PROJECT BLUE BOOK

; PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | |
1. DATE ~ ' 2. LOCATION |12. CONCLUSIONS

O Was Balloon
9 December 1957 Dothan, Alabama 5 Probably Belleen
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION | Dr Peny. Meveeent x
Was Aircraft
wet ase 0 Ground-Vi suel © Ground-Redar p4 ka Ne ha
cmt_20/1958 to 20052 _ XB Air Vi suol 0 Air-intercept Radar }a Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS JURCE 1 Was Astronomical
0 Yes * & Probobly Astronomical
22Neo Militar Possibly Astronomicel
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 6. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE o Oa es
© Insufficient Dete for Evaluation
0 Unknown

7 minutes
10, BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING

One object shape and size of light as
on aircraft or radio tower, color red,
Bright red light faded to pink to
white and back to red. Helicopter in
flight in area,

one

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

en

11, COMMENTS

Concur with reporting officer
this probably was aircraft light
or exhaust of aircraft,

ie

Foi tity —
my A ot i a ee ee Ferra EF ey nmi ie! WREST poe rg ae we es,

(CM —
0
Ly a UY os
Headquarters af
UNITED STATES ARMY AVIATIO
Office cf the ‘C of S,
Fort Rucker, Alabama
ACGT 000.72 11 December 1957
SUBJECT: Report on Unidentified Flying Object (RCS exempt paragrmph 17o,
AR 335-15)
TO: Assistant Chief of Staff, G2
Headquarters Third 'Inited States Amy =
Fort McPherson, Georgia “5
ATTN: AJINT ;

1. A brief description of the object:

a. Shape ofa light es seen on an aircraft or radio tover,.
b. Bize of Light seen on flying aircraft.

Cc. coor (Red)

ad. Number: One.

e. Formation: 8/A

f. Amy discernible features or details: A bright red light i
faded from red, to pink, to white, and back to red. o flap om ilo

rd ¢) wi et es

@- Tatil, trail, or exbemust, including size of same c to size Coax

of object: None. 7
h. Bound: None, i
i. Other pertinent or umsual features: iione. “ ‘:

.
2. Description of course of object: Lai

a. Wet first called the attention ofcpearver to the cbject:
The fact that the light vas fading from g¢éd to white, 4. ©

b. Angle of elevation and azimth of the object when first observed:
Piret sighted vhiie fi: Alabama at about 3,000 feet at 240°,
Obdject appeared to 20 miles distasce =

'
nm, ot Nati edi ?

-
:
" '
or Tas .
> oe 4
. -
.

ee aed Se Sy Pes ee Fa

ACGI 000.72 ll Decesiber 1957
SUBJECT: Report on Unidentified Flying Object

c. Angle of elevation and azimith of object upon disappearance:
Last seen at 14,000 feet; object faded avay to right at 350° very repidly.

a. Description of flight path and maneuvers of ee

00 t h minute. <
and down 50 to 1 ee ime eac — 7a el]
e. Manner of disappearance of object: Faded cut. “ wee
f. Length of time in sight: Approximately seven winatens wrt.
path —?¢
3. Manner of observation: ttl wo Sa
otha ¢

a. Observed frou aircraft. i Gents a

b. Statement as to cptical aids used and tencriptiog rik Sees

c. If the sighting is made while airborne, give ag pees,
identification musber, altitude, heading, speed, and home statica:
526197, 8,000 feet, heading 240° at 150 MPH, Home Station: Fort
Alabema.

5)

h, Time of sightLng:

e. Hour and date of sighting: 1958 hours to 2005 hours, 9 December
1957.

be. Light comditions:/ Might.
5. location of obae First cbhserved while Observer vas flying over

Dothan, Alabama headed 2 ksi, ~s
? ae

6. Identifying taformetion on all observers:

a. Civilian: W/A

be Military: Morvan W. Goodwin, Major, United “tates Armsy Aviation
School, Cafef, Plans Division, and Captain George E. Thayer, Executive Officer,
Office of the Director of Instruction; Estimate of Reliability: A‘

T. Any other wuisuel activity or condition metorological, astronomical,
or othervise, which might account for the sighting: None.

8. Location of any alr traffic in the area at time of sighting:
Helicepter in flight over Osark.

9. Fosition title and cooments of the preparing officer, including his
prelininary analysis of the possible cemaa of the sighting: Captain Marion
BE. Hill, Assistant Chief cf Staff, 02, United States Ary Aviation Center, Fort
Nucl, Alabeae. fh is the opt mgt co? the premoriog officer that the cbijec*

was a lige’ of ac aiscerayt Myic tre direction of Bglin Plelda. May possibiy
have boen exbaust oF alrcrare. —

oo

ee

_ i a ‘1: Ayah entered ae * spon Dee 1 erie ates. Seve 5 eaten peeeati I= [= I “TT or Te ee nn ee (eV —_ 2 ai

ACGT 000.72 Li Derenber 1957
SUBJECT: Report on tinidentified Flytiag “diect

19. Bxistence of physical evidence, such as aatertale and p’otographs:
Yone.

ll. Name, rank, ard title of person receiving report and comrniis Azad
actions: Garland 3. Aradford, cic, W-b, Assistant 62, Valted States Arey
Aviation Center, Fort Rueker, Alzbam. Mo comments or actions.

