PROJECT 10073 RECORD . 1. DATE TIME GROUP 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS s. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AN) ANALYSIS 10 minu~es total 6. TYPE OF CaSERVATION Ground Visual Ea.st t!":~n S1l 9. PtiYSICAL EVIDENCE Observer watched or )bj ect appear in the north and then later reappear in t:1-e: :~-.~. The colors were very unusual, sharp and monochromatic, but, did not give out my illuminition The first object \'/~ .. ; ::>c~en in tho North for about 2 seconds, while the second t j ;:1e the object appeared it was obser- ved for about 8 secon,l:-5. The object was red and green wh~n high in th' sk;r -u:d red and yellow when lower. C~s er states th ~. :1GiT,e type of mechanical action occured when it first arrived. h~en the first object disappeared the observer began to look -.rou..."'ld until he sa\or t'h'! second object and naturally believed that his second observation ws of the first object. Since Yes the first duration H~.s cr.. mere 2 seconds nnd the object was w No to have moved toward ihe south, there is nothing to rule out FOR~ p~!cludes the second object from Qeing a cloud. fTD SEP 63 0329 {TOE) Prelou cU:ionloftliJelon. .. r&Maaaad. d<!&~ DEARRORN OBSERVATORY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY EVANSTON, ILLINOIS 60101 :t-1aj or Hector Quintanilla FTD (TDETR) 7 September 1966 Research a nd Aerial Phenomena Division \olright-Patterson AFB, Ohio ~5433 Dear Major Quint a nilla: Enclosed is the r eport of his siahting on Aue.;ust 1 1966, near \-lashington D."C.' Sincerely yours, HA~VA~D CO!.LEGi: 035 \/ A lORY CAMS~IDGE, MASSACHUS;:rrs 02133 September 29, 1966 Major Hector Quintanilla, USAF Chief, Project Blu~ Book F T D (TDETR) .Research and Aerial Phenomena Division \'fright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433 D ear lviaj or Quintanilla: I though t you might be interested in the enclosed letter. I '\vonder if you could send me a copy of the photograph, I believe of the Yrichigan sightin g s , showing both the moon and Venus. I think it ap- reared in Look ~./-a~azine. Thank yo\.&. for your reports on th cident. I think that the majorit y oi t:,e sightings were of some heavenly body, star, planet or satellite. The report b not in the same category with the others. P-i s UFO appeare twenty hours later and he a- lone reports a sha?e. I am always doubtful about observations made f=om an automob::e, especially a moving automobile. He was not su- ::icie:rdy interes:cC: :o stop whe11 he was looking at the object. He was ~ot far from the A:= Force Base. H e \vas :.:-:.v:.ng north and the object appeared north-northwest. :le sa.ys that he c:C. not see the object through either the windshield or t!-le 'vi:1dow glass. How, then, was he able to see it at all? I think your questionair e : s defective, in that it does not ask which seat the ob- se:-ver was sittL in at the time. Nor does it ask whether additional p-=-~:?le \Vere i n t:""!e car to verify his statement. In a similar way I c;..:e s'tion the sig~::_ig B, in the southwest. How would he have seen tni s ? What kine o! a car was it? Was it a sports car with the top cio"\':1? For ot h e:-\.vise, I don't see how he could have observed an ob- ject s o close to :!la z enith. Moreover, you will note that the object is s::.,?? Osed to mov e toward the northeast. How could he have seen it, if :n c~ :~rough the wi::dshield, unless the top was down. This is my in- ! e:-e::ce, but it s h ou l d have been determined from the questio~aire. It sl-:o-..:._:1 have been determined from the report. kes the inplicit assumption that the objects A and B v; ere the same. In all proba o lly they were different. When the first obj~c~ disappeared, he bega n looking aroun d and finally saw this object Major Quintanilla Septe1n:ber 29, 1966 o ... e:: the house, behind him. Reme;nbel he was supposedly driving t~e car for\-vard at that time. So how could he have seen the object c:ea..=ly, if he did not stop? The questio!laire should have determined \v:hether or not he stopped. The inference is that he did not. How- ever, there \Vas nothing from the description that r nossi_- bility that tne referred to o ject over the housq, was nothing more than a cloud. It could have even been a cloud of smoke. I think the o:.