PROJECT 10073 RECORD DATE T .ME CROUP 1. NUMBER OF OSJECTS s. LENGTH OF Oo~ERVATION -10 s onds 6.. TYPE OF 03SE~VATION Ground-Visual 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE CONCLUSION Flight of 35 d~g .arc, 5-10 seco::ld3. Pcssiole daylight :net. r 11. B~IEF SUMMA~Y ~NO AN~L YSIS Cbject 1.vas described a s a jll'L-<il"-6 spot of light., :ooving a cr-oss the zenith with rathar incredibld ap d. A_paar?d a glo g '-ihit3 light, ra .:.h~r than as a :l illunina.t~ obj-~ct. It cro:s~ed frcm abcut ten deg .ata-t the z~nith t o eiisap~da.ranc~ n.t 45 d~z balo)i the zenith du~ illorth, within 5-10 se0onds. Ooj ~ct se~m~ .r. to hJ.r~ t3.il f~ath~rs. It was ov'3rh~c!-l.d on n .:~s t ~':"ld g ~:1-arall bright afte::-burn~r :fl~'lH.t. . . i FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TOE) Prevloua edlUona of thh fof'IB ma1 be u .. cl. t'tenca A1'B ~ Obio !ftmtari.l J e, Octooi; 65 :'tt:ta and: find tbat"j'Oii' or 10 Qe-tober doea nc't COilta!Ji .aunieient tion Re 'U"..e. attached JTD retn:-:s it in the 31ncere]J, QJLf!'1Il.I ., Chief, Qifice of Investigation, Departm~nt o the .Air Force The P e:1tagon, Washington 25. Octob~r 14 , 19o5 .. ~ recent (~xperience o f mine pr )dnced a phenomenon of vi5ion that seen1ed quit e unusual, and I an1 writing you to make y-ou a . ..vc:.tre of \Vh3.t, to n1e_, a t least, is a new facet o.f visual obser\ dtion. . At about ten oclock on Sunday rnorning, October 10 , 1965, we were experie.1cin g a -particufar ly-c le<ir day her e in I-Iunts-viH~. I' he sky ,;.a::; .111dl ess and of a particularly intense blue associated \.Vith superior visibility. Th~ inevitable trace of haze beb.vecn my horne and Monte Sano, sev e r a l miles a\vay, was near vanishi:1g. I trained in the antiaircraft artjllery before and during \Vorld \Var II~ and becatne addicted to v'isually fixing on any plane I could hear and iJc~ntifying it. \'le ha\ e some traf.:ic in the air here and what I assume to be "the CL~l:>a P2.trol flies ovet<: d~ sometirnes dai l y . We a lso have visiting astronauts from I-iouston comin!5 in occasionally~ and the)' fly the hig h p e rformance craft .. Alsoi I have had continuing interests in optics and aconstics , and think of these atternpts or a quick fix and identification as problems in rhese fields. At the time mentioned, the sound o f a high-flying jet came inco being at about forty five deg rees elevation, due southo I attempted to sense some change in position and look ahead t o pick up the pl~ne visnally. This often ails \Vith j ets \~hich often can be h e ard farther than they c.:an b e seen.. herev The significant thing is, that I did indeed, fix visually on a moving oint that ha d r ather extraordinary characteristics. I saw what is best described as the equivalent of a jinking spot of light, n1oving across the zenith with rather incredible speed":. If was a t the very frjnge of \ isibil ity, and appeared a s a g lov,ing \vhite light, rc1ther than as an ill.uminated obj~ct. It seemed tv cross from about ten dt!grees past the zenith to vanish ;) t orty fi\e degree~ br.o.lo~;v the zenith due North o f heres within fiYe to ten a~concls~ There 'vas no sonic boom, yet the apparent a ltitude. and the seemingly high speed secn1cd to have involved supersonic flight. I have seen n1a n > Nla.ch 6 flights o f Lht'~ A j , tx n 1 i s s i 1 e s , w hi l c d t \V hi t 0 Sand ::; P roving G ron n c1 , and h a v r::! s o rn t' f . P l f - , dJ :recti.on o it_:.; suuncl b y ';Orn (.h.in~ lj k~1 iorty L!.~ r,:c..:; or n 1o.ro:. \ Vh.1t l wish to offc r i s tln.' particularl~' unusu-d ll~Llurc o f tll~' visual in1ag'-' r\.;; I said. the plane app0a r~d cts a point ,,[ li~hl. rtnd e,n-.!d t o h a v \,... R o tTl c t c n u o u s " t a i l f f' ctt he r s" and n 1 y ilr s t r en. c-t i o n \" a s t}' .:u H l o o k 0 ci exactly as an incand~bcent trn a t w ould, jinking alonu OVI..!.I'hC;'ld on ;".. fast r1ncl ncrall> straight course. I , .. o ld offer as expl anation of the jinking motion tha t I was seein g at the ~:e:-y limits of visibility, having located the plane rtlrnost pnrely by accident, lt wut~!d seen1, and that a t this level of visibility, t~! servo loop, so t o speak, bet\v~e:1 retinal signals a11d directing 111u;::;cles \Vrl...i rcc<""i\ i11g si~nals down in th..:: noise level thus producing th\.~ juwpy n1otior.. in t.hc !> e itseLf, .sorn,thir 5 T~e apparent incandescence of the gnat-.siz~\,1 b\.,dy can oPl ] b .: :.;-:plained rts an :.1nusual combination of n~tural illumination o r1 l't."':f]ecti.tFI borh,r. , .. j;r or \Vit:~out the reinfo r c cn1C'nt of illLnnination from the j t. of a hrl~h~ a tLC rb f lu. rn e . The con1bination o ci1cutnstances producing this unusual sjghting may not b e coo rare and the analysi s I ha\c offered and farther analysis \vhich )rou rna y make, n1ay offer further insight into othe r ::>ighting s. Sincerelr yours, Hnntsville, Alabama 35802 Chi~i, Office Dena.:-t ment of Investigation, of the Air F o rcr