PROJECT BLUE BOOK

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
|. DATE 2. LOCATION 12.

15 December 1957 Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION

Lecal O Ground Vi sual O Ground-Rador

cut__16/0040 XX Air Vi sual O Air-Intercept Rador

5. PHOTOS 3. SOURCE

0 Yes
cee ENE My 1, ERI yh gS A
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE

oo oorg aoo ooo

8 secnds

CONCLUSIONS

Wes Balloon
Probably Balloon
Possibly Balloon

Was Aircraft
Probably Aircraft
Possibly Aircraft

X Was Astronomicol

Probebly Astronomicol
Possibly Astronomical

Other

Inaufficient Data for Evaluation
Unknown

10, BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS

a

Round, brilliant blue-white object, Undoubtedly a meteor from the

size of silver dollar, Similar in Geminids.shower,
appearance to falling star or burning
magnesium flare, Approx 2 ft in length,
was falling straght down and appeared
fuzzy at the edges. Trailed black

smoke then burst into yellow flame &
appeared to disintegrate,

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2)

Pt hea Se eee eee MAY een ee tT a eae ay ; :
FUZZY AT TH: EDGES PD (

Ge CEJLCI TRAILED ELACK SMOKE UNTIL SChe DISTANCE EELOW

~~

—_———
—- —
— ——$—_— {

tHe CESERVER WHEN IT EURST INTO YELLCW FLAME AND APPEARED TO

—

DISINTEGRAT: PD |
He NONE
I, N/A
2. A. VISUALLY OESERVED BY PILOT WHILE HE vis Greene, > (
Be weeRE 47, z11iTh, olen Tow
C. NEGATIVE
De FALLING STRAIGHT DOWN. (
Ze» FLARED INTO YELLOW FLAME AND APPEARED TO DISINTEGRATES :
fs APPRCKINATEL(EIGHT SECECDED
3. As AIR-VISUAL (
By N/A

C

C. F-122A

De AIREORNE, 38, 9¢ FET, APPROXIMATELY 75 MILES S. We OF ANCHORAGE,

ALASKAe ¢
Se Ae NSA
€
€
/ (
¢
(
PAGE. THREK RJKDAG 157 (
t. RAYPCND He VISCARRA, 1/LT, 227TH FIGHTER INTERCEPTOR SQUADRCN,
¢
PILCiT, RELIABLE.
Te Ae NEGATIVE (
BE. NOT KNOWN ,

ee Sens ee ee ee

‘

FCC AE SOF OVP FLS 1 -
D. CAVU AT 38,04 FEET (
E. NONE
. : c
Fe NONE
(S) NONE : C
(S) N/A
Nee Cc
(12) NONE
(11) CYRUS L. BROOKS, 1/LT, USAF, INTELLIGENCE OFFICER. LIEUTENANT ‘ c
VISCARRA IS A VERY RELIABLE CFFICER AND FROM HIS DESCRIPTION
&
AND MY LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT, I WOULD JUDGE THIS ‘
SIGHTING TO BE A METEOR, ae / c
‘
(12) NONE Cfick p 2hows aut &
(foal c

18/233SZ DEC RJKDAG & nile” we La 7 S

\’ a ee eet) eee —

eee

‘

i ¥, ened vo te

ASTRONOMY

SS

Scrsycs Naws Lerraa jor Nowember 23. 1957

Venus Is Christmas Star

A crescent moon and the planet Venus will be close to-

gether on December 24, making a brilliant pair that lights

the Christmas sky.
By JAMES STOKLEY

> This vear we will have a rea! Christnas

star, The planet Venus, which has beea un |

creasing in prominence during the auinna,
will be at it greatest beilliunce on Dee.

\trer the sky gets dark, around this date,
Venus will be blazing in the southwest,
unt it foilows the sun beiow the horizon,
more than three hours later. But even this
will noe be the fill extent of che dispiav.
On te 24th, the moon, in a crescent plrise,
three dass after the new moon, will prose
just to the north of Venus While ine
closest approach comes, for Americans, chur.
ing daylghe hours, they will sall be close
oogether that evening, Chrisnnas eve, sad
wil form a. striking backdrop for the
carolers singing ther Yuletide greeting.