12. Air Foree Installation notified: Eglin Air Force Rese fiuaished
copy of report.

|
MARION BE. HILL |
Captain 43 |
Ac of & G2 |

i —_ -

—

~ Sciuncas News Larras jus November 23, (57

+ a

. ASTRONOMY
nl

Venus Is Christmas Star

A crescent moon and the planet Venus will be close to- hang Longe ataliaaa before the san,
: o *iie . . in . ,
gether on December 24, making a brilliant pair that lights 1s, on Christmas eve, when the aexenr

the Christmas sky. a ; Mena om mee

Ry JA T with Aldebaran as the brightest star; dis-
4 MES STORLEY unctly red in hue, it is eusy to idennfy. Creseent Venus

> +4 ' ae To the Jett of Taurus is Auriga, the .
i "Te aha ame aie te rag chartoccer, with the sur Capella, another of It will not be quite as thin a crescent as
mA CO ene ee ree Mm the Heer maenituua: tlat of the moos, but more like the moon

iIMZ uN prominence during the aurumn, ’

er ‘eodine frown (4) e|] 1 Wwe come tr wune Tee avs later ‘e he
d 7. 7 iia, - » «3 t si ' © Ww
VO db US Broulove Of tilkadae cal We A t fiv da fter

After the sly gete dark, around this dave, C20 and Polhus, of which the fatter is
Beeb as: will be blazing in the sou wet Canis Major stands Canis Minor, the lesser
innl it follews the sun below the herizon, ih the bri

i.oce tham three nours laser. But even this dog, with Pro¢yon as ightest star.
will not be the full exsent of the display. - Over toward the southwest are found
(nm the the mooa, ima crescent 5 %

hree dape after the

new OE, wil
just to tiie morte of. Venus: Wh:

cur @arlier at the middle the
') the sousheast there de now visible
iltane array of sterg which make the ski
( the wimter evening so beauriful.

iF

(Qn the astronomer’s gale ‘of star
esses, Sivius is of magnitude minus j,
which means that it execeds any other
hat wecan ete in the sighetime sky.
ured to Wenus, however, it is
vot, for che magnitude of that
conus 44. Venus now is gearly |

right as Sirius.

faxt

HI

a»

\bowe Sarnes, Oriom, the-warrior, may be
cn. Ie thie group ase rwe bright stass of
‘e “first magnitude”: Betelgeuse, to the
“17, and Bigei, a lithe lower and wm the — “ 3 a
che Becween them i @ row of chese - 4 tasT. ace South © io: WEST ee
Nfer stars chat torm Ovbam’s bein 3+ ~ So * ; Pret ee SS
‘rectly abowe Orion is Taurus, the bead, & @0. ¢ S¥MBOLS FOR STARS 1 ORDER OF BRIGHTMESS  --

eae |  R..
7 ~ >

Fo SRE epee poe

Info re, |."
Source:

on Only

Sasriem Meteor Society for 1

FIREBALL OF 1957 DECEMBER 5
A.M.S. No. 2368 |

On this date at 10:09 p.m., E.S.T.,
a very bright fireball was seen from

servations and eventually 20 were re-
ceived. Long after, some newspaper
clippings were sent in showing that the

object was seen from several places in

Philacelphia. A note in the Evening
Bulletin was published asking for ob-
om TS am
North Carolina and V'- but with
no actual data, T! remiss
in not, at the tim 3!
of the 20, 1 of wii!. irom the

Philadelphia neighborhoou, 2 from New
ey and one from Delaware. The
sson probably was that the wording
i several indicated that it was a hope-
% Matter to secure angles from the
veservers, The clippings gave no names
to contact. There is, however, almost
unanimity that the path was horizontal.
“hen if the height of any one poinr on
could be well determined, by drawiay
circles with observers’ positions as
centers, a path could be determined. We
’ fix an approxitnate sub-beginning
wcause + observers in or near

. 2iphia saw it begin due south, also
S15 at Marmora, N.J., and SS in N.E.
Philadelphia at «7=354°, he giving a
good diagram, The intersection of the
last two gives the only chance for
determining the sub-beginning point.
S19 at Felton, Del., stated it was seen
to west going north, from a window. S13
at Fork Union, Va., gives a diagram
which in general cannot be interpreted

Date Rice Plan

Sidereal time at end. point eT pere
Beginning point
End point
Length of path
Duration
Velocity observed fivaphhtas ow
Radiant with curvature correction .
Parabolic zenith correction
Radiant corrected ..................

