PROJECT 10073 RECORD I t. DATE " TIMe ~ROUP 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS S. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 3-5 liinutes 6. TYPE OF 08SERVATIOH G:-ound-Visual 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 2. LOCATION Normal, allinios 10. CONCLUSION AIRCRAFT (DC-.3) The DC-3 was 25 minutes late. A low pass was made over the tot h ~ior to letdown at the airport. A slow descending pattern was flOh-n. 'Ihe lighting configuration on the DC matches that or tl" e 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS Object was described.as being oblong in shape like a football. The lights were red and green, separated by a white and red alternating light with blinking on top. Q)ject was about 20 C.eg. above the horizon when sighted and disappeared at tree tops. gre.dual.ly in the ENE. FTD SE p 6 3 0-329 (TO E) Ptn1o~u dlt!on of thle f01111 may be u .. d. 18.30 nr s CSTt lZrs Sinroson: Steve s::.....,:;son: the tail. It fie\-T a right hand pattern making a right base for landing at Bloomington Normal. Since there is not a tower, the DC-3's usually make a pass over the airport checking the wind Then they proceed on a downwind to base for landing. About 5 people called in an'd said they saw a UFO. Actually it was the DC-3 flying over the city . Interview loTi th ''1ve were out in back playing basketball when my young brother said, hey Steve l ook at how low that plane is. I ran to the f'ront of the yard and watched it flying . t think it was a plane. I t was moving from the southwest to the northeast. It was moving real slow. It had a green light on the bottom, red, white and blue lights across the front. All the lights were blinl-d.ng. It 1-ras oblong oval shaped. I didn t.TI.s before but it had two antenna coming out of the top and two antenna coming out of the bottom. It was:-1 t t ma..lcing any sound at all. It appeared to hover ove::-head staring at us. Then it moved over toward 11ain Street to\-Tard Krogers. Then it appeared to hover ri over the trees back of the house. It was diving and. climbing and changing its speed. When l<Te ran tol-Tar d it, it dived out of sight to the north east. teacher spotted a bright orange ball of light in his ca:k yard but didn t report it. A friend of mine, Roger Simpson, he's no relative, saw the UFO and was listening to his l-ralld.e talJd.e a t the time. When tho u1~ came close , it caused interference on his set. T'ne interference '\-Tent awa;r when the UFO \-rent out of S-c,:l v e "I saw t he UFO above the tree top level. I t had blink- ing lights. Red, '\orhite and Green. No, Steve, It ;ra.~n't blue. You said it had a blue light but I didn't s9e it. The lights quit working 'tvhen the object moved out of sight toward the Kroger area. I'd say we l-Tatched the objact for about 3 to 5 minutes.u ttHere, let me show you how it looked. (He left and obtained a. copy of a dr:rted ltCoronet Hagazine anci sho"torod me a picture of a UFO, l-hich was in reality o. picture of a U-2). The thing that got me nas that it hovered over us looking at us When lTe ran toli.lrd. it, it turned and ran. I 1m sure it wasn't an airplano. I'd guess the UFO was about a couple of hundred feet in the ~iro SUJ:.fMARY AHD CONCLUSION 1. I believe that the p ersons contacted did in fact see something omd that all ;ri tnesses were reliablEs to a degree. The fact that all agreed on fue time of the sighting, the area of sighting, the colors of lights, t he oblong shape, the fact that the object apparently had lacked sound generating capabilities and finally they all agreed on the basic flight di rection, all these facts tend to strengthen the fact that the UFO v1as in fact a DC-3 in flight over the city. a. The wind at the tin:e of the incident was west south vrest at about fifteen knots. Since this would. tend to blow the sound away from the sighting area, this would answer the questions on the lack of sound. b . Since an overhe ad pattern is flown by tbe airlines arriving at the 3loomington airport ~t night, ~d since these patterns are made at a relatively low a1 ti tude in order to determine the t-ri.nd direction and land~ng runway, these f acts would account for the changes in direction, the low slmv speed of t.