Venus is the only planet that can be seen
well on December evenings. Om the seventh.
Mercury is farthest east of the sun. and
will remwin briefly in the souuiwestern sky
after the sum has set. Possibly, if you have
a very clear view in thae direction, ond
look closely, you can get a ghimps ot a
innermost of all the A siced but this is
rcilly a favorable ame to see Mercury.

No planets appear oa the accompanying
raps of the December evening skies, for
these show ther a sance later in the
evening, after Venus has set. They are
cirawn fur about 10:00 pan., your own kind
kind of standard ame, on Dec. |. and an
hour carfter at the middle ot the ‘nonth.

In the southeast there ts now visible Ue
brilliant array o€ stars which make the skies
of the winter evening so beauntul.

Dog-Star Is Brightest

Brightest of vaese stars is Sirius. the dog-
stir, part of Canis Major, the great dog,
shown near the horizon. However, its low
aintude causes a partial diminutwo of is
‘ighe. Later im the night it climbs higher
"hn the sourhern sky and is then even more
. vlNSDICcCuUcUS,

Oa the astronamer’s scale of star bright
esses, Sirius is of magnitude minus 1.4,
Which imcans that it execeds any other sur
that we can see in the nighttime sky. Com-
pered to Venus, however, it is relanvely
faint, for the magnitude of that planet is
minus 4.4. Venus now is nearly [6 times
(s bright as Sirus.

nove Sina, Orion, the warrtug, tuay be
con. im dws yroup are cwo browne stars of
the “frst magnitude’: Herelyeuse, to the
lets, and Rigel, a little lower ane) m the
right Between them is a row of three
tare stars that torm Orion's belt

Directly atove Orion ie Taurus, the bull,

S othattte oe BFS HA

with Aldeberan as the brightest siar; dis
tinedly red in hue, it is easy to identify.

To the Jeft of Taurus is Auriga, the
charioteer, with the star Capella, another of
the Hirst magnitude.

Descending fran Capella, we come to
Gemini, the twins, with the stare ailled
Castor and Pollux, of which the fatter is
the brighter, Aad berween Gemini and
Canis Major stands Canis Minor, the lesser
dog, with Procyon as the brightest star.

Over toward the southwest are found
the remnants of the constellations of the
dutunn evenings. Near the horizon, as
shown on the maps. or higher if it ts carker
in the evening, is Vega, abour all that is
sece of Lyra, the tyre. Above and to the
lete is Cygnus, the swan, with ~ Deneb.
While Wega and Deneb both are first mag-
nicude stars, their low altitude makes rhein
tock (aun ter.

Atwuit 3:30 a. m., at the beginning of
Deceinber, and 1:30 a. m., at the end,
inowMer planet, Jupiter, appears in the
wutheast, in Virgo, the virgin. Its bright.
ness now is just about the same as that
ot Sirius, Mars, of the second magnitude,

Qo #O..@

re — t/e > i »

rises later, about two hours before the sun,
in Libra, the scales.

If, on Chrisenas eve, when the crescent
moon is standing neacby, you look at Venus
through a telescope, you will find that it

also is in a crescent
Crescent? Venus

It will not be quite as thin @ crescent as
that of ‘he pees bi but more like the moon
some two days later, or about five days after
it is new.

The reason for the luaar phases is found
in the fact that, as the moon revolves around
the earth, it ts t our view varying
amounts of its ilhuminated hemisphere.

At new, it is practically between the sun
and us; the sunlit half is entirely turned
away and we see nothing. But a few days
lates, a3 the moon swings eastward from
the direction of the sum, it remains in the
western sky for a while after the sun has
set. A narrow sliver of the bright half then
appéars to us, as a crescent. Then, as it
swings soll Grther away from the sun,
half, three-«yuarters, and finally ail, of the
sunlit side is presented to us, bringing the
full moon.

This tkes about two weeks. During the
next two weeks the changes occur in reverse
order, and the moon is new once again.

Something similar’ happens to Venus.

