PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 2. LOCATION 12. I CONCLUSIONS 0 Was Balloon 19 Nov 61 l.flckinaw, Illinois o Probably Bolloon 3. OATETIME CROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Xl Ground-VI suo I 0 Ground Rod or Was Airc:roh GMT 0 Air-Visual 0 Aorlntercept Radar 1 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomico P rabobl y AI rcroft 0 Possibly Aircraft 0 Possibly Astronomlc:ol s. HUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. cou~se o Other Panda Bear re~,uo ing 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION o Jnsuffic:i-t Dater for Evolu~.t4-o.c. . tO BQIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 2'oen plowing field at night noticed bright light i n s . 'rhey sto?:;>ed tractors to watch light and observed 1: to break into nurnerou~ otbcr lights. The~e light s faded in and out ;.rith no appar ent r..c'lttern. Clu::;ter of light0 oved ~rom AS 230 elev ation 25 in a straight line to and elcvutio~ of 20 in the E. Lights just f'ldcd out of sigh~ in distance. Duration ATIC PORM 329 (REV 7~ SEJ> 52) Gen.,.TI?.ll y E 0 Unknown - 11. COMMENTS It i s c o:1;::luded that sighting re~mlted ,.,hen !l refueling mission occurred :tn Pania Bear refueling sect o r . Pattern of :i&1t~ dc~cribed by witnesses was p robably thos e of tanker. Directio n o~ Panda Bear sector parallels that of cours e t!.l.ken by UFO. I s n o evidence availabl e w~ich indicates object s sec:-1 interplan etary space vehicles of that t~ey constitute threat to security I had both men trace out the apparent path and the path crossed the meridian at an elevation of about 30. The path did not come any where near the zenith, as wasoriginally indicated. ~ The lights apparently began their motion at the instant that the numerous lights appeared. T'.ae lights preverved their particular pattern and moved across the sky as a smal 1, compact cluster that could easily have been covered by the thumbnail held at arms length. Appenzeller thought i"lh<~ that he may have seen the 11.ght on the :previous turn around the field, but he was not sure. Both men insisted that the bi:r bright light was ther e and stationary at least three or four 4 I . .J.. minute a before it vias seen to break up into sma.J ler lights. The breakup apparently was not explosive as indicated earlier but they appeared in a xa_!titq sudden fashion. I nsked the zr.en~ to think calmly about hrn.r long i t took the c:Luster of' lights to/3cro,Ft ~he sky to the d.isappearance point"' ('.the lights just faded out in the distance)~ and t o 11rlte it down i!:tC,.ependently on slips of paper that I had provided them '\vith. \-Then I opened the papers the resul-:..11 ~ the baJlot vo.s 3 minutes and 4 minutes. Both ~en, incidentally, conftrmed the :'act t::e ::.::.:tster o.f lights 11as trailed by an "itty bitty C light" that differ~d fr<>m the others i:l --.,., ;ll)tt.rently-being I!lOre reddish, llld uhich e1im.i. ttcd sparks. aid that there lias jus t an occasional spark Questioned about the frcm the.light -.ft:rhllps abou-: during the .interval._. The gentlemt)o a.:~reed tee:: ~::ug"ll:r on the noise and no runognt of caning back to the subject or attempting t c T r ! ::.::t them .