P ROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD CONCLUSIONS Nmt o_:r Dac. 59 3. D ATE-T IMe CiROI.JP S . PHOTOS ) .l:I Yes 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 2. LOCATION Wa s Bulloo" Pto bably Balloo" 0 Possi~ly Balloon Clark~ton, l:!.~oc~h~i~ga~n~-------------l 4. TYP E OF OBSERVAT ION Was Ai rc raft 0 Probably Aircraft Possibly Aircraft ca. Ground Vi svol 0 Ground-Radar 0 Air-Visual 0 A ir-Inte rcept Rodor Was A stronomical 0 Probably Astronomical Possibly Astronomical 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE lnsuffic:i~tnt Data fo r Evaluation 10. BRieF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING \inite, egg- shape d obj, size of grapefruit , 0 f our t i~es brighte r l ight than any star, r ear of obJ left a trai l of l i ght. ATtC FORll 3~9 (R:&V 26 SaP 52) 11. COMMENTS The obj ;;ighte d probably vra s a weather bal l oon. Thio rpt was not mitted ttntil 6 or 7 mont h s a f t er the sighti~ a nd the n tre into IoTas R I::IJI.. V T O SUUJI':.CT 1 HEADQUARTERS SELFRIDGE AIR FORCE OASE 1ST FICHTeR WING (AIR OEFEHSE)(AOC) STATES AIR FORCE SE LFRIDGE AIR FORCE DASE, tAICIH GAH unldc.1tlied Flyin :; Object (UFO): S i ~hted 0 200 .lours trovctnuer or To: ;.:~ ~ccnnical I ntelligence Ceuter iir:~:lt.:-.?nt tcr!;on .A}"B, Oitio 1 . In accordance AFR. 200-2 the attached file concerni:1~ 0:1 ec i: alle.:;edly seen and pho to3:ca:i11e.d by He. -.oi t lt contents contained ~1e.cc"!.n ir. submlttc-\d . 2 . Du~ t o the a.nbiGu i i:lcs i n vol v c d coacern i_ng t b e date a u d time of t:tc si:::;;ti:int;, deto.i~ad analysis o.E thi.c rcpo1:t, at thi s l e vel, is ext::c:1cly difficult; t~ouevet", the o n l y real tin e clue found under the \Jentlter a:1.d '"inds secr.lon o f i:he. report Has pursued a n d revealed t h e fo} lm-1ln3 info11aation: a . The first sno~1fall for the area concerned was listed aa o. trace on l:' an<.l recorO.e.d on 18 :iiovC'r.1be r 1959. The vea thcc uas clear, tc-:-? ero.ture 27 de;;ree s arrd Hinda HSH 4K. b . The first S:.10":7 fall for the year that remhine d over night ':. s ::eco::decl on 20 ~Tove-:~b ~r 1 959. Th e recorded Hcnthe~ a:: time of si3l:tin3 reads hi:;~1 clouds 2 /10 s ~y coverar;e, te.:1per.iEure L. u~uL \";!.., e:-td uinds l!NU 6 '.L:1i.s is the most probable date of the sighting arrd b<:!sed on this precept the follouinJ information Ha s r e vealed. (1) Aircraft of a knmJn type and dc3.i.3n are eliminated due to the lenJth of time ojserved. (2) The possibil.lty that a ueather balloon nay have been si;;~1..:cd \Tas investi.;ated uith results as follou s : a . T~e ~etcrolo3y 3cctlon located at Flint, Michisan Al=?o:: t Stat~on relaases ttro (2) weather balloons daily at 0700 ES': 2:~c 1300 EST. Tl1.ese ballool1.s ascend at a ra::e of 100 0 Ffl1 to oa a\?.=.:~:: altitude of 30 , 0 0 0 feet. The balloo:1s n o r :na l l y e~:pnnd nnd rea:.. c. diameter of thirty (30) fee t t~1en burst, h ouevct, o:t 28 ~:o\.C.~Jl= the balloon did n o t burst. It reached ~n altitude~ of 80,000 :~eet a::tcl developed a slo-:1 leal~. .At t his po:i.n.t t he recorcl:i.nn run uu~ considered co~plete a n d d isconttnued. b . The sun ~et a t 1712 EST . The halloo~ reac ltcd sunli3ht bct~1een 40 and 50 thou::;n .. v:l feet. d . 90% of all b~lloons Station burst and fall within a five is 20LB1 ESE of the point of r e lease. released by t~1e Fl.i.-1t 11eterolo:,y (5) mlle r~dius of Clo.rl\:s ton u:1 i.ch e . The exact ~scent a::lmui:h the hallooa :Eolloued on date Ln question is un!moHn s.~nce the 1:ecords are retained for 60 3. In vie'tv of the fore~oinc, it is believed that this object i:as lil~ely to huve been a U<o!ather balloon . FOH. filE COHHANDER: ~-E. CLA!iCY .A:i.:ninistrati ~n o~#' D EPARTMENT OF THE AiR rORCE JIEAOQUARTE!~S l.INITJ-: n STATgs AJR FORCF. WA IHGTON 25, 0 . C. THE INSPECT O R liF.NE HAI.. U SA,.. 26TH OISTRIC T OFFICI!: OF SPEC IAl.. tNVESTIOAT10)ofS !iEI..FRt OG! AtA FORCE DAS, UICifiG AH ( U) Ur!I DENTI I: IED FLYi i~J .)~J[CT (UFO): /,TTiJ: DIRECTOR o-OPLRATJOr~s SEL?"!{)JG E AFB H E d I U S D A N D H /.. D 0 J ~ E n V t:. D A i~ U I~ I D E I S T I f I E D :-L Y I tl G 0 B J C T A ID HAD TAKEN A PHO TOGR/'PII Or rHE 0 3JECT,. DESCRI P T ION 0F 0JJCCT : s II A p l -I IE G G s H ,., p E I. SIZE-' 'G~/>..?EFRUIT ~1Zl CoL() R -Y./ii I T E NUNBER -O:!E (I) L ICHT THAtJ AI~Y ~fAR. lc OTH~R PERTi lJENT r'EhTUR~S-No;~E \r.'liAT C/~U;:,ED O DSEI~V E R TO llOTtCE OSJECT-0:->IGIIT TO HORJ Z ON. a . 0PTICAL AIDS-NO~!E Tr.::: AND o~rE O F G~:rt~lc: ZUL U 'fii~E /', T S I GHTIIIG-0700 ON A N I G H T ltl NOVCH~F.R LOCAT I O N O F 0 BSF.RVER: C LARKSTON MI C H I G A N [OEiHrTY OF 0931\V!::R: Oc cuP A r 1 o N -~'lR viE A THE R A I.J D ~-1 I N D S : t.GE (U K) ~iATERIAL CONTRO L C LCRK It~ CL EAR WEATHE R CRISP , COLD, LITTLE WIND AND fiRST s;~OW o . CL:)U D COVER -Ll TTL E TO IIONE E T ::m 0 I. 0 C I C A L A C T I V I T r E S T 0 A C C 0 U II T F 0 R S I G H T I N G : UEE I ' HETUR NED TO D T I ! E N C G