PROJECT BLUE BOOK

= ii oe 2s re tee The rh NAL A TLL RT GN Pew ‘iamthe thks Rae a sal caneee cena

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE 2. LOCATION |12. CONCLUSIONS
|
0 Was Balloon
8 December 1957 __fflet-Monor, Morocco |Q Probably Belleon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION O Possibly Bolleon _
Loce} | ge) Ground Vi sul 0 Ground-Redar oily Mtressli
omt_O8/1715Z _ 0 Air Visual © Air-Intercep? Radar |9 Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS “Z¥EK Was Astronomiceh VEAXLS )
0 Yes B pronemy Astrea 6a)
a ilitar ossibly Mee
7, LENOTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE WS other Cow TRAk So
. rau ci erente Dete for Evaluation
nknown
2-5 minutes one NNE
10, BRIE# SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 1), COMMENTS

Dne object or light, length equal to
diameter of moon, color yellow to
orange, edges well defined,

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

Sete ieee ety area Ans

| From the limited information

| given no firm conclusion can be
made other than it appears to

| be that the planet Venus and a

jet afterburner exhaust were
seen,

eae OER, LRT OF: PET PET) Frere pene Shae TP Samy Sites fm TRC Ee ELT Fad EYES | & yer rare ©

Unaly (RipcA 158 Cd Glee 1957
IR-~ F038 ost (Le aT aakenf Lhiromar ogy)

$729

1. Light was sighted from a moving platform, i.e. automobile. Tests conducted
some years ago, simulating similar conditions where the eye attempts to stay fixed
on, or track an object in the sky show that any given azimiths, bearings, or elevations
are often unreliable. This is particularly true when roads are hilly, or tiher than

perfectly straight and flat. The object will almost invariably appear to move and E
change elevation.

2. Light was observed for 15 Minutes.

3. Observer describes UYO as a “light” in portions of the report, and as an
"object” in others.

4h, It is significant to point out that the planet Venus was in the SSW (the |
position determined after the car stopped and the bearing of the light taken). ‘This | |
body was so brilliant during December that comment was made by both the press and |
scientific papers (see incls).

5. Jet contrails will cften give weird, or wnusual sppearances at sunset or dawn
when the low, slant rays of the sun strike them. As shown from numerous similar reports
the predominant colord are yellow, red or orange-red.

(See attached sheet)

—_——— oe ee a

CLASSIFICATION

| CY e wuys
Vd i “SgataLno.
os INFORMATION REPORT. =) "C7

UNCLASS IF TED

DATE OF INFORMATION

§ December 1957 _

OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE 1~58 |

OATE OF REPORT
OPNAY FORM 3840-2 (REV. 6-53)

9 December 1957

— x= ——— = ——

——

|

ae

een Oe ee

—— —-: ——

FROM Fleet Intelligence Center, SOURCE a "| EVALUATION “REQUEST NO.
Eastern Atlantic and Mediterrane e a a ee Lp 0
sVBJECT oh 2%, pas _
Unidentified light, sighting of 8 _ 1 a eniiosaick pe Be
BRIEF (¥OR REPORTS OF MORE THAR PAGE, ELTKA CAREFUL SUMMARY) ° eur. NY ty
Encl: (1) Overlay indicating geographic positions 4 Ga lass' “Tt 1’

(2) Sketches of light and its movement (Figures 1-3) gra ¢
Summary. For approximately 15 minutes on & December 1957, reporting officer observed a

large bright light in the sky over Morocco, The light's behavior and appearance did not
conform to that expected of the usual range of airborne objects.

Basic Data involved in the sighting.
Time: Between 1715Z and 1730Z, 8 December 1957. Time of Sunset ~ 1716Z

BY OTHER THAN DEFEMSE ACTIVITIES IS NOT AUTHORIZED EXCEPT BY |

Place: Morocco, between Tiflet and Monod. See Encl. (1) for details of position.
Position of light: Approximately 20 Degrees above the horizon to the SW of observer

JAL 18 ANY FORM,

ANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION OF ITS CONTENTS (NW ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON

we

SPECIFIC APPROVAL OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NA

Description of the light: Its length appeared to be equal to the diameter of the moc
or the length of an R5D at 14 miles. The color was yellow to orange; color and intensity
were uniform over the area of the light. The edges of the shape were well defined, but
not as definite as those of a metal object. Figure (1) is a sketch of the lights shape
during the first part of the observation.

arrative description of sighting, While riding in an automobile at approximately 17152
on 8 December, reporting officer sighted a bright light in the sky to the SW. It first
gave the impression of being sunlight reflected from a jet vapor trail; as if a jet had
just entered a contrail level. It appeared to be on a NNE course and gradually descending .

ecause its thicker end was pointed in that direction and slightly downward. While
watching this light for from 2 to 5 minutes, it was noted that it did not develop as a
vapor trail should. Its intensity appeared to increase, but its length relative to its
width remained constant. Reporting officer called the attention of his wife and ca
to the light. His daughter, age 11, had already been watching it. Q

<<

DISTRISUTION BY OUGINATORS:*=<“‘S; SCS ——— oS _ ter tt 2 ‘
CINCNEIM, ALUSNA RABAT A:
ee —— %

DISTRIBUTION BY ONI: lenly te these oddressecs preceded by copy number)

=

REPRODUCTION OF THIS

SECTIONS 793 AND 794, TH

1S PROHIBITED BY LAW

TITLE 16, U.S.C

NOTE: THIS DOCUMENT CONYAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ESPIONAGE LAWS.