-ould s'Je:ke them from the fact that the noise real and ver-J easily -audible af~et the treztors had been shut off. "ITho had served "1-rit.h SAC! _ as an engine mechanic, knows his planes and prided himself during h:j.s. Ai/force te;nn of duty_ that he could re-.:r:.'t;tli '3e various types of planes at considerable distance~ by th(: sound of their motors. did not concel!rilrate on the lights but on the SOUJ.id and Has atteopting to turn over in his ni nd during the entire episode uhat type of engine it might be. He cmtld ~ identify no single engine. The noise resembled that of a d~esel, of a pulsating jet, and of the rumble of thunder; he said a sound effects m2~ migh~ have produced it. by sheld ng e.. 2.?.rse piec e o:f tin. The tim~ of this sighting appareni!lY. i9 !ietemin~d to J)lus or m~nus 5 n1jnute s of.ll: 45 Plot on November 20th (incidentally the date of the o.cigi nal re:port, lrovember .l9, is ~'1 error) , the accuracy being ascribable to the fact that the boys h.3.d deteroined that they vrould not vrorlc past midnj ght and had been '\.mtching their watches rather closely and vrere getting ready" to call. it a night.. After the aprition the boys sat around in the field finishin~ thiir cigarettes and discussing what they would have done had the thing landed in the field and had they been invited to take a ride! The next dey, in the course of their official duties, they discussed it ,.,ith their :fellow airmen , getting a considerable amount of razzing, the ctory fine.'lly coming to the ears of Capt. Pilon. He had the men report this then through official channels. He per- sonally was at first tem;pted to dismiss the whole thing but ~ felt that it-twas safer to !lave the thing on recor d and officially recorded lest something should cane of it later. b~). On t, lR t very dJzy', No-.re!!'..ber 21, the chap aid that he had been lying in bed the Jtrcvious night about that tjme and heard what he thought at :first ua.s a diesel. train coml.u~ up the rarely-::sed spur track. that 'Passes about l./8 of a mile from hi.s home. Both he tut~l h.ls '-life c.p:?are--:-~ hee..rd the noioe ifhich puzzl.ed/'fta, because the train never seemed to arrive et tl::e !::cuse ~:i to rass by a t is the 'wnt of trains that travel on t racks that pass by l>ecr~le 'h !::.at:.ses. :::e diJ. nut eet. out of bed to investigate (serious lack of scientific cur ios:Uy). A:so en :;.:-~!:'L.)er '~, another farmer ,.,ho had been , iu1.d taker. ~s ,e=:;-fancy tractor to farm durlng the course of which procc!.:h:.~, l t.. b!"C!C~ were Wnen the three b,overing crver the .-:ru,ctor i1! an e.tten:Ipt to find out the trouble, th~ incident of the previous evening was appar.entcy recalled just briefly,,rhereupon J?jetrich excl.ained something about that he had seen the same thing, before the other two boys ,.,ere able to go into 4 any de- taila. They did not discuss the oa.tter further because they quickly turned to discussing the rn.echanical. t:tisbeha:vior of the tractor and to disassen:fol.e .iiiiliD. a portion thereof. Inci- is located six to eight miles from the field in question. Pnobher piece of incidental intelligenc~, Capt. is long-t.t!'ne employee of the Caterpillar 'rractor Coi!'tpa.ny and he kl10'i7s personally the \irter o~ the P.l.exv.nder Botts stories of S..~h~rorm T'.c3.ctor fame in the Satu.rdey Evening Post. Upson, I bel.ie\e the ncne is, i'ound >rri~i!l3 the JUexo.nder Botts stories so profitable that he quit his job at Caterpill~r.Tractor Company, and became a professional. writer. u--... _ ..... A .p" ..... i cihon l.rl +.h +.hP 1 n~nP.ction of the field. ".fC a]) caJ l.ed upon Nr. who live.:; approximately 3 or 4 miles from tre field. On that night of November 20, at some undetermined time, but definitely prior to ll o clock,and most pro\ably bet1veen 10 ~="' been caning back from town and as he walked into his farmhouse, he looked up and saw What he took to be a low-flying plane ~vi th a row square lightl3 like com- partment windOW's. He associated no noise with the sighting. He i-Ta.Jked unhurriedly into the house and cal J ed to his wife t o ask whether she ~wzt w.