~s object and since the aircraft are descending for 1-.nding, they usuallj nave power reduced in order to lose airspeed and cescend into the oatte~. c. 'lhe sky condition on t h e night of the incident was overcast and rag~sd. Unde r these c.ondi ti.ons it is almost impossible to determine the s h a? e of the object w -e in flight. The lights of the city reflecting on tr.e bottom of the ob_:ect in question, oould and usually do present to tts viewer, a strang e contrast of light ~d shadow effect. d. T!Je VC-3 oper~ted by the Ozark Air11nes, arrives at tbe Bloomington airport each night at about 1850 hours CST. On the night in question, the airlines was 25 mi_"lutes late as evidenced by the Ozark operations log . This information places the airliner over the city of Normal, lllinois a.t t.~s precise time of the UFO sighting. T.he standard lighting configura- tion of the DC-3 is co:n::>arable to that of the UFO when viewed from various angles. The quostion of the Blue light is solved when you consider the fact that blue is quite easily mistaken for green at night. Atmospheric conci. tio~s at night c-..n cause colors to be mistaken by the bending and abso~b~g of light r~s. e. I =~el that :nost ;ri.tnesses were reliable tmtil facts became con- fused .f'-'1t~s:r as in t~e case of Steve Simpson. Prior to his sighting of the t"~ J !':e admitted that he was very familiar with the sightings in Pdchig~;. His testinony on the antennaes was revealed two da.ys after the original sighting. Also connnents on "hovering right overhead, star- ing at us, blinking its light a t us, running away as tore ran toward it, etc.", ara added as after thought since he stated originally that the object flew from the southwest to the northeast and then descended out of sight. The more a witness talked about the sighting, t he more the sequence of events bec.me and the more the additional fantasies were included. For example, Hrs Simpson ho.d to disagree "tori th her son on the numbe r of lights, the colors of lights and t he flight path of the object afte r he had changed his original testimony. 2 . In conclusion, all facts point toward the UFO being the DC- 3 and nee-versa. 3 . Reconunand that ~e civilian population be informed as to the proper proc~edure for reporting the sightings of UFO' s . This would eliminate . the costs of investigating f~ntasies and know flights of air vehicles. EVA. J ORENIC, Captajn, USAF Invastigating Officer 1 Lll N<J1 ~ r -w ~SLc y A-..J ()eC t..EG QcNWA'/ 22- Pc."'i A C. SLui:/Get - RED BliN Ktt.l G BY S 'Tt""V c ~ fD R crntta "-1 G r<E?jw Han: OF 1-\G:ti\.S A l n:R~"TC(.)I Mystifies Normal Viewers , By STEVE VOGEL -I Steve Simpson, 15-year-old ninth\ to the Air F orce's "project blue Ray Floyd Jr., 12, of 914 w.l ~ra~er a_t . Chiddix," but ~ sa';': book" program to tr~rk d_ow~ Dilsion, Normal, sat talking to tt drp down and out of srght. the reports of UFOs m l\hch1; a re::>orter about the unidenti-1 The boy!/ searched the area gan. fied hying object he, five of his near M~in Street where they " ~nd as Steve _Simpson put it, friends and four adults reported thought 1t cou~d have set down, I. ve read stones about the~e seeina early Tuesday night. but found nothmg. thmgs, but I nev-er dreamed 1 d ":'\faybe you shouldn' t be teu- M~s. Floyd, having s_tepped see one. ing people about this." inte r- outsrd_e to look for a taxt when jected his mother. She had also the Srmpsons ca lied her atten seen tbe strCi'tlge air-or space-' tion skyward, said sh-e saw it' cra:r. hover over the trees. "!