PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1. DATI 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 23 Aug 55 Arlington, Va 0 Was Balloon 0 Probably Balloon Po s si bl Y' Balloon 0 GroundRador C1 Wos Aircraft 0 P robobl y Aircraft 0 Air Intercept Radar D Po ssi hi y Aircraft 0 Wos Astronomical D Probably Astronomical 0 Possibly Astronomical 0 Insufficient Doto for Evaluation 10. BRI!II SUMMARY 011 SIGHTING Flat disc or star shape, orange color - 6 - 8 objs. No r egular f'ormation. Very high -very ra~id speed. ATIC FORM 329 (REV 25 SIU' 52) oX Unknown 11. COt.\MEHTS UNIDENTIFIED Af FORM 1 t% PART 11 -1.; K t l..A s_s_LEf.ilJ I CUSSIF'ICATIOMl .'.rPROVEO I JU i: l:l~ AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT I P E?OP T ,0. Flight 3-H, 4602d AISS JH-TJFOB-7-55 , Arlington, Virginia Occupation: Retired Education: (2) Years college Qtalitioa.tions: Mr is a student ot astronomy. He owns and tes a 400 power astronomical tel esc ope through which he has observed the planets, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, etc. He l'as ob- served numerous meteors and ccaets, includ1 ~ Ha.le7' s comet when it last appeared several ;rears ago. II. RELIABILITY: Good III. SOURCE'S DESCRIP!ION ~ SIGHriNGs " On August 23, 1955 at about 10:45 pa 'SSI', my friend {Rev. ! and I were standing near the south side ot rrr house, faci.Dg to the s , when my attention was oalled to a moving object in the sky. It ..es orange in color a nd 11Bs travelling south at a high altitude and great speed. Arter observing its 1 flight far about titteen seconds, it turned east and disappeared about ten 9econds i l ater. Shortly a.tterterds we ,.ere 3eanning the sq aDd another object of the ~me i type appeared 1:1 the southwest. It remained vi~ble for t~o or three !Dinutea. At one 1 tim~ we e~d s-pot three of them txavelling a t distance apart and in the eme t general d~etioa, but shottly att~s they took dittereat courses. One circled the I dome or the slq while the other made a semi-circle and reYersed itself bef returninl ! on its origir~Sl course. The other cireled the dome ot the sky and then turMd and 1 ~ent. direetl7 across the dome of the slq'. Another appeared to cane to a ecnplete stop I and then it co~tinued on its regular course 'Rbile it was standing still it looked like one of the stars in tack ot it. At one time, when one was turning, it appeared t o have a red dcae which 11Bs visable through the binoc,,lars. 'Dhe objects appeared to b e above the atmosphere or the earth since they didn't appear to lose altitude as a n I object would ~hen j:Sssi.ng aver the horizon. They never showed signs of l?sing their brilliance a :ld didn't fly in for,ration at any time. I think tr..at the vi31t.ble light -:wa s ! due to reflection fran the snn. n AF FORM 1(2--PART II AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT ' RE.f'ORT NO Flight J-H J 4602d AISS 311-UFOB-7-5, PAr.F. J OF 8 PAGFS Occupation: Minister Education: Post-Graduate Qualiticationa: Private pilot II. RELIABILITY: Good , Arlington, Virgin1a I III. SOURCE'S DESCRIPriOJ Cl' SIGHTI!Il: SOURCE had been observing stars tr..rouch his trieDd s telescope when he noticed a light in the slq which he at f'irst p:ee to be a jet. It suddenl.7 disppeared but no sound seemed to aecom}Bny the light. Shortly atter:ards, SOURCE related aeeina three di:'fereut and distinct lighta in the sky, each appearing to be mOYin in a difterent direction fr011 the other t,o .,;r -,..,:5 X~L.:-c:.