-am.;:ss cared to Gee a flying saucer. They both looked out the kitchen window (and I did too later) and saw this object preceding at a vague clip is certainly no observer but he has a disarming honesty about his vagueness); he just didn t knOt., anything other than he had seen / some lights, and no noise and he '1...-asn t even sure of directions unti I had to identit'y them f JC' him. As clos e as ~-re can ge t , the craft Has moving f rom south to north, and disappeared viev in his nortlnres t quadrant. s a paragon oi' negative curios tt~ o.nd a go0d 20 :-..: --:.es q;;.est,ioning y!!elded only a fe,., crumbs, but well- repeated ~ c~.1.mbs, of basic i r-":: = ~ 'tion. Bidding goc.>d-bye t1.) ~c...-:.::. = ~rtl.r th('"rea.f'ter to back to the hendqua.rters o:f ':.:3e Sc::-..:2:---:.:l an'l I t;h~reupon/ the and I Proceedecl Captain and Sar.a to have lunch with me at the r> irnort. P..-:.''::-e= l~-2:1 : bid both thcGc ti~ntlerru.m eood-bye and reported. Jn to the ticket desk , ,. l.y to fi~ -:.::.a-: q flight had been cancelled and that the next one left sane fcur hours ..!..J..:.e1. I ::--e:;-;L--ed. \;O t~e nursery to sleep. I ha~ n01..r awakened f rom ~ na:p and this is being d.lct.ated in the nurserJ of the greater Peoria airport. It is yet one and a hsJf hours to flight time. Suggested solution: During the entire course of interrogation, tvro things kept coming to rrl.nd: ~e is that the white light origina])y described tallied so closely with a landing light and Second, that the close cluster of lights like1nse tallied with the sighti:lg of my mm about 1950 from the balcony of the Perkins Observatory. T'nere I had turned a H-inch telescope on to t!le apparition and studied the arrangement o:f lights quite closely. There were21 scme 8 ll s a:!:Ta!J.ged in cluste:r-~ :fono.tion aft tb.at :::;or:1eh0'11' reMi:n4~d ::::e o: r>. s..,a11. Chr!stmas tree making a stately. cruise of .the sl<y. This. J.?ter ~ne~ out to be, after a great deal of questioning and a great many no s and denials that a.TtYbody knew al"~hing, turned I out to .be a KC-97 ta.n1ter. A tanker of this sort has, I understand, a larg~ boom light e.nd during refueling operations everJ light on t~ plane is on full blast. At the close of our first morning session, before ~ve repaired to the field, I bad pointed out this resemblance t o Capt_._..,. ani asked whether there were~ arry tanker runs in the area. Capt. said tnat KC-97's ane on the wey out, but that there werea two of them based at oHare and that conceivably they might have come down this wey. ointed out that he saw no nav i - gation lights end that both this, and the fact that they had seen it stationary i'or so long, did not jibe Hith the tanker interpretation. Nonetheless, ::J.U.u. I returned to the squadron base after our \.interview with o.u. been doing some investigating of hiv own and had found that there was a Uul.l~er run ca.l 1 ed l'::1tlr'ta Bear that operated between Indial1apolis, Kansas City, DesMoi nes and SpringfieldJand Ll1td-; the s &ade d portion of the run shatm on the map lay squarely over Nacinack. It now .L'eme.ins t o detens: "'~e whether on the night of november 20th there/am. :t.ndecd tanker run in prog1~ss. The case as ono might ::-eccns--.;.;.