PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 12. CONCLUSIONS 2. LOCATION D Woa Balloon . ;.;;:: i~.JmiJ;:r 195;~ D e1wood. Alarvland o ProboblyBolloon 0 Was Aircraft Local----------0 Probably Aircralt GMT 2~;v':J25Z ~ 2~/1025~ 0 Ai,..Visual 0 Air-Intercept Roclw Ponibly Aircroft 0 Ground-Roclor 0 Probably Aatronoicol 7. LENGTH OF.OBSERVATION L NUMBER OF OBJECTS 0 Possibly Aatronoicel 9. COURSE PQC Other Ground 1 j gbt 0 Insufficient O..e fer Evoluoti.,. D Unlcnown 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Sighting of meteor at about 29/0925Z. Noticed ground light which remained in sight for about 1 hour. See case file. ATJC PORII S29 (REV 26 SEP 52) Investigation revealed that the meteor sighting was part of the sighting. This meteor is carried in a separat:e case and was v iewe ~ as far away as Indiana & Penn. The additional rpt was determine~ to be a searchlight on a nearby SUPPLEMENT TO AF FORM 112 OIUOIMATIIICI MIIICY IIIIOilT 110. Det 10, l006th Air Intel Serv 5q Andrews AFB, \'laeh 25, D.C. De /O-Uf'O-J-.5~ no precipitation, 65 degrees F. temper,ture. This was the tirst time SOURCE had seen an object like this. He had idea as to its identity Estimated speed 1 250 to 300 knots. Estimated distance from object to observer1 ten (10) to fifteen (15) miles west. SOURCE had completed ten (10) years of for~al education. I n addition he had attended CAA and nrllitary control tower operator schools. 4. Evaluation. Sgt Pleasants was quiet reserved individual. He a ppeared not to have any preconceived idees of l'lhat he saw bu t merely to be stating the facts a s he saw them. His story was later fully corroborated by the person who .,.-as Hith hi m at the tiJne and who made the observation from the same vantae e point. 1'his !rc.n on duty as weather observer in the Andrews AFB control tower. His personal a. Name 1 PIWO\'lARSKI, Gregory \'i. b. Ranka A/2C l c. Serial Number a AF 11290689 l d. Organization a Det 2, 4th \'feather Group, Andrews AFB, \lash 25, DC I The interviewer believes that the phenomenon described above was caused by a meteorite. XI. ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS. 1. At 29/0925Z Sep 58 a tlami.ng obJect was observed on a downward traject- ory trom the GREEN ARROW nm, near OXFORD, liD. (J841N/76lO:oJ). Two officers of the 2nd Ordnance Co. at FORT HEADE, ND. (3906N/7644\'1) saw the phenomenon with the unaided eye in the sky to the West of the GR.El:N ARROW INN. These tl'tO otticers, l/Lt s SPARACINO and EBERLAND, who were together at the time, also observed that small particles were breaking away trom the object. The color of the object was greenish. 2. Georgetown University Observatory reports several telephone calls trom local observers who saw an object as described above at precisely the sa1ae tiue. The observatory's tenative conclusion, based on the descriptions received, \'ta s tha t the object was a meteorite. 3. The US Naval Observatory, at Washington, D.C., reports no sighting. WAitNINO: f'ltie ~ument Nnta/n. /fll-mal/on alecflnl .I.e net/on./ de/en .. ol tile Vttlted Stat lfltitt tile mutt/ttl of the 't .. pion,. Z.. 1'111 II, V . S . C ., S.Ot/one 7fJ and 714. Ita trettltnllelon ot the tere/aUon ollie contettU/n anr men net to an utteutltotiled penon /e prolt/blted br I It mr not be teprodut:ed Itt hole or Itt pelt, br othet thett United .Stet .. Ait l'orce I Alettelee. eacept bT permi .. lott o1 tile Director ol/nte/1/ln-, VSAI'. rot 112a IUPI.ACU AI POIIM lll rAIIT 11. I Nil a. t OC:I $2 WHICH MAY II "'1ft. ' ' .. L -UIIIIIf "IAfiH .,PIU l~tlt7G-1 .S.CVItlf'Y INI'Oit/IIA f'ION hett 111/ed In) 'I SUPPLEMENT TO AF FORM 112 OIUeiM'Me MIIC'I MPOilT IIQ. 1006th Air Intel Serv Sq Andrews AFB. \laah 25. D.C. /JEr IO-IJF0-1-S~ XII. COlMANDm t S COMHENTS. The inveatigation waa conducted by experienced investigators who tried to explore all possible sources ot information. The conclueiomreached are consid- ered logical and reasonable. N ' 'ALBRI01JT Commander, Det 10, 1006th AISS DOW!"GRAO~ AT~ vr~ !'