- ,~AI't'J ~:-.i';iP~.H ()~N ~,.;;CT ? T E NATIONAL UEFE~;;E OF T14E 'J NITEO ST..HES NITHIN THE 'AE.\NING f) F THt. t.S?IQN4GF. ACT. 50 lJ .5 1:.- .\~::,Mf ').:oiON 0~ I HE R '1 :t..A TION OF I r5 Cmll C:NTS I~ .\N ~ \4AN lll t.H 70 AN U IJTMOR 1!(0 PH<<;t'JN l!:i P ~Orii~UTFO 8 y L.\W ;: \~ :-.-~r. :c.t~i'OuUCCO 1~4 WHGL OR I~ PA~T. J f QfHER l'HAN UNIT::O ~-UTES AI R FORCE ..\GC:Nt:IES. EXCCP r BY P!:i~MI$SIONm=id D I Hb .. fOROF _L/NCt.~-2LEL~ll_ tCLA.iSIFlCATION) AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMA TJON REPORT I ?ll ght 3-H, 46o2d A.ISS : REPORT HO. I JH-UFOB-7-55 Part Three 1 suPPLE.MENl'r\RI IN'/EsriCATIVE D"FCRl'S: I 1. A check with the Air Traffio Control Center at Washington Natioml A.irport, i (GeoRer GJNJ 5856), far infoxsnation in contirnation o the 23 August UFOB sighting i yielded negative results l ~Jatioml Airport see Inc , I 140lat Air Base WiDg o:tficmls igned to the US Weather BurfB.u at the Washington stated his only knowledge or the sighting came fr at Andrews AFB who called his o.f'fiee for weather data a ... the time of the sighting. .3. Andrews AFB in.foxznation to give Opexations and 'tleather(GeoRef GJPJ 0?48) was contacted but in re~rd to the 23 August UFOB sightiDg. tiona and Weather(GeoRet GJNJ 5S57) likewise offered no con- 4. Bolling AFB tirne.tion. 5. The Assistaut Chief ot Meteorological Observations, US Weather Bureau, Vfasbing } ton, D.c., ver1 cordial17 furnished the followbll :!nforuation 011 l:alloons controlled 1 by the US Weather SerYice: 1) That weather balloons are launched ~e7:7 six hours by Weather Sernce stations throughout the conrrtry. 2) These balloons often are or the 500# l'Ssonde variety, containing either a magnesiua bulb or an auto-acti~ted Ulnmi- rating attachment. Either o.f' these two types ot lighting would be difficult to obsezsve , once the carrier reaches an altitude ot 10,000 tt., which, as ng the average rate of ascent to be 6oott/min., would be acocaplished within 10-12 minutes. 3) Tmt the } Silver Hill Weather Station,(GeoRet GJKJ . ..,.0550), is the principil station operated by j the US Weather Service in the "Rashington vicinity. J 6. The Direetor ~ the Silver Hill Weather -Stat:lcm, Mr. Arg , disclosed that a rascmde balloon at the regnJar ttype had been released on the evening of 23 August 1 at 10:00 Esr. It had tre lled in a northeaster]J direction(toerd Arlington,. Virginia) a s it disappeared trom view. By 10:15 Esr, the balloOD would have been direetl7 ewer Arlington at an approximate altitude ot 15,000 tt., and increasing according to its n orual rate or ascent. Its coarse at this time eould have been-followed by binoculars I 7. The TJS Nal Observatory, 'Nashington, D.c., was contacted by telephone but f ;as unable to confirm the sighting. Mr. J .L. Gessner of the Observatory's Equatorial l Division, .. ,hen told of the traversing and random shirting of the lJFOB, mentioned that I tha turbulance trcm the earth's a-4;,mosphere might produce this impression if a st~r wet e ! observed through the atmosphexe media. 