PROJECT 10073 RECORD . ~. DA 1t; TIME GROUP 2. LOCATION 10. CONCLUSION Pos~ihl.e (AIHCH/~1-l') .t. NUMBE f:l OF OoJECTS o data presented ~o indicate object put rurther investif;ntion neces_aary. could not have bem an A/C. S. lENGTH OF OiSERVATION 11. BRI&PJ SUMMARY AHO ANA&.YIII Severa 1 Y.i.., .. rtes /o. TYPE OF OBSE~VATION Ground-ViB.lal (BX) Stt CASE FILE. Aircraft was over the sighting.. In viflW or more attention. 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE FTD SEP ,, 0329 (TDE) Prevloua edlt!otu of Ulb fo,. aap a.. uaed area nt 39,000 ft during the time or excellent letter, case Shoud be given DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, NEW MEXICO 87117 ATTN o11'1 SvJS 22 August 1966 auaJacTa Unidentified Flying Object Report jor Quintanilla (TDEW) virig~t-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433 1. As per our telephone conversa" ... letter received from air':)~rne object." August 1966, attached is concerning an "unusual 2. I was unable to i dentify positively the lights he described. The weat~er at that time in the Albuquerque vicinity was 10,000 feet sca~:ered, 60 miles visibility, temperature 69, dew point 61, surface ldn~s 130 degreas a t 5 knots with distant lightning north and northwest. 3. ~he FAA Tower at the Albuquerque Sunport does not ha ve any infor- mation on over-flying aircra.ft. The Air Route Traffic Control Center advisad that there \vas nothing on ultra high altitude over the area, .. ho,~ver, ~h.e;t d~d.~have .r:e.ference to an aircraft tha.t overflew at ' 39 ,C'-JO feet. 'Thelig~ts were seen at 0252 Zulu, 19 Augus t 1966, from the l~cal time indicat ed by 4. I interviewed He is 48 years old, employed as a research ill.1s trator/photogra}:-~er for Lovelace FoW1dation at Fission Products Inha: ation Laboratory on Sandia Base. He was previously err~loyed as a co.i:::::~:cial pilot "'Ii tt: ll, 000 hours flying time, much of vrhich was in s (Constellat ion) and like aircraft for Pan American and other airlines. expressed interest in the siting, but was not unduly dis-:,..::bed by the siting. Official sunset \>Tas at 0152 Zulu, one hour befor3 the siting. FOR InS COHNANDER Chie: .J~ .3afety Ltr, 19 Aug 66, Captain TJ:lomas G. Seeberger P. I. 0. Officer, KAFB Albuquerque, New Mexico Unusual Airborne Object 19 August 1966 This will confirm our phone conversation of last evening in reference to the subject matter. At about :952 local time, Thursday evening, 18 August 1966, I was sitting on the second s tory sun deck of my home when I first observed a brilliant white object directly over Tijeras Canyon. The sun had just disappeare d over the western horizon a few minutes prior to my sighting of the object, so the sky was still relatively bright. There were a fev~ s ca:: ered clouds in t!:e following areas: ( 1) There were two cumulo-nin'lbus directly over the TV towers at Sandia Crest; (2) On the horizon, approximately 15 to 25 C.egrees to the wes t of true north was an active thunderstorm which was north o f .:te mountain rang e at Los Alamos, New Mexico; (3) On the western horizon :-:.:1d to about 15 deg:-ees above the western horizon were several cumulus clouds f o:-ming a weak frontal area. The '\Vest of the sky at that time ( 1952 M) was corr:pletely clear and a few stars were even visible immediately overhead. When I f irst observed the brilliant object, I thought it to be a satellite, so I called my \vife up to the s~..i:l deck to observe it with me. As we both observed it approa ching from the eas t , it immediately because apparent to me that it could not be a satellite because it was tracking from east to west. All satellites, of which I have any knowledge, track west to east or in the polar orbits. I as sumec t l:e:1 that I had misjudged the sighting and determined, at that point, that \Ve 'A;e.r e observing a h i g h flying aircraft at between 20 and 30 thousand feet, probably c : oser to 30, 000 feet. It also flashed through my mind that it was most unusual :o:-ar: airline r to be flying at that altitude, in relative daylight, with his nose lanC.!.r.g light on continuously, as it was. I have had considerable experience in the past , as an airline pilot and this fact did not seem plausible to me . I could not see any silhouette of an aircraft, even when it was directly overhead, although I could plainly see the complete silhouette of a multi-engine DC-7 '\Vhich had preceeded this sighting by some few minutes. The DC-7 was approximately 25, 000 feet overhead when it passed over me. The object, when observed almost directly overhead, exposed to view, not only the one large bright nose light (if it was a nose light and not a direct reflection from the setting sun), but also a smaller white light or reflective directly be- neath the brilliant light. Also, immediately above the large white light, we observed a smaller red light. At least it appeared to be a red light. Captain 1"homas G. Seeberger 19 August 1966 We could still not make out any kind of a silhouette even though the object was plainly visible, in its entirety, both to the naked eye as well a s through binoculars. My wife gave up viewing at that point and went back into the house, but I continued to trail the object with the binoculars. When it reached a point in the western area, approximately 60 degrees frorp. ove.r- head (or about 30 degrees above the western horizon), I observed a pright, rotating white ligh t come on beneath all the lights previously mentioned. The rotating light lasted only for a few seconds when, suddenly, I observed nothing--------- no lights at all, no silhouette, no anything. I could:-.~. ~ believe my eyes for a moment! I had not moved my binoculars from the object. I had it directly in the center of my viewing field and yet, in an instant it disappeared from view in clear, relatively bright sky. I scanne d the sky with my eyes and with the binoculars, but could see nothing more of what a moment before h a d been a series of bright lights, including a rotating white light. After p erhaps two minutes of scanning and not observing anything further of the object , I went into the house and phoned the FFA, ARTCC office at 298-7461 and t alke d \~,rith a man, whose name I did not get. I explained all I had seen and he checke d t~e controller p ositions and reported he had nothing in the area I had been obser v i::g but he admitted t hat they could not track above 24, 000 on their radar scopes. He suggested, ho\vever, I call you and advise you of what I had seen, which I C.id at 2010 M. The sighting leaves me \v ith the following questions: 1. I f it had been a conventional aircraft, either prop or jet, why would it have been flying at that altitude in relative daylight with a nose landing light continuously on? 2. If it had been a conventional aircraft, why could I not see any silhouette of shape other than the bright lights or reflections? 3. ! it had been a conventional aircraft, why did it have a bright, rotating \Vl':i t e light underneath it instead of the normal rotating red light? Or-- \Vas i t a rotating white light? Could it have been some reflection from the setting sun \vhich appeared to be a rotating white light possibly ce:.:..:: e d by some k i n d of turbulence? 4. -.,;,-::~ .. l C.id it suddenly disappear completely in relatively bright, clear sky and leave no silhouette to follow? 5. If i t had been a conventional aircraft, why did I not hear any noise from it as it pas sed overhead? It was perfectly silent and yet, other aircraft, eithe r prop or jet; military, or civilian, when passing overhead, even at greater altitude s tha n this object always produc e the sounds of the particular powerplant involved . Gaptairi Thomas G. Seeberger 19 August t 966 Finally, I \Vould guess-timate that its relative speed, at approximately 30, 000 feet, to be about 700 knots possibly a little faster, but not much. Also it followed a straight, level course throughout the entire time of observation . ue, New Mexico