+ +@

* SYMBOLS FOR STARS IN ORDER OF BRIGHTNESS
UNINERSE

om
ee 7

we ee

01s oe - —*

ed ee ee ee |

ewe es ee es

os
—
Scuncs Nows Lavrax for Nowemier 23, [57

Like the moon, it has no light of its own =.27_:—s«£1:00 p.m, Moon farthest, distance 31,300
but is illuminated by the sun, so that one mites. F
half ts bright and the opposite half dirk. aR A393 pe. rene - ys hohe }

Last April 14 it was out beyond the sun, oe ee ng BER ES EOE, ss
with the entre dright hemisphere ternedeae tee > Ses ho Lat November 22, 1957 im
earthwards. Since then it has been moving »% if p
and is now coming between the earth anid ‘gi
sum. Thus, most of its sunlit hemisphere is
turned away, oe we. have 2 crescent phase.

On Jan. 28 it will be, nearly, Shae
berween us and the sun, and this will
correspond to new Thoon. nh Ag abate
become a crescent again, visible in
morning sky before sunrise.

Unlike the moon, Venus is aT ae “0
far away that only through a telescope are
its phases. visible. ;

The phases of Venus differ from hoes of
the moon im another respect.

As the moon trvelssround the earth, i
distance does not change very greatly, only $f...
from about 221,000 miles to 253,000 miles. ie

Thus there is na great change in its ap- 4g
parent size, and the dia diameter of the full
moon is about the same as when ic is in a
narrow crescent phase. But when Venus is L.
full it is oue far beyond the sun, about |
168,000,000 miles away. Just before Christe Bier hgae
mas it will be less 4 49,000 100 miles 2 AT Bet
away, and on Jan. 28 its distance will be 2 a
about 26,000,000 miles. Thus, as gets g°.¢ *°
near the “new” phase, it is much larger, — ~
seemingly, in the

That is why it is “brightest when a cree WO
cent. Although less than ha!t of the bright ¥'-
side is visible t ws, its prosimity more a

¢
* %
by

~oh

than makes up para ody
can see fills "the largest area of the sk
Then ia is at the greatest brilliance.
Winter Arrives —

On Dee. 21 the sun, which has apparently
been traveling southward in the sky since
last June, reaches its southernmost point
This is the winter solstice—the beginning
of winter in the Northern Hemisphere—and -
it occurs at 9:49 p. m., EST.

At that Seaiant he ea wit Ge deeaty
over a point near the eastern edge of the
Arunte Desert; which is ia Anstralia, on
the border between Queensland and the
Northern Territory. In Australia, and other
southern countries, the mn will be high
in the sky, marking summer's beginning. — :-
Celestial Time Table for December
Dee, EST + >
3 6:10 p.m.’ All vara x fa Pou)

7 t:16am. Full moon
3 1o:0n pum, Seturn.on far tele of sun, dis -
tamce 1,090,000,007 mules. -
r3 earlyam. Geminid metedr shower, me~
teors apparently radiating item
constellation of Gemua.
mikimght Mooo nearest, distance 130,100
miles.
14 ¥3:452.m. Moon ie ha

tireopm. Veoss at greamat briffencn ' t al
er ner eke ‘s

eRe Pea 2 Nb ag a

se *

Pe ee ,

i. '2 ae

EL eT Te Oe TP aT we OT ee ot pee TE Re eee

"yo C232 (INFORMATION ONLY) 12Dec 57
Cheatham, Canada

Sovwcté . Fayrag SHCEA $! jay 8

MYSTERY SKY OKJFCT t
The OPP is investigating an ui:'-
dentified “flluminated object” which
darted over Eatonville 30 miles east
of Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Dec.
12, 1957. It was headed in the direc-
tion of Windscer. |
Witnesses could give no explana-
tion of the strange sight, but said |

ee

the phenomena was “much brighter
and lower than any star.”

Tt was first spotted about 7 p.m.,
by Mrs. Robert Moore of RR 2, near
Blenheim, She said it drew an arc »
over Eatonvilie and continued in a |
westward direction. a

“At first T thought it was a star
but it was a hundred times brichter.

“It was the size of a football and
appeared quite low in the axky.”

District radar units reported
height at from 35,000 to 40,000 feet.