1/hether 6XlOO binocn1ars could reeord this ? hencmenon seemed doud to b1m. (This ~s the t,-pe or binoculars used by the Arling 7ars.) Mr. r stated tmt on the night of 23 A.u.:,e7Uat at approxi- l I:"E.tel7 10:15 ES! he had ed a bright light L11 t.he slcy accompan~ed by a red light. j 'Though there ves no sound audible, he falt that the lights were i'rom an aL.""Crart fly- 1 ing at an extreMl.7 high altitude. He reported tmt it had changed direction several l times NhUe he aas obserTing it. His suggestion was tlat the Arlington observers may j h3. ve seen the 39-me thing which he bad, but merely had interpreted it ditf'erentl7 B. Maj. Sloan ot the 75th AA Bn, Andrews AFB, Maryland, ?f&s contacted but \Ss 1m- able to confirm aay of the sightings with positive radar data. 9 . Likewise, Maj. Sutton, A.A ~s Officer, 19th AA Group, ~barged -,rrith the c\A de- fen3e of the 7Jash1ngton a , ver7 courteous}J offered that his unit had ~.ad 25-JO 1"3cBr scanners operatillg in his a ot responsibilit,. at the time ot the (cont. p.5) ,. vI( rliS DCCU '.11'4 r CO NT AJNS INFQR '.U r ;o')N -\FFECIINfi THE ~UT ON.ll. OEFEN:iE. t)._-THF. UNITED ST .lTE.3 NITMtN TnE "4E~ING OF THE ~SPION~GE ACT. 50 u S. C .- '1 ~;::> ; 2 \ S A'oiE.'tD0 IT:.i TPAN;,.\41$.)10N OR Tl1 ~t:"'o'E.l_.\j'QN 01'. I f3 CO~ rE T3 ANY ~AHNER TO lN U~IAUT~ORIZED PF.RSON IS PHOHISITEO BY l.A'N n 'I \Y Nor t:3E -:EPPOOI.ICED Jt4 NHOLE OR li~ PART. av Ol~ER rHAN :.;NaTED ST..\rEs AIR FORCE AG Ni.JES, EXC~?T B"f P~RMISSION oF 111 omECTOR oF I.', I ELI.GE~tC[, uSAF. ' AF FORM 112-PART II 'i'i'~OVED I JUNE 19_. AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT IIEPORT ~. Part Three Flight 3-H, 46o2d AISS JH-UFOB-7-55 SUPPLEMENI'ARY INVESTIGc\TIVE EFFORrS: (cont.) was.reported b7 his various installations. 7 sets operating in the Arlington vicinjty. 10. Lt. Beale of the 647th AC&W Sq, Mamseas, Virgin~a reported that he had received no infornation which might serve to confirm the Arlington sighting. 11. The Baltimo~-WashingtoD Filter 9enber gaTe a neg:Ltive report on the UF 0B sighti.Dg when approached by the Flight 3-H investigator. 12. Finall)", Olmstead Flight Ser'7ice Center 16s questioned about the sigbtiDg. Capt. Anderson, the Officer on dut7 in Middleton, reported that his office bad receiv~ 1 no intorma.tioa in c ticm ot the tlFCI4 sightiJlg on 23 AU~Ust. 13. Weather <Bta during obseM'ed flight ot UFOB was as follows: c yi,~b11i~7 Clear 12 Miles Winds Alotts 1. T'r MSG AISoP 713 Fll CCN])R 46020 A.ISS EM AFB,COLO ... d -'115 OCCU"'4E~ir CO Ni'-'1'14S INFOP.\4.\T!ON 4FCECTIP'G :"HE N.HIOP~AL OEFENSE OF TYC: Ut117EO sru;:, .'irTHIS To1E ~E-'NING OF THE ESPIONAGE ACT, 50 U 5 C- " I \f40 '!Z AS A~E~OEO IT'5 TI~ANStt4t:;:jJCN OA rHE RE'JEI.ATION OJ: ITS CONTENTS IN ~NY ~ANNFR 1 0 AN U NAUTHORIZED PE~SON IS PROHIBITED BY Lo\W. I i ' 1 \ ( NOr BF. PF.:PROOUCt::D H~ WHOLE OR IN PART, BY OTHC:R THAN UNIT ED STATES AIR FORC AGNC.IE.S. E.XCEPT OY ?ERMISSION OF lHE DtHECTOR OF I NTeLLIGENCE. uSAF. . F FORM 112-PART II (CI.,k;SIF1c..