-ut:-: i t on a tanker hypothesis follmrs: the tanker ' -ras naking circu1 ar rtmH of very l.e.rge :::-e.,;~ :Js, as. I u sed to observe in the Columbus a.:cea, near Lockborne .A..ir li'oree Base. :W.ve seen th~ boom light, which :i D reported to be/large ,.a brif<h -c t .rhi ce l-' :~ c::1 c:-_e of 11.1.3 mrings 1.round the field. Ou his UCA-t Sli'ing around, he may ~v ,. ..... ::a; ed. t!:le tanker on a straic;ht line run near~ parallel to his stated that h e had seen the smaJJ light trailing. This wou~d pres~>ly be the jet on the stem chase, c losing in fo~ contact vith the boom . The breaking up L"1to several. lights could very ,.,ell arise f rom the fact that ulthough ori- gianlly resolved they were lost in the glare of the -vrhi t e light until the plane came close en!!Ju.gh so ~ the/angular se:paration of the lights "tras suffici ent to aJ lovr the liGhts to be visible despite tne bright, white light. This uould give the appearance of t.h r suddenly having come into view. T'.ae noise could be explained by being the composite noise o; the recip catjng engines of the KC-97 end the noise of tbe jet motorf. Combined , these two srund.s t-rould make identif:!.cation -;-rith any one ty::;>e o~ aircra:,:'t a o.:..t di.f:r'inult ! There is nothing in the remainder of the f ll~ that wculd run counter to this intcr.9retation other - than the salient fact that no navigation lights 'fere noted How- ever. assumiruz: tba. haa aeen the sane plane an hour or so earlier (it vas quite usual :for the Lockborne tanker to circle about for at least an hour) then this can be cleared up also, b ecn.u::;e and his l-ri:fe both felt certain, aftter rather insistent recall, and~ they must have been tbat there ha.d been ciblored lights on the plane, on the cra.:ft, red and green, because if they had been anything else they lTOUld have noticed it~ If we use this h~.~ unspecific intelligence information :for a J J i t,... Horth, we can make out a car;e for the plane having bad navigation lights and that either intent on the unusuaJ formation of the rest of the lights that they failed to notice lig.."rts that were norma.J and which they 1vould not he:.;e cmsidered at a.U unusual, or that the tanker had momentarilY :flipped out its navigation lights in favor of the other bright lights . FrOiil nzy-own expe-rience, I can attest that the tanl<.er lights that I smv 'rere so brig..~t and claimed my a tten 1 Lun so much that zt present I cannot rece.J) /:;OJtJJa I also sa,., navigation lights. It is n~ best belief that I did not. Indeed, i:f I had, I would not have remainecl puzzled as loug no I tlid by the apparition. Like\vi s e , the jet t~hould ha.ve had navigation lights and these were not reported. ':Th.e suggest11t :Jolution is therefore by no neans airtight, but, as a solution, depends crucial 1y upcn \o."":le-:ler there 1-ras a tc;:Jker formtion in the a:rea at that time on that n:tght. I f so, then ~.,e Ll:.w r:. o.s e>ur.e thnt e ~ :.:ht:r the ncvisutionn.J . .::..1,_,.1ts were cu:t or 'trent unnot:i.ccd. If' this pr-ov-~ to ha...,-e b~en a tanker, it v:il J ser.-e as an excellent example of how un u nsue..1 but qu::. te ... :.u_--al ? .:lenonencn can remain a tiFO i'or a long ":Th1 le, sometj mas permanent] y T'.aat is aJJ ~ n!! l69U 'raetical i' Squadl'Oil (SD) mnrm S!'\TlS AI! VO~I 2.323 s. 'irport !cad Peoria, Ul !aois 1\ T"l'N r:Jr s Int .. 1tlJ ig.mce Secti~ The followiq 'f'el)Ort a subndttec1 ba accordance vitll 1\FR 20()..2 d9.ted 2 Feb 60a A. 