-iginal object was probably a plane, though ten minutes is a long time for a plane to be there. However, if he was driving alone all that time, say at thirty miles an hour, he must have covered five miles or possibly even more. This is another question that should be on your quest:.onaire. Here, again, the object might have been a cloud. I suggest that it might have been a searchlight on a cloud. He has reported scattered clouds. Even though he is a "scientist" of a sort, he might have expected to see the funnel-shaped beam of a searchlight . sugges: -:.~at some of the red lights he saw may have been stars. How co 'Jou reconcile his statement of times of vie\-v, "eight seconds'' and :0\~o seconds" with the ten minutes of observation earlier? r~ .-ie;~, of his answer to question 5. 2, "Was the object in s:ght continuot:sly?" to which he replied "No", I conclude that per- haps he sa\v a rapidly moving object at A \-vhich he saw for eight seconds. He :...~en saw another object, which was standing still over t~e house. Ee concluded that these two objects were the same \vhen :_"'l my opi:1io:1, :.."-ley were entirely :different. If he saw the object ior only two seconds how in the world did he judge that it was sta- :=:o:1ary? L"l v. };at direction was Andrews Air Force Base from the Do s :VI:'. ear glasses? Was he wearing them at -:::.~ :ime? I ask, because occasionally you can get a reflection from ..:~:-:::d fnat w::l seem to appear in the sky. His description of the original motion was very fast". He said then it moved straight toward the south. This statement is in- consistent \vith his diagram, which shovts the motion from left to r:ght, from no::thwest to northeast. There is nothing to rule out a o:-i6ht meteor. I am cc r~ain tnat wh2..t he sa'v at B \vas in all prob- atility not \vhat he saw at A. Major Quintanilla September 29, 1966 I conclude he saw something moving rapidly in front of him high in the sky. He tpen lost the object for a fe\v minutest'. Her(\ tne word "few" probably means '"tent' minutes. Then he saw solne- tning over the house for a couple of seconds as he was glancing a- roi.4nd, still driving. I am not particularly impressed :with Mr. or his observing ability . And also I must say that the te cal informa- tion sheet leaves much to be desired. In addition, it seems to me that a lot o ad~itional questions should have been asked. This is part of the trouble with these investigations. It was much worse, in tl-le early dei.ys. What in the world does the phrase "some me- chanical action cccurred when first arrived'' mean? I am nO'\v c hanging some of my conclusions, as I correlate various of his othe::: statements. He saw a bright elliptical object streak across -:::e sky in front of him. It was visible for only two s eco::1ds. Te::1 :r.:-'.i.nutes later he glanced behind and he saw a dome- shaped objec: ic:-eight seconds. As yot:. ::a. ve probably inferred, I am sitting here dictating, sti.:C:ying t n e :-e ? o:t as I do so My cr.ief conclusion is that objects A and B were entirely dif:fe:;:ent. Tl--. e:-e was absol to connect B with A. The :-::-.~.ction to\varC: t::-.~ south wa gination. The speed o: ~otion rules out a satellite or star. The lUininous appearance c l e arly sugges:s a bright meteor. Vfere other observations avail- a :;le? The o~j~ct seen over the house \vas probably a cloud, a low - lying clo't:.ci illuminated from some place. The interpretation is c omplicateC. by the fact that, during the ten minutes the object "',":f2.S :nvisible t!:~ car was moving north an undetermined number c: ~iles. T h e ouestion'aire does not make clear the distance of ::.e house over .. vvhic~ saw the object. Was it a house .::_o 5 \! t o the road, which he passed? Did he see the object at the s:.C.c of his car and then see it briefly as he passed by the house? Yt a s his statement about the motion toward the south base d on his a.:;; s u mption thrj.t object B was the same as object A? If so, he mu s t h a vc made s orne allowance for the motion of the c a r in the mean- , v:1:.lc. H e m~st have thought tha t th e object was still furthe r t~ .:::e north, if it had move d south to meet tne car. Major Quintanilla September Z9, 1966 My final conclusion is that your questionaire definitely needs revision. And if I can be of a:.1y assistance to you in such a revisi'on, please do not hesitate to ask. It will cost you nothi:1g . Again, many thanks !or your 11elp. Cordially yours, Donald H. 1vicnzcl cc: Allen Hy:1.ek Wrisbt-Patteraon Al'B, Ohio 45433 Dr. Donald B. MeDsel Harvard Collese Obaervstor.y Retez eDce yoo.r lettei ot 31 August 1966 requeat1Dg tion on observation made by Dr. on 1 Auguat 1966. lie have Just recently l'eeeived the report :from Dr. Hynek's otticeJ a copy ia attacbed. I ma alao at the other reports that wre made on that date f'roa the Maeyland area . 