| |ComSobPae | | 52 ~_ ENCLOSURS
[ [Comsubtant | | _———
' } ;.
: Tie 1 a See Lut
ot (| Comast f it | tt a |
62, USMC i|__| HAPL (Neimé) | | MLO, USFA ql ] ’
wa ———— — ; —
if | ComAlSeaFron ‘a c¢ each of
O51, USAF |__| ComNavFe ComCoribSeaFron | (Waa | | cc each rp
Fl «|= | ComNaveer — | _|i_| CombostSeatron | || 1 Wat f w/encl_
NSA i. ___| ComMorianas | ComHowSeaFron | | (indicated by ‘
| Commarea a || _| ComWestSeaFron
| | ComMidEgsthor | mine
ee | eran ae ee eh | ere = aa airy ae
LJ SG | |_| ComMavenit = || SuSenda Bh |
| Interior oe Com F ; |_| Buships _||
| eee Com 2 al |
MPD | BuAer al
AEC | BuDocks
+S —___|_} 8)... Se
A 1... eae

6. Report does not indicate whether the observer, using intelligence facilities
available to him as a Fleet Intelligence Officer, made checks or queries of aircraft,
radar or other military operations units to determine if aircraft or missile vere in

the area. These investigations can be better conducted in the area of crigin than
from the ZI, 7

Te Object was not a meteor or a returning satellite as implied. The time
duration of 15 minutes rules these out. Meteors are seldom seen for longer than

6-9 mécohds; the earth entry velocity of the satellite would be between 18-20,000
MPH. .

CONCLUSIONS: From the limited information given, and lack cf investigative data,

no firm conclusions can be made regarding the identity of the light, other than that
it appears that the planet Venus and a jet afterburner contrail were separately
seen, and mistaken for a single phenomenon. This was probably due to the fact that

the observations were intermittent,and changes in the objects’ bearing resulting from
the travel of the car,

OO. iwcC_LCUC OVC) ON,  ——— CCCCrCorreeeer + —--—'''"'_-'-—-——-— - ~~ -m—anhm er e_ek_—S_ See

INFORMATION REPORT

OPMAV FORM 3826-2(C) (6-88)

Sere eee | From Fleet Intelligence Cen— | tPonTNO. “77 aan aaa
ter, Bastern Atlantic and
hy 3S IF TED Mediterranean, Navy #2, . 7 December 57

After another minute or two, the light descended rapidly towards the earth, describing an

arc as in Fig. (2). This movement was very rapid and definite. The thicker end of light was
pointing straight down and while the light could be observed, it dropped approximately 10 de-

grees or half of the distance to the horizon. All observers were convinced at this time that
the light was either a meteorite or a returning Soviet satellite. At this point, a row of
trees blocked the view for approximately 30 seconds. |

When the view was again clear, the light had regained its former altitude, was in a hor-
izontal position, and appeared to be heading in the opposite direction, in that its thicker end
was now pointed SSW. However the car was now stopped and it was possible to determine the bearing
of the light from the observers. Its bearing did not change, but the light decreased in in-
tensity, became slinmer and gradually faded from view. This gave the impression of movement
straight away from the observers, However, the lights disappearance may well have been due to
lack of reflected sunlight as the "object" entered the earths shadow. Time of disappearance

was approximately 1730Z.
Weather Conditions, Fleet Weather Central, Port Lyautey, has provided the follawing infor- -

mation on weather conditions between 081715Z and 0817302 for the wicinity of Rabat, the ap-
proximate area of sighting:

Temperature: 62°F

Sky condition: Clear 1000 ft. wee cece 350° Sknots

Visibility: Unrestricted lLOCOO®Lt. » 2 + 2 2» » 10 2

Wind: Northerly 10 knots 20000 ft. 2 0 © 0 0 2 LO 35 :

Temperature 30000 ft. ». 6 © e+» »e WO 50

Inversions: About 14°C at 1200 feet 40000 ft... ~. . o » U5 36

(Above temperature inversion considered 50000 ft. ....-.. 240 18

insignificant for optical illusions) 60000 ft... +. -+ + 275 Y knots
Source Information: tse currently attached to the Fleet Air Intelligence
Augmenting Unit and has had years experience as an Air Intelligence Officer. :

icers Comments. The fact that such sightings are usually due to natural
phenomena is well established. However, since the reporting officer is not qualified to
determine the cause of the phenomenon observed, this report has been prepared in the hope
that it may be of some use to those engaged in analysing unidentified object reports.

Prepared: Forwarded:

LTJG USNR —_ GAPT USN
page 2

jes

7 B GOVERMMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1953 - 290224 ae

a eer 46 or Weer Wwe ey rT ee ~) OSD Metre ars. 8 ees: oy geo + et St net, eel eT ie ae
. a

INFORMATION REPORT

OPNAY FORM 3820-2(C) (6-88)

ee

a + - CO he er Or Or Cr '-'-|-- oro oe Oo -- OOO eee eee
CLASSIFICATION FROM ; REPORT NO. | DATE

Fleet Intelligence
UNCLASSIFIED Center, EIM, Navy 21, | 1-58 | |9 December 1957

a

= Port Iyautey

Rabat

; Monod 3
ar

Tiflet

Direction of light

Casablang . from observers
Lp Apparent heading

of light:
Before descent-NNE
After descent-SSW

B ~ position of initial sighting
A - position of final sighting

/

33N

TH | 6

Enel (1)
Overlay of WAC Chart 420