'Oeeorl~c:a ot T1le Objeot() 1 (1) SMpet BRIGH! LIOJrt, CifC.D,lft (2) 51a COiiipared To K.'"tOWD Objoeta NlCXF.L (3) Colors YGI.LQI & .. mrr& (4) !hmlbArt ONE, But 3il0~ UP nrro 3~PAL -12 O:l HO~ (5) P'onatiOD ~More 'l'baa Caea ~Tr:.lD~\l-UP, fmU:;}lLY CI?J:;ULA!t \11TH o~ s~.ALL LI~ T~n.nro .\T s s sn~ (6) A:n7 Dbceraible Features Or Detail a? THZ Ll":!:T3 F LICKSrtED l~f ' i l o-:;n S?,QUMCX t\..'ID THZ T~.AILIHQ LIGR'l' E!!IT'I'E!> SPA f'.K3 (7) T~ll, Tr.dl~ Or Exmu!:e IDoludin~C Sise Of Sa;ne r.OIJSpar-ed 'l'o Size ot Objecta SP~:tXS ONLY FOOM T!1AILil1G LI~HT (8) So.111d, I: Heard, Describe Somldt :or mrr..IZE J"T nomm BOT VERt LCW ? ITCHED A !r!) HIDeLIRO (9) otlller Pert1:neB\ Or Unusual Feturaaa w:n~N FI~'T SIGlfttm TRE OBJECT t~'S ~4fiONAat A..~ M.'D! i:O SJOHD. SOD~D STAi'!l!ID w~ 0.3J?.CT B~ UP. B . Desorl~ic. ot Co.n Ot Ct>j ect(a} a (1) '~t Firs\ The A a To ~ Object()? 08~ :tV!Ul9 -RE PLGlnD A ?I*' AT lliGHf nAB BOHR. P:UO!l TO nO:.fE \ S!ED WHAT !HB JHU:att CSJ'!CT S.ll. 01 THEia POSITICII WASt TROtr,Hr IT HAS TRI PL\.N3f v::;wos, AS TREY 'JISCUS::tW IT TllE OO.ncT D:lllO SO!JD&'lL! I!ftO A r:xnmf Olt HOlm LIG!fts '1R!CH tll'130 A '3 A mriT F.A3'NA:!D (2) .\ngle Or Eletatioa ABd A~izlat.la ot fJbjeot(s) 'An_, First O'bse11eda 000 Fit~"! A'l' AN .\natz CR 1.0 60 DR~ lil.ZVATION S.Y 0? TR~Il POSITIOlf (3) bgl.a Or Ele"tatioa ADd A~1n1Utb ot Object(s) Upoa Disappo~tl'ftDCftl 20 Biro EI.JNATIOI r:.s.E. 01 TH!Ia PO~ITI01f (5) Row Did 'n. (J)jeat(a) 'D1AP'9Mn STAAIGHT OOT Cll VISIBLE .'ll\i1GE ( 6 ) IlOII l.oftg \.13 'r.. Objea\(s) V131bles FOUl\ TO F IVE i !I:ltl r E:S c. M-aner at ObBel~a\iODa (1) nov Was 'the (l)jeat(s) ObMrrsda NAl<!D CB (2) 1\a to CI:Jt1cal A1naa NO!I! (.3) It SiJ}rti~ \l~ta Hade Froa b Aircraf t flote The Follcr.dnga b. Idellt1tie3t1~ l~ra tf/A o. Al.Utmea B/A. d. neadillga If/A e. Spe8da N/A -;. :~o:ne ~tioaa N/A Aftd Dste ot Si ghtbiJ t Zulu 'l'Sm1,/Date Group at S1gtlt1~ 1 200S45Z '!\. Locat1oa Of Ob~ttner(s)a FOU;\ HILE ~. A1ID ONZ ;m.~ S. 00' }~ACKI:lAIJ, ILI.niOlS F. Indent1t,y1ng IntorrcatioB Oa Cbserver(s) a (1) aUitar,y -Na:ne Gradel ssor Or<!'l-'"li:aat.ioaa 169t.h T:'S Dutyt J~ ENGL1& M3: H-\NIC P.stiiRte ot Beiabil1tya '~:r! 000'0 (2) Militar:r -S..l Cradet A2C OrgaASMtiOBI 169tll TFS Duty a J 6't EMGIJS ~UIC Batiate or ib1Sab''1va nRr oooo ~. \-IMtller & \Uda .Uatt Comd1t1oaa At ~. ADd Plaoe at SightiJa8at (1) CJ:Niu ter (3) Aooc-Dit ot WeetJaer CcaditiMa C!\vtJ H. A:r,t O.llar t1Jaua81 AoUTiV Or : otllerdse? ROW& I . Fodt:la. Htlaa & Ceaeata ot The Pxe'Pf'rlag otricert AS SQ1f Im' CFP'ICRit I V lf"l:.'t'liYAm BOtll C8S!INERS Ann T111Utt STORIES COINCO?:D .UID TIIE'I ST,\'n! ,\!JOTHER -.~m :m i1t! A~.A !I.ADE THB SAMI OB~ztV~TIOl'f I FRr:L NEitiDSl\ 07 Tri?,Si!! l!JF.H MS ~..\GO:I TO F~B~CATE A STOa! J. ot P!Q':tioel Eddeacea ;;om Pt-;:art.s Offioer's Si.gaturea ftONALD L. PWJN Cnpt, U!l:\1' Air T~te Ottioer ;Jo t~-n~ r Vb\ SECURITY CL.ASSif'I C ~tON illlcLASsiFmD t r ...... \ t ~ JOINT M ESSAGEFORM SP.lOE BELOW UI::SBRVED ff)R ('f))(X U.VIO.lr/f)S Or.'.\TI::R I CLASSIFICATION C t REFERENCE SPECIAJ.. INiiTRUCTI O N S FTD ',/PAFB 0 2ND AF B~DALE AFB LA 8TH f~ \IESTOVER AFB tlASS IFIED TD-E REQUEST A CHECK OF ALL REFUELllm SQUADRo=;s . .::!~KLY OPERATIONAL RECC..~DS TO DETERl-liNE POSSIBLE USE OF PAU.J.; :SZ...rt SECTOR J..T 0545Z ON 21 NOV 61. SEND FTI'iAL REPORT TO HQ FTD AlT?l T.J- E !-l\JOrt FRIE1ID AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. SECURITY CLA881 ... 1CATION UNCLAS3IFIED REf"LACK8 DD FORM