\ow I :.Iaybe I shouldn't," laughed admit that f[!Y glass~s ed to you:-~g Ray. "Pretty soon the be c~angcd, she sar~, ~.nd r men in the white coats will be saw JUSt the one red light. But aftp.-me', she was sure that she s~w some- - ? , thing, and that something was Cra~) ~augh rf you wrsh. b~, not an airplane. "It didn't seem 10 B.oommgton Normal resl-to take ore' very fast" she re- ar~ the late~t of scores of called. ' persvn~ rn the M1~west report Normal police investigated the rng seemg UFOs th1s week. I sighting. "I don't know what to Oval, Soundlen think about it " said Patrolman First reported sighting or the Robert Fowle;, He said that the object w~s by the Merle. S!O:::>-parents backed up what their sor. family of 918 W. Dtvtslon children had said. "There was C?t a,oout 7:15 p.m. ~he ~imp-enough of them who saw it,". he or.s youngest son, J1mm1e. 8, said. "It sure beats me. But I said he first saw it approach don't think there's anything to' the southwest while he and get excited about." ' hi~ three brothers played ba;;. Twic. In Michigan It was just Monday night that De craft. said to be oval in a Civil Defense director, an as-. sha;-e, soared soundlessly a t sistant dean and 87 coeds in he:gh:s estimCi'ted at 200 to 300. Hillsdale Mich. reported see- fee~ and had four blinking lights' ing a gl~wing object zip past a j - a green light on the "bottc::-:" I college dormitory and hover in and three others (blue, wh!te a swamp for hours. i and red) on the side. I And Sunday night a similar 'Look at the airplane," yelled I craft had been seen by more But as the craft ap-than SO persons, including 12 po- proached. the boys said it was !icemen near Ann Arbor, Mich. evide:1t tna-t It was neither an Those objects (or object?) were airplane. nor a helicopter, nor ldescribed as roughly in the a \\:a:r.er balloon. shape of a football. boys called their parents' Th.e Air Force announced it altemion to it and soon after, was s~nding Dr. H. Allen Hy- l that of ~1rs. Floyd and her son. nek, chairman of Dearborn ob i The \\itnesses said the ship flew servatory at Northwestern Uni- : over them, hovered nea-r' a I versity and scienttfic consultant ! group of trees several blocks, - . 1 northeast of their homes and 1 then proceeded southeasterly. They said they had the sight for more than a minute "had finished explor- flew to the southeast, and then d ipped. Area Searched "I don' t know 1f It landed- don't get me wrong there," said UNCLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FOR~ STAFF MESSAGE BRANCH ( ' INCOMING MESSAGE 1 ACTION: NIN-7 INFO: XOP-1, XOPX-2, 'sAFOS~3, SMB A151PTiU JAW RUCIS&A9762 0841727-UUUU-- FM TECHTNGCEN CHANUTE AFB ILL T 0 R UWMFV A-ADC RUCDSQ-FTD ltPAFB OHI 0 RUCDAH-30AIROIV TRUAX fLO VIIS RUEaHQA-JSAF DIA-l (8) ADV CY DIA RUEBHQA-CSAF WASH DC U~CLAS ASUIF 00021 HR 66. HR AFN IN(~D ~; SUBJ: UFO A<1> OBLO"G. <2> F DOT BALL (6) LIGrC. r\EO AND GREE,, , SEPARAlt:O BY A wHITE AND RE.O ~TERNATif'.tG WITH A Bllr>.i<ING REO ON TOP AFHO JAN IS 0-309C UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 2 RUC i SBA9762 UNCLAS UNCLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE STAFF MESSAGE BRANCH INCOMING MESSAGE BC1> A SIX YEAR Q D "SAW AN AIRPLANE". <2> 20 DEGREES (3) TREE TOP. C4) SW TO NE (5) GRAOUALL Y TO ENE C6) J TO 5 MINUTES. CC1) GROJt\Ll VISUAL O~L Y. (2) NIGHT. E. 918 W. D IV IS I ON S T, 1\ ( ~.Al, Ill IN 0 IS f(1) CIVILIAi ,. AGE 15, ~IGH SCHOOL STUDENT, , NCRMAL, ILL t:~OIS. WX 2000 ER OKEN 4 000 OJERCAST, WSW 10 KNOTS. H. NCRMALLY, A DC-3 fLOWN bY OZARK AIRLINES ARRIVES AT THE UNCLASSI FlED UNCLASSI FlED DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE STAFF MESSAGE BRANOf INCOMING MESSAGE ll.OOMINGTON NORMAL AIRPffi T AT 1850 CST. ON THI S PARTICULAR DAY PAGE 3 RUCISBA9762 UNCLAS THE DC- 3 WAS 25 MINUTES LATE. A LOW PASS VvAS MADE OJER THE TOWN Riffi TO LETDONN AT THE AIRPOH . A SLON DESCENDING PATTERN WAS FLONN. Tht: LIGHTING C~FIGURATION ON THE DC- 3 w.ATCHES THAT OF THE UFO. ThC: CEI L ING WAS RAGGED AND CNERCAST. J . SEE I TEt. H. K. CAPT E~J.