Const. Ted Wickens of Chatham,
and John McPherson of Ridgetown
OPP were sent to the scene and both
saw the object.

Wickens said he saw the cbject in |
filght for over 20 minutes.

“Tt was far too bright for a meteor |
or star.” )

Telephone lines into OPP head-
quarters In Chatham were fammed
with calis from persons who sighted |
the object and onl defense units
from as far away as Peterboro. |

ne

eae

ced Dl rete ee ee

NO CASE (INFORMATION ONLY) 13 December 1957
SOURCE : FLYING SAUCER MAGAZINE Geliiaviris, Illinois

Coe hd Suet em

—————

>) prdayetinorniing, » December :18,.
~ 3987 (yesterday) at around” "5:00

A.M., 8 strange light: was seen over
- Belleville, Dlinois. About 6 miles.
southeast is located what is known
as Scott Air Base (Army Training’
Base). The time that I had the
pleasure of seeing “object” in ques-
tion was about 8:05 A.M., hovering
very stationary over Collinville, Tli-
nois which city is located about 6 |
:

|

miles North of Belleville.
. At this time, the sun shown so-
clearly upon the “object” (sunrise)
that it appeared:‘as an intense -
SILVER light. It appeared as you |
would hold a silver dollar at arm’s —
length edge toward you and tilt it-
slightly showing its. bottom: erage
Our Government reported this as.

ad weather besarte ws Bae

‘Harold wis. ,

637 N. 9th St. -

' EB. St. Louis, TL. -
t .
tact |
St PR CR eer cams: SPE RS

poet - Sere it rhe oe

diate ery ies et Bi liaise im = Me Gals ae ita

LRN Pe Te eee (Per erate res enter ye hy EPR eee ree

16 - 3) DSCIMEsR 1957 SIGHTINGS

DATE LOCATION OBSERVER EVALUSTION

17 Westchester, New Yori Insufficient Data

17 Atlantic Ocean (5 of Berinuda) -Militery Air Astro (M&aT meee

17 Colorado Springs, Coloredo fstro (wET30R

17 Fruita, Colorado UNIDSNTISIED

17 Sefiner, Florida Insufficient Date

- 18 Atlantic Ocean (W of Gibralter) MHlitery Air Astro (METZOR)

18 ' Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | hircrart

18 “Yakima, Yashington Astro (MSTSOR)

19 Pepperell AFB, Newfoundlanc Military Vis & RADASR Palloon

19 Cena]. Zone, Panama Astro (i#TZOR)

20-21 Teichuns, Formosa Multi (8 sightings) Insufficient Dete

21 Waverly, Iowa Aircraft

21 LaGranze, Georgia Insufficient Data

21 - Daytor, Ohio Astro (METZOR)

21 Fansas City, Missourl Insufficient Date

22 Herforissire, Enzlanc Astro (MTOR)

22 Daytor., Caio Astro (V3NUS)

22 Atlante, Jeorsta Astre (VENUS)

22... BAli, Vyroning fkstre (MST2OR)

22 Sea of Japan (3 of ViL2iivostox) Military Air & RAPAR . Insufficient Date

2) Mariette, Georzta Astro (L@T20R)

25 ~ South Fass, Louisiena ee. Insufficient Data

27 Littleton, New “anpshire -— fstro (VENUS)

2T Palinser, Texas eae, Aircraft

2T Clorxsvizle, Ica uieme - hircraft

2 Livermore Falls, = Es: Aircraft

23° Bligosceth City, Nor Mult fircratt

29 G1) Paso, Zetas Insufficient Data

30 New Orlesns, Louisinr: : : Insufficieat Nata

31 Pariviesw, California Balloon

31 Duluth, Minnescts Civilien Insufficient Dete
ADDITIONAL REPORTED SIGPTINGS (NOT CASES)

DATS. -. LOSATTIOI SOURCE EVALUATION

Dec Universe Seience News Ltr 4

15. Sen tlerces, Eracil Newse lipping

16 Old taybrcok, Connecticut Newselippins

21 Ponta Poran, Srazil Newsel ippin,

30 Drarestown, ew Jersey Newse Lippins

31 Stoceholm, Swecen Space Craft Digest