\TION) fr 'riO':~D I J UNE 11.&1 AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT . REroRT riO. Flight 3-H, 46o2d AISS Part Three I ,S-UFOB-7-55 Incl.#l, Part Three TT AlSOP 713 F1l COJDR 46o3> AISS !Nr AFB COLO MEBO 2l YTEO 20 YYCl98ENt\197 PP RJEPIIE DE RJED:Elf 246 F?A C <wDR 4602D AISS ENf AFB COLO TO OIC F~ 3 H 4602D AISS MCGUIRE AFB NJ /UNCIASSIFIF'*fAISC. 71.3 PD POL TEST TAKEN Fll TT MSG ANI' CXiBO 257 Ul~ CWA FM CC!IDR 1401 AB'Ml ANDRDS AFB MD PD (1) APPrARED TO BE FLII!Il SAUCERS (,\) SA UC!R 01 FIAT DISK SHAPE (B) MAY HAVE BEEN srAR Sli\PE (! NO REGUlAR '"'""' (G NOME FLEW AND SlOPF!D AND TBEN FIEII ON (I) WERE FLYING VERI HIGH AT A TERRIFIC RATE OF SPEED . (2) FLYING IN ALL DIRECTIONS AT AN EsriMATED HEIGH!' QlP 50 TO 100 MIIFS (A.) CBSERVING THE YOO!t AT THE TIVF OF SIGHrilli PD WERE AT THE BENmAL POSITIOI r6 THE PIAMEJ: SATtJRI PD OBJECTS SEntED TO APPFAR ( our-~ THilf AIR PD (B) h7P'.TIVi . ( C NECA.T IV& (D BO Sll PATH PD ZIGZAGGDII AHD srOPPim (E) DISt\PP!AR!J1 CCMPLFrELY ALL CR A SUDDEI (F) 25 TO 30 MllMFS (3) (A.) GROUMD VISrAL (B) BIBOOUIARS 7150 (4) (A) GROUND VISti\L (B) NIGHr~LFARiiNO CLOCDS (5) NEGATIVE VA PD JA76403 ARMY CUJI ACT .... IV~E CWI ARLINOT ON CD :. VF. CFFICER CD /..RLIOOTON VA PD JA 88955 MISS HC5PITAL OSit (B) 'fl!AT~ap~:a BORIAU CD WASHI~UfOM mTIONAL AIRPCRI' CMII WAI!r!R BPANDsrErrm (A) NEGATIVE 250 DEO lCK C101 2SO Dm lOK CMII 280 Dm 34K Clal (C) UNLJJAitP:D (D) 12 MIXES NONE KN<JI--lf NON! SiiCE W! WERE 101' ADVISED UllriL An'ER OBJECTS ?.AD DI SA.PPEA...qp:n (lC) !lONE KNCII II JTE if, IS CCC:.. '4U4 r COriTAINS I~1FO~ "-'TION "F CTING Ti-1E ~4 TION.\l OEF SF. OF THE UNITED ST A fE.!: '.VI THIN THE "'~lNG OF THf. ESPION4GE .lCT, 50 U S C - Jl A.NO 2 . AS A-..E~OEO. lTS TitANS:.el<j:jiO:O. OR THE RE'IELATION OF lr3 cmnSNTS I~ .\NV "'ANNh~ TO AN Uri4UTHOPllEO P~R)()N IS PROH181TEO BY I_AW. l i MAV NOT BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART. BY OTHER THAN UNITED STAT~ AIR FORC~ AGENr.ILS. EXCEPT BY PERMISSION Of TH~ OIRalvR Of . 1~4TELLIGHCE. USAf. \ AF FORM 112-PART II AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT j 3ttutOB-7-55 Flight 3-H, 46o2d AISS Incl.#l, Part Three (Cont.) 24/22J'T/. AUG RJEDEN TRUE COPY: CHARI.F..S L. BEmliFR 2/Lt., USAF Ass't OIC, Flt 3-B Part. Three ' 1 ~r: -'-1 <; DCCt:~EN" C')N7 \1'4"3 Jr4~0A'o1AT10'4 ~FC'ECTI~IG Tt1E NAT10'4~L OF.i'ENSE OF T IE UNITE~ STATC:S til7rtl~ T~E M :.\NIN(; OF THr ESPIONAGE' ~CT. !'.-1 U S C .- i: \'lQ.Jl AS A\4t.NCED ITS TRANS"4l':J.5l0N O R THE rt EVELATION OF ITS CONTENT~ lr& ANY ~A~N,.ER f') A-.IJNAUl i--ORI/EO PER<;ON IS PROfo-,tBITED BY U'N. r 'o4 o\ f NOT BE RE?POOt:CED I N WHOLi: OR IN ?ART, BY OTHER THAN UN ITED STAT~-'5 .\lA FORCE AG .. I'olr.123, E..'