Project 10073 Record: Sighting of Unidentified Aerial Object, Santa Ana, California, 3 August 1965

This document details the investigation of a UFO sighting reported by Rex E. Heflin, a highway traffic investigator for the Orange County Road Department, on 3 August 1965, near the Marine Corps Air Facility in Santa Ana, California. Heflin reported observing a saucer-shaped object, approximately 30 feet in diameter and 8 feet thick, hovering 15 to 20 feet above the ground for about 15 seconds. He claimed the object had a rotating beam of light underneath and that his two-way radio became inoperative during the encounter. Heflin took three Polaroid photographs of the object. The Air Force conducted a thorough investigation, including photo analysis and interviews with Heflin. The official Air Force conclusion, as stated in the Project 10073 Record, was that the incident was a hoax. Photo analysis suggested that the object in the photographs was not a large craft, but rather a small model, less than 3 feet in diameter, placed close to the camera lens. The analysis noted that the terrain background was blurred, while the object and the road's center white stripe were in sharp focus, indicating they were on the same plane. Despite the official 'hoax' conclusion, the investigating officer, Captain Charles F. Reichmuth, noted in his narrative report that Heflin appeared to be a normal, upright citizen and did not seem to be attempting to perpetrate a hoax. The document includes various correspondence, including inquiries from a photographer named Ralph Rankow, and internal Air Force memos discussing the handling of the case and the congressional interest in the photographs.