5TICl~T!ONS, lCYl'H DISTRICT OFFICE, HADHID, 3PAllJ Ltr 23 Aug 55 Subjt Unidentified Flying Objact Sighted at Madrid, Spain 1443 hours, 22 August 1955 JOINT U.S. MILITARY G:tOUP (SPAIN), APO 285, New York, N.Y. TO: Director of Intelligence, Headquarters, U.s. Air Force, Washington, D.::. 1. The above sightillg of an unidentified flyiDg object is forwarded iD accordance witb paragxaph 7a (2) (b), AFR 2oo-2, 12 August 1954 2. Additional iDvestigation b7 this headquarters reveals that tvo F-86 aircraft were f]Jing in the Madrid area duriDg the ps riod of the reported aightiDg. These aircraft landed Getafe airdraae, Madrid, at 1453 hours local. FOR 1"'dE CHIEF: Major, USAF HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCES IN EUROPE Office of Special Investigations District OfficeModrid, Spain APO 285, US Air Force SUEill:CT: Unidentified Flying Object Sighted at Hadrid, 1443 hours, 22 August 1955 Chief, JUSMG ATTNt Director of Operations APO 28 5, USAF 1. At 1050 hours, 23 August 1955, Hajor WILLIAM A. BURDICK, A0-728823~ Chief, Procurement Division, Directorate of Procurement Production, Spain Air Materiel Area (SPA.l'f.A), (telephone #34h300, Ext. 310) visited DO /flO to report having sighted an unidentified flying object. 2. l!aj BURDICK stated that at 1443 hours local, 22 August 1955, while standing in the vicinity of the General i simo Building, in the north central. part of the city of Madrid, he heard the sound or a jet aircraft. He looked up in the direction of the sound, which was direct~ overhead, and saw ,.mat appeared to be a ltlhite spherical ob- ject, first thought to be a weather balloon. The altitude or size could not be estimated. However, if the object were the size of a standard weather balloon (approximately 12 rt. in , accord- ing BURDICK), it would have been bet-ween 3,000 and 4,000 ft. . While ~tching the object, the sound of the jet (which was not seen) moved toward the Southeast. The object, which then seemed to be silver in color, appeared to remain in the same relative position for approximately 15 seconds and then moved slowly toward the South- east 'Jtt' the sa.me altitude. As it moved, the appearance changed. fran that or a sphere to that of a disc of the same relative size. The object moved ver;r slowly, appeared to hover for a moment, then continued moving. The appearance again changed, fran disc to sphere to disc again. The object seemed to gain altitude ver,y rapidly, and rose out of sight, its appearance being that of a disc, o~ the edge of which was visible. Approximately 3 seconds elapsed frorn the tilne the FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY SUBJECT: Unidentified Flying Objact Sighted at, Hadrid, Spain, 1443 hours, 22 AUooust 1955 (COtiT'D) object started to ~ise until it i~nished from sight. The total period that the ob,ject liaS in sight was from one winute and 15 seconds, to one minute and 30 seconds. Regarding weather and ,risibility at the time of sighting, the sky lii&S cloudless in the area of the object, the sun l'f&S shining brightly, the sky blue, there was no :fog or haze and no rela.tiYe wind ~t groun evel. Ceiling and v~sibility were unlimited. There was noone else the vicinit~ of Maj BURDICK at the time of the sighting. ). BURDICK stated that he is a senior pilot with a.pproxi.mately' 6,900 hours in multi-engine aircraft. He has been on active duty in the u. s. Air Foree fran 1942 - 1945 and from 1951 to date. He is also a celestial navigator, and was employed as such with Pan-A~erican World Airways from 1945 to 1951. He stated he had never observed or reported unidentified flying objects previous~. 4. At 1130 hours, M/Sgt JAMES S. UNDERTilOOD, AF 15018783, 29-36 Weather Detachment lieather Forecaster at Hadrid - Getafe, advised that the u. s. Air Force ~-reather station at Getafe does not sand any-balloons or other technical equj pnent aloft. 5. At 1135 hours, 1-f.ANUEL CASTA.t'iS, Spanish ''leather 'Forecaster at the civilian air terminal at lVJ.Sdrid -Barajas Airport (telephone #221165), advised that his office had sent a pilot balloon aloft at 1400 hours, 22 August 1955, for the purpose of measuring wind direc- ti~n and Yelocity-. The bal 1 oon, which was red and one meter in dia- meter, was kept in sight by-weather personnel until 1423 hours, when it had reached an altitude of 5,200 meters. CASTANS stated it is pos- sible the balloon passed over the northern part of the city where the sighting occurred. He added that at 1,000 meters in~altituda, wind direction and velocity was 160 at 10 knots, and at 1,500 meters, it was 150 at 8 knots. 6. The forego:L'lg infonrtation i s furnished your office for report- ing, in compJ i ance wi. th the provisions of paragraph 4a and 7, AFR 200-2, 12 August 1954. No further action is contemplated by this District. c c : SPPJ1A (info) F OR OFFICIAL USE ONLY