<CCPl a v PER'AISSION OF THE OIRCTOR OF I'll CLLIGC:NC. USAF ~F FORM 112-PART II AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT REPORT MO. 1 Flight 3-H, 46o2d AISS Part Four C001EN1'S of the PreiBrin ottioera l. In the op1n10Jl ot the riD otticer, the 2.3 Augua\ 1955 sighting ot a OFOB in the Washingtoa, D.C. area vas cauaed b7 misinterpretations of the cl"-.3~ing course ot an ascendiDg Rasonde wether billOOD b7 obse2!"1ers on the ground, ccmbined by the later sighting of a high tl7inl aircan bearing multiple lighta, cr.angillg direction and apJ&.reutJ.," emittilla no aouM. Th<mh there was actl1lll7 no assocUtion between the first and the second object, the fact that the second phenome on appeared so closel7 tbe tirst crES.ted the mise eption ttat the tlfo were asaoc ed. a. . In gen al appe&re.!2Ce the first clearl.7 observed object 18 s oxua~:ge in color and had a disc-like eonfigtttatlon, which ses to leave no doabt that this object could been a wEather l:alloon. The Silver Bill rasonde haJJ oon was Januche at approximatelT 10:00 Esr and 11B.s obserted to be tmvelling in the direction ot Arlington as it }:&saed traa the view ot the ther stltiOD. b. Also, this l:allocm which -within ten to twelve mintttes after launching could have been tmcked ror at least 25 minutes the~ eatte by observers on the ~round possessing 6Xloo binoculars. c. A.n airc%8tt ~a ebangin1 13ttern high above the oit7 could ee.s~ have CI'ES.ted the apJ8rent directional c:tangi.Dg phencmenOD, whieh,it acccm}:SDied b7 no sotmd and appearing close~ attar the sightillg or +,he f'irst object, ma7 quiekl7 MTe b~en attributed by ~A:eited observ'!rs on the gronnd to stmnge flying objects , eithe in or fraa outer sJBee. This latter conclusion as to the origin and location of the object or objeeta might at f'irst appear ridiculous, but to a person who is m prope~ ly acquainted with oeleat,ial activity, S11Ch an aaewaptiOD.might enter th mind quite rS.d1l7~----Both observers were coDf'ident tlat. wbat the:r saw bad not cane trc. iarth d. One ot the princi;al rtlla0118 the obeer'lers doubted tl:et the phenc.etBe could lave been ca fraa a rising lalloon ar an airel'&tt tranrsing the sk7 its apparent speed. The speed ot an object when recordedbJ' the rakeded e,e can be highl7 deceptive~ tartieularl.7 at night. .. CO..E1ESTS ~i' Approving Officer: CHESTER B. li\NSON Captain, usAF .orrieer in Charge 1. Further investigation requested of Flight 3-H revealed that radar eo!lta.ct s nere !le6ative in the Arlington area at the time of the 3ighting, alimii'-ating aircraft ~3 a caus~ of the sighting. Although winds aloft oould aubstantiate t~a course of t h e first ob.jaot as being a balloon the speed and duration of the s itShting do not ~orrelate ~th those of a balloon. The othar objects, sL~ilar in description ~o t~e first, do not conform to any known phan~ena 2. 'i'':Lis re?ort is for1mrded to ATIC as "unknown'. ~:~ " I... ,s CCCU ~[H ('l")"t"i ~INS INJ:'OC '44 T ION 4FrECTI ~4G T HE ~-'TION&L OEFNSE OF' ":"HE UN ITED ST~T3 'NtTn IN THE MEANING OF THF. ESPIONAGE .lCT. 50 I J S. C .- . ! .''10 3:!. ft:) ~.~[ 'IIJFD ITS TRA~S\4!!.:.510N O R THE RE'IE~TIO~I OF ITS CONT~NT'S IN ANY MANNER TO .\N UNAUTHORIZED PR50N IS PRmm~rrD BY LAW. I r . ' '( 'lOT n PE?PODUCED IN WHOLE 0~ IN PA~T. BY OTHER THAN UNITED STATES AIR FORCE .AGE~t".JES, EXCEPT BY Pt:RMISSION Of T'(iE DIRECTOR OF I 'H : LLIGENC:.:. u~AF (C~l"'ICATION)