PROJECT 10073 RECORD 1~ OATE 'riME CR~UP .c. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 5. LENGTH OF O!~ERVATION '6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 2. LOCATION 10. CONCLUSION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 7. COllRS: '8. PHOTO$ 9. PHYSICAL E VIOENC! , !. d ption is contli::H<-nt itu t.~1j:-; Memphi~, Tennessee 38115 3 1 AUG 1968 Headquarters, u. S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. Uni1e~tified flying object; report of (1) C-::py of Chief, .l~:np 1s, enn. Memph i s Tower, FAA, Airport Traffic Control Tower, ltr of 24 Aug 1966 {wi th attachments) In the interes: of reduction of paperwork, this form letter is used in lieu of formal correspondence. Pertinent items 3re checked below. ln c ompli a ;, .::e with reference As a matte r under your cognizance F o r c ompliance/ appropriate_ action F C: info~:n:.:lon X For c omm e :1 : /recommend at ions For co::ec:ton/completion and return Mi~senc.'\ii: .1ddressed to this command Retu:n~d f <': ~econ side ration Ca:t be obta!'led as indicated under' Rt-:n.lrks' Delet e thi s command from distribution Includ e c or:l:n:ulds listed below in di s c: i bution Reduce/ l nc:ease this command's d i s rr: bution to copy( i e s ) Not rec e ived Submit by air mail Not required l::.:J this command Not submitted in accordance v.ith Should be ass i ned a r:_eport svmbol REMARKS (U1e rev~rr~ lld~ af cdd&tlonal r pact requLred) coPY To ,Chief, Memphis Tower, FAA Airport Traffic Control Tower Memphis, Tennessee E-Z LETTER CNATRA-GEN 5216/1 (Rev. 6-63) Copy(ics) requested Request addressee(s) take a ction Reply not received. Request status of a ction Receipt acknowledged Action pendin~ (see Remarks') Does not adequately identify reference(s) Improperly mailed to this command. Corrective action taken indicated under Remarks' Detached/Transferred (see Remarks') Serving aboard your command Not on board. If being ordered to this command, request pertinent information under Remarks' Forwarded for evaluation/ comment Recommended for command-wide use Recommended fo~ revision Should be procured in accordance with reference FEDERAL A\ IATION AGENCY Airport Traffic Control Tower P. O. Box 300SO Memphis, Tenneaaee lea Officer u. s. Naval Air StatioD lt!FEit TOa In accordance with current instruction which require that all UDidautifled flJiDI object reports be referred to military officiate, the attached re?ort is forwarded for your iufo and a:y actioD 'ou dee appropriate. Sincerely yours, Memphis Tower Airpot't Tref~ie Co.,t:~ol T~:cr touf.aiaa Thl t iA ~eply to JOur let t~r of Au~(J3t 12~ 1966, ecncerntng An unknown f1711ll object obaervocl by )'!)7J i~ thn vicird.tj' of !lld.G, Tennnzsee. I ~egret t!le ta'C"dlueaa of this ~.evly; unfo-rttl::::!t~ly. n. dioerepnr.ey in tha &ddre.sa 4.:14 ~ ab8eft<:e froaa I:.a-:-:;;~&19 for sc J'.er.1ll c!aya delAyed reee!pt of .. ~ .. your lett el". The eat~ lis bed procedttto f-:>: :: : n'~ lb~3 UF~ 1.c?=>rt:s is to rofer them to th& au rest ailtta't)' base for L.,.-.. .!s~1e:ltio:n. !!C':~:J~ in th13 parttculaY' 1:1-ltax I feel the clrcu:ts~-~. l wart"a~t my .n-;,'l~t7e\inz y(>u p~roonally. Durina t~e period prior to = fo!l~;in~ July 27, 1955, the Aero-Lito COC?&J%7 !IU conductil!g ee:-iai vcrti~:ir,~ ~\!tivitie3 irt tho Mcr.':!lhis arcn. = They ~ modified Cessna ..-: t~ n l..crr~::~ !:': .. !.::.:':! ot pl;:.tform mounted ur:dcr- De~:b b .~eeD the l.andi~:z -::-~r:1 the t~.ih'1 1. 'l"'hLJ fra~ 1a appro:ti ms te ly l~ feet vide and "': !!\ it! :"'!.>or:.l~ w.~fo J.d:; to u l~P~th ()f appro~irr.ately : 30 feat. It 1 actually a S\:r..:. .... " et:.