We find nothing in Hoffmeistez-Von
this radiant,

ements ee

Pee eee SECC OCCT EP ee eee eT eee cere rere |

OPP Pee eee eee eee eee eee Pe eee eee eee eee ce)

OPP eee Pee Pe CTE eee ee eee ee eer ee es

Ce EOE E ROO ee EEO eee eee

_
but does give a2=203°. This crossing
lines from Sl and S3 gives subendpoint
approximately, using as stated our posi-
tion circles. Frankly, it is a matter of
judgment, after studying the diagram,
exactly where the projected path was,
but to satisfy its parallelism with the
horizon, it could only be shifted parallel
to itself, and so the derived radiant
would not be affected. The heights HL
and H2 of course would be. Thai it had
a disk is stated by 9 observers: a good
drawing shows it eilipiticul in shape. The
mean of three actual estimates gives the
diameter 0.3 of Moon. Color estimates
as usual vary, but the majority give
blue-green-white, and the tail was
orange-yellow. No sounds were noted,
The object was unusually large and bril-
liant, but no estimates that can be turn-
ed into magnitudes were given. Some
observers were indoors, some in cars,
so the object must have been very
bright to have attracted attention. As
the azimuth of the radiant may have
appreciable error, no orbit is calculated,

The usual data follow.

eee 1957 December 5.62
4?

\=74°45', ¢=38°00’ at 94 km ) 13
\=77°25', $=39°42’ at 94 km) obs.
365 km

5.06=1.S85 sec. 9 obs.

secessenee ha Wet /8eC
coaseeee @ 307°,

Tees eee Cl Cee eee eeeae

...a=307°, h=

h=—1°
—2°
—3°
Ss —30°

gO Hy

Neiss! Catalogue of Fireballs corresponding to

a Ce se

ee |

—,

nM ees Wy

a =

DATE

10
10
10
10
10
10-12
ll
LL :
aE
11

- il

‘1

‘4
12

12
12-15

2
td

a
lw

_——— oe
.

*
= ee

eee ee ee ee

160 - 15 DECSMBER 1957 SIGHTINGS

LOCATION OBSERVER
Ios Angeles, Celifornie

- Portland, Maine Military Air

- Konona, Wisconsin State “Police
—-Estacada, Oregon 7
- Oceanside, Long Island, New York <—iiiiiimmm
-Duncansville, Texas Multi (PHOTOS)
- Quincy, Ohio (CASE MISSING) Civilian
.-Miles City, Montana ~ Military
-Iake City AFS, Tennessee Military RADAR
- Wayne, Michigan as
-~Continental Divide AFS, New Mexico Military
H shirley dtr oer Leathe bet Virginia Military Air
ola ric, & Radar
~and Guthrie, Pennsylvania Military Air
& Radar
~Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota Military

“Great Neck, Long Island, New York ¢qdmguwe (PHOTO/N.R.)
~ Misawa, Hokkaido, Japan Military Air
Military RADAR
Photo Analysis
Military
Civilian

ee

Military Air

=

‘Canton, Ohio (CAS MISSING)
~English, Indtawa (CASS MISSING)
- Col Anahuac, Mex teo
~Chase Field, Reeville, Texas
-S Weymouth, New Jersey
-Oak Harbor, Washington
~St Louis, Missouri
~ Catalgazi/Kiml1, Turkey

“Albany, Oregon

5-6 Fishermen

ES,

-Dayton, Ohio Civilian
~Englewood, Colorado (CASE MISSING) Civilian
-Elmendorf AFB, Alaska Military

ADDITIONAL REPORTED SIGHTINGS (NOT CASES)

LOCATION SOURCE

‘Universe Science News Ltr
Chatham, Canada Newsclipping
- Collinsville, Illinois Newsclipping

“| ~ = o.
RELA Fi mcr sci s wii tolls di edie Sp voto a,

EVALUATION

Astro (M@TEOR)
Satellite (SPUTTIIX)
Balloon

Insufficient Data
Astro (METEOR)

Astro (VENUS)
Aircraft

Aircraft

Balloon

Aircraft

Astro (METZOR)

1. Astro.(MOON)

2. Radar (INVERSION)
1. Mirage ;

2. Radar (INVERSION)
Astro (METEOR)

Insufficient Data

1. Astro (VENUS)
2. Radar (ANOMALOUS PROP)
3- Insufficient Data -
Insufficient Data
Insufficient Data
UNIDENTIFIED ~

Astro (METEOR)

Astro (METEOR)
Aircraft

Astro (METEOR)

Astro (METEOR)
Insufficient Data
Astro (VENUS)
Insufficient Data
Astro (METEGR)

EVALUATION
/