1-Jould 1t be possible to have your opinion on these particular a1gbt1agaf I hope these are the a1gbt1ns vbich you vere reterrlns to. S1ncereJ.7 UFO INFORMATION RETRIEVAL: CENTER, IN~ P. 0. BOX 57, RIDERWOOD MARYLAND 2 t 13t, U$~ U.S. AIR FORCf. TECHNICAl. IHfORMATIOc~ Tt. i:. quustionnaira has been prGpared ~o that you can yive tho U.S. Air force as much inforr:lcl+i~n os possible conc~rning the unidenHfiod oeriol phenomanon that you hrwu oLserv.,,i. Pieo~e ~rv tf) a,~wer as many que~tlon.s as you possibly can. The infQrmation that ~cu Si;ve wiU he .. u.-.,:: fOf research pur.poso,, Your norM will not bo used in connac:;tion with any stotenteni:;., c:en:i'.ls i ::ns, or publications without your permission. We request this personal lnformQtfon ~c 'he; i~ ; is de&mttd nece$sory, w9 mtly contact you for further details. 1. When did;:.-see the obiect? (Circl4;t Ona): (Circle One): o., ,Eos,3rn ) l H!"IO l.Oflf:, (Circle On~): c. Mo~.:n;c:fl j.' 1 d. Pocif:c ] City or Tow" Stot c,r CotJt'tf f S. How fong "0' object in sight? ( Tore! Duration) c. Not very sure S. --=:) r ly certain d. Just o guess 5.2 Wo-s ob!c-t :-~1gl--t :::ontinu~usly? 1 . IF yov ,(JW ~n:t obi-set during DAYLIGHT, v,-h.,re WO$ tha SUN locot_,cf o~ you loc,k'!d at th~ ol,r t? (Circle One): a. In front of y ou b. In ba<:k of you c. To your ridt d. To your loft e. Overh8od f. Don't remember FTD OCT 62 164 8. IF you saw the obiect at NIGHT, what did you notice concerning the STARS ond MOON? 8.1 STARS(Circ/eOne): 8.2 MOON (Circle One): Bright moonlight , J A fw Dull moonlight c. Many c No moonlight -p~tch darlc d. Oor~'t rememb.r Don't remember 9. What wtt,.. m e weather conditions at the tlf!~e you saw the obioct? CLOUDS ( Circle One): WEATHER (Circle One): a. Cleor sky (_ E;:-Fog:-;.,.ist, or light roln ~S'c~r.d _clou d. Thick or heavy clouds c. Moderate or hoavy rain Don't remember 10. The obiect appeared: (Circle One): b. Tronspcrent e. -oe;,;t ;omember 11. If it appecr.d oa a light, wos it briginr than the brlghteat ators? (Circle One): c. About th same d. Don't know 11.1 Ccmpor. brightneas to son:e eommon oblect: 12. The edgea of th object wer: (C ire/~ ~ne l: a. Fuzzy or blurrd ~-L i~s a bri~t Jtor c. Sha~pl;~t-f if'l.d:, ~:-Don't remember Did the objc~: Appear !o sttJnd atill at any tlnte? Suddenly speed up and ruah away at any time? Break up into parts or oxplode? Give off sm.,:Ce? Chon~ br;htness? Change sha~? Flash or flicker? Disappear ond reappear? (Circle One for iux:h queatlon) Don't know Don't lcnow Don't know Don't know Dcn't know (P?lt rnc,'!J Don't know Old the obiect disappear while you were . ,atching it? U so, how? 15. Did the ooieet move behinclaomething at any time, particularly a cloud? (Cirele One): No Don't Know. IF you answered YES, then tetll what 16. Did the cbiect move in front of J~methJng at any time, particularly a cloud? IF you answered YES, th~ttt httf wh<at (C Ire le One): in front of: ( Ye~ No Don't Know. 17 . Tell in a few worde the following things about the object: 18. We wish to know the onglllar tixe ."i~Jd a match eth:k at arms length in 'line. with a lcnown c..bie~t an~ n'l1.J;, f~Q'N mllch of th ~biect is covered by ~h head of the ftlOtch. If you hod performed this experiment at th tlrn~J of the slghtinsr, hew much of the ob;ect would hove b.en covered by the match head? 19. Drow o plefur that wi II a how the shape of the oblect or ot;iecta. Label and include In your sketch any detc.f Ia of the obj.et .-hat you sow .. uc:h ea winwa, protrualons, etc., and eepeclally exhaust trolls ar vapor tralla. Place on :rr:-w ;:.side the drowing ro show the direction the obiect was moving tv c r () FJ-:. u e.,; iUJ /(f I) I. I C: II T 20, Do you think you can eatimote the speed of the obiect? (Circle One) \ -~ .J No . IF you answered YES, then what speed would you estimate't 21. Do you think you can estimate h6w for away from you the object was? (Cirele One) IF you answered YES, then how for away would you aoy It was?20t' - 3 ,;;) ~ ,~e.J / . Where were y0\6 located when you sow the ob(ect? (C irc/e O