~l'"RVAT.S: WARN/NO: rJtle .. uMeftt ~ottleiN l~tl-tlo~t a#ecl/114 tlto r~tlo~tal fle/e~t ol Itt. Uftlte<tl StatN Jtltllt tlaa .. aartlft4 of tile ..plo,..4a ww .. r111e II, U. S . C. , Sect/.,.. "' a1td 1J4. Ita ttMinlalo~t or tit H'raltlolt ol/la -1ttattta/1t .,., ... ,.,..r to n uuulllor/041 ,.,..,. Ia prolllblted by I It ... , _, bo nprodueod lft ltole w lit ,art, -, ethet tltaft Unile<tl StIH Alt 'ore A4nclae. ftoepl by ,-,n/allioft ol lite D ltHiot ol lr~ta/11,._, USA,, t ocr 12 a IIU\.ACU Ar rOIIM ll .. rAIIT II. I .IUN .. WHICH MAY II USIO. cu-,_ (S.CURITY IN,OitlltAriON lien lflled in) L.A YroAI.SI// '-~ INC.L1 , ~PT.;b.Fr/o-uro-;-s8 tJYE~.ury or AM.:S .5E~E6 Y-8..1:3 :?/le-.GT3 -ro6.z E ..VE "t s-.s-.z P .vw SCA /. ~djOpo RBSULTS OF PIELD INVESTIGATION Interviews from personnel at the area of were conducted in the afternoon and evening of 29 Sep 58 by T/Sg The scout- ing for civilian source leads in the vicinity as well as short inter- views to na~row down the search area were conducted by Sgts and Additional short interviews of personnel at the area indi- -c-a~te~d that all those who had observed the light on the ground had seen it in the same direction as the given azimuth fix, and that no one could add to or contradict the statements made in the previous two interviews. Lt. , who had called in the reports, had not himself observed the aerial phenomenon, although he was able to take an azi- muth reading on the later observed ground light. His description of it was the same as all the others. Since no one at could add anything to tho statements already noted, it was decided to concen- trate on civilian sources in the vicinity. An Army helicopter had been offered to help in the search and was due to arrive soon after 6tart of normal duty hours. At 30/1015Z Sep 58 the guard on duty at the area gate informed Sgt that the light, which he had obaervea the day before, was again visible. Sgts , , and . observed the light from the saae vantage point as Sgt nnd ~t for about twenty minutes. This time binoculars were used. The light was white, intense, and fluctuating. It was also along the plotted azimuth. It seemed to come from a thin stand of trees. One step to the right or left would hide the light from view and another step would bring it ~ack into view. From the main gate it could not be seen. A little to tho left (South) of the single light, one. could easily see the lights of the village of LAYTONSVILLE. Somewhat to the right (North) were a few scattered individual lights of probable farm houses. The intense light along the azimuth was the most conspicuous, All lights, however, had a fluctuating quality. I As daylight saturated the area, details of the land began to take shn~e. The group of trees through which the light was shining, could be seen. A barn took shape behind it with a strong light on the end. By 30/ 1040Z Sep 58 the light's intensity had faded considerably due to the rapidly increasing daylight. Sgts , , and travel- led to the source of the light, a barn directly along the plotted azimuth. The barn was located almost three (3) miles (line of sight) from the area of , about 300 yards North of the crossing of Maryland State Routes 124 and 108, on the East s~de of Route 108. At this azimuth Route 108 ran along a Alight rise, and the trees lin- ing the road on the West aide formed the limit of sight (horizon) from the area of Anything seen froa the area along that azimuth and disappearing behind the top of t hose trees could not pos~i bl)' be observed striking the ground. The group of trees between tha area and the barn were nunut 400 vards west of tmbarn and verv aity had faded completely in the almost fully developed daylight. The owner of the barn was interviewed. He stated that he had not seen any aerial phenomenon on the morning before, but that at 29/ 0925Z Sep 58 he was inside the barn, millting his cows. He had just turned the barnlights, including the outside 200 watt floodlight, on a few minotes earlier. He stated further that