~ARD J . ffiENI C, FLI;;HT CJPERATI~S ALL I~FUH.:ATIQ'l RECEIVED WAS ~vALUATED AND THE FQLOWING CO'iCLlJSION WAS THEN ~;ADE. THE UFO WAS 1:\ FACT A DC- 3 BELONGING TO OZAAK AIRLINES. ALL STATE~:ENTS Cf wiTNESSES AND EDITffiiALS IN THE NEWSPAPER lit ILL BE SENT f CRWARD. AFHO JANU 0-309C UNCLASSI FlED REPly lO ABOTF SUBJfCT: UFO Sighting TO: AFSC ( FTD) DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS 334Sth AIR BASE GROUP (ATC) CHANUTE AIR FORCE BASE, IlliNOIS 61868 \iright-Patterson .AFB, Ohio l.t5433 Final :-aport of investigation surrounding the circumstances in the sight- ing of a UFO on the 22 March 1966 in the city of Normal, Illinois. ED\v~W.D J OHENIC, Captain , USAF Investigating Officer 1. Copy of Initial Transmitted 2. Copy of orders assigning investigator. 3. Chronological order of events. 4. SUI1UI1ary of investigating officer. 5. Map of area. 6. Diagram of UFO and DC-3. 7. Copy of news article. Copies to: TECHT.;GC:rn CHANUTE AFB ILL FTD vTPAFB om:o .30AIRDIV 'lRlLIX FID WIS OSAF \:.AS 3 D C tP.iCIAS .A30TF 00021 HAR 66. FOR AFNIN Alill SAFOI. Subj : UFO a{l) Oblong. (2) Foo:.baJJ (6) Light. Red and green, separated by a white and red alterna ti."'.g '':ith a blinking red on t op. Capt \v. J. Orenic, UFO Inves Off ARTHUR V HODlA~J, 1-f..a.jor, USAF Chief" Base Operations l}. Training Di v TECH?i>!GCFll CflfdJUTE AFD IIJ.. b (1) A. six ~rear old s a1.-1 an airplane" . Tree ton visual only. d(l) Oll5?: f(l) Civ:i.Jia:J. sc~1ool student , g . ,.Jx 2000 bro'<en 4000 overcas t l-i&1! 10 tm ots. h. Normally, a DC-3 f'lO\m ~.. v';:2..!"r:: !d..rline s U"r l vos at t.he BJ.o o:unr.ton nom at a::r )cr t a:. 1 ~So CST. On this ~:u-ticuJJli' day the DC-3 , tns 25 :-;i::~:t~o l.atK:. A low pass vran .:~.ade ov er t.'1e t oHn pr-lor to l et..i<T.m. at th\3 a:l.rpo:-t . A slo doscerl'li:1C patterl! <Yas flmm. Tr.-:l li::~:.=-'!: configura ~.ion on tho nc- 3 m::ltches t hat of the UFO. Tho ccj] i nr, vas r a geed ar.d ov~rc;J.St. j. See I tel'll h . k . Capt ~9:iward J . Orenic, Flight Oper ations TECHT:IGC~J c ;iA:;UTE AFB ILL l J&.s t hen mAde. The l.J'FO l-iaS .:n fact a DC-3 belonting to Ozark Airli.v~s. AJ~ statc:t~nts of wi. tne~ses and od:t to rials in the r.awS""" . a:oer nill be ~P.nt .rm:ua"t"r:l. TEMPORAkf DUTY ORDER-MILITARY 2. TYPED NAME, GRADE ,AND TITLE Of ORDUS ISSUING OfFICIAL 3. SIGNATURE I. INDIVIOUAL(S) WP ON TOY AS SHOWH IN ITEMS ' THltOUGH 21, A. PHONE NO. 6 . tV .E (!Au, {ir11, miJJ/r inilial, APSN) 7. ORGANIZATION 8. SECUltiTY CLEAIAHC! J ::II? T..!l Ho i L0G'.> None 9. EFfECTIVE ON 0~ AJOUT 10. APPROXIMATE NO. OF DAYS (It"/'"'' Ulllltltimt) 12. PURI'OSE Of TOY 13. ITINRARY D VARIATIONS AUTHOitiZ~D 14. MODES OF Tli.ANSI'ORT4i 10N AUTHO~IZEO WITHIN CONUS TI'A. Trave l time by mot o~omlcal common tcrr: ovallabl (n:~l!, ~ or a ir) II dcy1. Tro. t l lime In ex,.,, :, cllorged fo leave <lui~ In lle.'ft l 8. C1 TPA. THIS MODE HAS IEEN DETERMINED c. D COMMERCIAl AIRCRAPT I].J IAORE ADVANTAGEOUS TO THE GOVT. (Pirii dau ccommoJII.Iionl) I$. TO!'.O.:. POUNDS IAOGAGE, INCLIJDINC E.l\C:Ss, 16. APPIIOV~O -PElt API. 3.5-14 fOR AlL NECE$SARY TRAVEL EXPENSE INCLUDING AUTHOliZCO EAOI ?O:UON $ FOR lEGISTRATION AND/Olt ADMISSION fEES 17. NAM!! Or DESIGNAT~ cmCIAl COURIER 18. AIR MOVEMENT DESIGNATOlt ASSIGI'jED IS 19. l'.lOI'EII Tn!ATH ClAtANCE$ HAVE BEEN OiTAIN~O 20. MODES Of TUNSPOU..,TION AUTHOliZfO 101 OVHSEAS TU'/ El A. D MILITAiY Ill. 0 COi'Vo\ERCIAL C. 0 CO.-.MEllCIAL AIRCRAfr (Fmt tlalt #UDmmoJ4/ionJ) D. 0 COMMERCIAL Alli"..V.PT (Also fo,it" r~gi11r1 "''"' U .S. "gi11r1 iJ ol