~ll:a1.rri tl\; h .:.ndred!: of tiny light bulb:~ ; Usln:; tho perforated t4?e pri:nc1.pl the y !!X~ c;~la to di~plny ~oving advor- 1 tl.alna elogau or mosaa~cs. no.:~vct" the c.H::1?l~y to be legible rlust bo viewed w~.eu &l.t:St directly o;c-:-h.:t.a<:!. s~ fa:. ag I hava bcou &ble to ! 4etorr:~1ne, this ia a 11evly a ~3 !.1~\-;e~ p1(\c~ o f ~fl':.li}~ ... n<2nt and the only ona f.n i operat1oa at thta tl. ., l Viewed from the angl~ at whlch ~ou obGcrvcd it 1 believe it could h~ve : pruente<! tba a?pe&rance :.,o.J d(!~:Jcrib c!. I briso thi.~ csauml)tion on th$ fact ;: that tha !int night it O~!"$~ed in M-~hic the eont:rol towel:' -'lone receiv~d ~ over 50 te le?ho~e calls. The-t"e:~t'iilt fo~.~ rf~c~iv~d were not ln As good c!etail u you:-s but did ~c-.s~::-1b,~ .':lit:Jtlar a!,pzer;:.~tec~ dependent on tho ~inzle froaa whic!1 it ~U obsorv~J. . . Since 1 c~:.~t ba tUTe th4t this '~n:J the objc ::t you obaerved, I ar.s for:mr~1Dg a copy of your report to the aps>roprint~. r.r l itary ~uthoritiea fo-r furth~r : S.nvut1g&t1oa a~ procesatna. In antu~r to 7c;a offer, I w~uld apprc.<;late :. the aketc:bea you_.. of tbe object. if ,.ou ~ desire Aftc.1tt ntt,dy I will return the~ to you Your re,ort la appreciated A11d 'h:>ul.J y~-,u t::;.;:~b~ be 1~ tho l!emphis Area I vant to axtend you and your fn.;1.t!y tt;\ 1.-:-:v!ttL;:-i<ln to v ia!t the r~v. Control Tower bel Tetraiul Radar FL\.C 11:! t:y a t !~..:~.~h:t ~ I~(~t roj'';) lit on Airport. It is ODe of t~ IDOt moden\ f.n.1tallr:tioe~ of f.tG tyt~ in the countrJ. and it woutct . ba a pla\ln for to al-...ov it to y~u. . 1q Officer S. N.na 1 Air St&tiosa Sf.r.ccrcly youra. Qrip,ina: signed by . Chic f Heaphia Tower Feder;1l Aviatio~ Agency Memphi ~ A i l.i o.r t Ai% T~aitic Cor1trol Towex Memphis, Tennessee Gentlerr.e:-1: while driving on Interstate 55 ----....:3-i . .,..:>.t :h of f'temphis, I, a lon(J with my wife and daughter, saw : ... 'fhat ap;:2.'lr<~d to us to b e a "flying saucer". This object was approxit::a~ely 200 feet f.o::o':"l us, ovc.r the highway, at an upwaxd -...:;., angle, a:;j we we.re able t o obsetvtl. this obj~ct for ;,pproxitQately. This obje =! -\'tas approxi"Xate.ly ~CJ-50 .fe e t in diameter, the main.::~ portion belng-black, with one sm~ll red ligl1t on th6 upper l~ft'~: regio~ (as it was facing i..:S). T his light did not blink. ; The black portion was slightl y more oblong in shap~ thln .tound, Under this sligh~ly elongated p ortion \vas a smaller section of the ob- ject that a;:>peared to be completely round in ~hape. This section-~ appeared tc ~ave a glas3 area (more o:c les s .fl:osted) from which ~ : .. continuo~s light was shining. Beneath thi~ was a ".rotor" which ... . turned a~ ~ :noderate rate of ~p cl , pa:;sing in front o the :' ~ :fxosted li;ht panel, caus.1:19 "..llis light to "blink'' . The :rotor : ... was not t~=-ni.~g at a high .r ate o speed eithc.r at -thu time that ':'. ; the object \'las almost stationary above u s nor when it lof.t oux . ield o visi6n. lhere wns no sign of power, such as jots, pxo-. . . pelle.rs , . etc. We could detect no noise .from th~ craft, but it .. is possible that there was some nois e associated witl1 it that wo were unable to detect becaus e of th(~ air ... co!~di. t.ioning .::and the :fact that all windows in the car were clos,~d. After a ;)proxi- mately 1 minute, this objec~ l(!~t our im~arli.~tc ranae o vision, .flying away .!.rom us toward ;.1nd ove~ part o f i'-1\~mphis. ii7:~ndiat<1ly after that Please w~ sighted. an .\.i.l.'plane at a were able to maku '. a c ... ~. m;)<~ rison o.f above description, ~o whether orr.o~ ~craft ofice. ~.-.\lso, please ad .. d.se i:f any In the would I appreciate hearing nature l.S were repozt~to youx consideratiori Sl.ncerely , .