the outside flood- light, which could actually flood the surrounding fields enough for him to wllk around on them easily during total darkness, bad been burned out tor a long time. Since up until now it had always been light enough outside for him to see, he had not bothered to replace the bulB until just a "couple ot days ago" (exact date could not be recalled). TWo (2) additional sources were checked in order to narrow down tbe search area after this. One of them was Mr. , owner ot a small airstrip, AIRPORT (3915N/7709W, two ana one quarter (2 l/4) miles o YTONSVII.I.S and four and one quarter (4 1/4) miles SWot DAMASCUS, UD. (3917N/7712W). Mr. stated that he lived at the airport and that on tbe moriing ~a question and at the speci- fied time there was no light aircraft activity at or near his airstrip. Ot thia he was positive. Be had not seen any aerial phenomena at the I time. Be stated that the ground winds in the area at the time were neglillible ltt ohj .. ;t' THE 'I' ASEll:'~GTO~ POST tnd Tnn~: IV flll~t~ triO)', Oc:le~.rr I, J?.R Artq en etatio~cl at the rake ba n .. r Derwood, Marylana, aaw a ~storioue ob- ~eet land. and tak ott near the W.se. They cleecribecl 1 t ae wingleaa aa4 pro- pellerl w1 th b&ll-11ke noa anci a blunt tail. Tha Air Porce claims tbie va" merely & caee ot woldr' are light reflect1ns rrom ora~colore4 ~rue~ belonging to an eleotr1c power comp&D)'. !be Ai~ Foroe bow forgot, however, t.hat tM eightin& took place at a.a., _.no one vee weldlD& at that. u.. Tl1e Role of Unusual Coinciclence Analogous unlikely coincidences account for many flying-saucer The factors that encourage the misinterpretation may be the particular time or place at which the phenomenon appears, the kind of weather, the experience, physical state, or mood of the observer, his unawareness of a certain fact, or any combination of and other relevant circumstances. A fairly simple case of this type was the r eported landing of a spacecraft near an Army barracks (often r eferred to in saucer publications as the "Nike site") in a rural area of Maryland, shortly dawn on the morning of September 29, 1958. The sergeant on duty that morning left the orderly room at 4 :25 A .:\t. and started to the barracks to waken the troops. The sky was clear, with bright moonlight. Hearing a whirring sound like a pitch ed baseball with a loose cover, he looked up toward the west to see a brilliant round white object soaring through the sky from north to south, and break- ing up into smaller pieces as it traveled. It disappeared behind the the mess hall, directly to the west, after being in view about two seconds. Hurrying around the south side of the mess hall to the western horizon, he observed a very bright white, pulsat- ing light at ground level, apparently in a wooded area some four or five miles west of the battery site, as though the glowing object had landed there. He reported the incident to an officer, who meas- ured the azimuth position of the unknown. The glow remained in one place but diminished with increasing daylight until it was no longer visible. Air Force investigators arrived that afternoon. They had already received many reports that a brilliant fireball had flashed through the sky at 4:25 A.M., the time in question, and had been observed by many witnesses in the area between Washington, D .C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but no fireball could account for the ground light. The next morning at 5: 15 A.M. an intensely white fluctuating light was observed at the same place and was studied through binoculars until daylight made it invisible: it could be seen only from the west side of the mess hall, and one step to the right or left would hide it from the observer: Traveling toward the po- sition of the unknown, investigators found a dairy bam three miles and on a direct line of sight from the place the UFO had been observed. On one end of the barn was a 2oo-watt floodlight with a white reflector, still burning. On questioning the fanner, they that until recently the light had been burned out and had not been used. The early hour of sunrise during the summer had provided all the light he needed to milk his cows. With the shorter days of autumn, however, he had needed the light and had re- placed the bulb only a few days before. On the morning of the he had turned on the light a few minutes before the ser- had noticed it [ 1]. Thus several unrelnted fnctors hnd combined to produce the il- lusion of a landed space vehicle: 1) only a week earlier, news- 8 Octobez-1958 At approximatel7 0800 29 September, Lt. William M , Information Services Otticer, lOOlat Air Beae WinS, Andren AFB, cal, ed M4 et.atecl tbat a cournn4er of a Hilc.e aite near liervoo4 Md., had reported an UPO sighting. Lieutenant aa14 that two 1D tbe Control Tower eighte4 a UIO veQ Ql~.~drev~ H~ 1\lrther related that Operation bad d1apatched a !33 a helicopter to tbe UFO ai&ht~ aea. Approximate~ OM hour later, Deii!PM7 to tu.rtber relatecl that tbo helicopter crew, upon the <lea apot o~ the oJ l c 5cd UPO land1 ng 418coYered. one or more lar.;3 o~e co~orc4 trucks. wo~ near these objecta vere cJoilla velcJtns vort on hip teuion Sirden We ztece1ve4 DO quer108. ur reated until the nisht ot October 6th. On that n1gbt, I read tbe 1'1Dal edition ot the "Star. On pace 1 there vu a 2-column 1to17 about a 'myate17 obJec~' near Dervoocl,.t After ree41Df[ the "ou,r a.cCOWlt, I a ~ concerning the above &toq. We both reg:&'ette4 the truck 816htillC V88 on1tte4. IOtA ot ua UG'"tcl thAt it vaa l.Dck o~ coord1no.t1on aamewbere up tbe liDO Ill the spirit ot AP'R 200-e (paro. 9) which reads, "S!(;htillca rtWJ be re leaa4 to the pz."'aa or c;cneral public b7 the coraanndor ot the Air Force DMe concerne4 on17 atter it baa beeD poaiti~ 1d.ontU1ed aa a familiar or a kDovD obJoct." 1 c!ecid.ecl 1D order to to coDJocture the waeb:1n11ton "I'Oat.." vi I asked to aak the nporter vork:lnc on thja Ui'O ato%7 to COD u I hacl -a tn 110.re dattila vhtch m1pt len4 a bit ot ll&ht to tbe aubJect. A little later, tor tbe tpformatiOD JCr apot report to Mr oa tbe 29tb of September, .An"""' 41patched a t.r-33 end a helicopter -ror u 'on the apot probe ot t-be reported UFO. At the reported. aito, the bel1copter cliacon.re4 a srgup ot ora~ colored tNcka. were working on hicb tenaion ateel. towers 1n tbat aroa .!! Mr uke4 it the,-were PSPCO I l 41411 't Jmov u4 to cbeolc PUCO tor ACC\&J'8C7 the Ottice ot IDtozmation Secntt'l ot Atr J'Orce ~ACTIVITY RIP~TIMI C 0U NTit 'I' Olt AREA lllP OIIT CONe Ill NS Maryla nd USA ACT IYIT'I' SUINITTIHG UPOIIT DATE Detachment 10, l006th Air Intel Serv Sqdn Andrews AFB \'lash 25 D.C. SRI STATUS (II eppliceble) PWI'.ARING INDIVIDUAL NA,_ 011 DUCIIIPT ION OF IOUIICI IYALUATIOH See Individual Statements See Individual ADDITIONAL IHFDIINATI()fj OH (DIItJ Statements SU*ARY (Oiu ..... ,, Ill ell lllllllllllto the eellottt lee tora of ttorret In np ort. S.lltt nerrot tu t on Uttloee report catt be full1 etetod ott~ 'or JJJ, Llot lnclouree, ltteludlttl n~bet ol coploo) I. StnIHARY: This report contains the results of all investigati ve effor t s tnade on subject UFO sighting together ldth statements ot all persons GUe stionod in connection with it. II. DISTRIBUTION: USAF only. III. CREDIT LINEa Captain ~gene L J.taxwell (AO 2 76! )~ :} 1/Lt Robert T Caughey (AO 3049 57 g ~ YJ/Sgt Christopher G Pagos (AF ) T/Sgt Ralph H Gottschalk (AF ~ 6j.l~ 5: T/Sgt Ante Jelenic (AF .3265712 ) ~ 9' l: S/Sgt Roy G steph~nson (AF 1841 ?2s2~ ~ ----:1=----INCu Overlay of AMS Series V8.33 Sheets 5562 II NE and 5562 II NW, 18UTI~ 1'1' ~IOIIIATOR ( .. ce,t fiSU lrtdlcde llltl'l 11/ .. Commander, ATIC Copy, w/o lncls, Commander loo6th AISS 1006'11i AISS ClassiJied Document Loc;, I VAIIIIIIQ: Title docuaeat o011toltto lllletMtlfHI ollecflnl tllo aefl-1 tleltt .. of tile Unlted ltllltt tile nittl I tho .. ,lenolo Lo .. , Title 11. U.S .C. , s .. tlCHI 7f1 end 7f,, tte trOrtOlooiCHI or tAo ro~eletl011 e/ Ito cottfeata Itt on, ... ,.net to o" utAorl" ,ore.,. le ,rolllbltod 6p l