Jacksonville, FloridaJuly 1950

Unidentified

Summary

On July 13, 1950, in the afternoon, a crowd of civilians at the courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida, watched a shiny object high in the sky. The case is part of Project 10073, the Air Force's official record system for unidentified flying object reports. About a half hundred people gathered to look.

The object was a shiny aluminum pinpoint, too high for its features to be seen clearly, but it appeared round. Two jet planes passed well below it, and their wingspan looked about twice the diameter of the object. It seemed to hover in one spot while slowly drifting upward until it vanished. It gave off no fiery jets and made no noise.

Some onlookers guessed it might be a large weather observation balloon. The Air Force checked the position and concluded the object was the planet Venus, which was visible in that part of the sky during daytime hours. The record lists the conclusion as astronomical, Venus. The file also includes an internal memo about a separate Vandalia, Ohio, sighting on July 14, 1950.

Reported location

Jacksonville, Florida

Date of incident

July 1950

State / country

FL / US

Page count

6 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 7

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 6

View transcribed text

a Tn .
| |
.® - PROJECT 10073 RECORD
1. DATE « TIME GROUP 2, LO" TION BE
13 July 1950 13/20452 Jac«sonville, Florida
3. SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION
Civilian . ASTRO (VENUS) | :
"Wo. or Some Coservation of VENUS during daylight hecurs, VENUS in the
C:e reported positicn of tha object, : |
S. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION |[11. pd SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
. Object was a shiny aluminum "pin-point". Two jet planes pass@d
several hours well beneath it and their wing span seemed about twice the
6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION diameter of the sphere. Observers guessed the chject might
visual have been a large weather observation balloon. It apparently
ground hovered in one spot, laterally, vhile slowly drifting upward nti:
7. COURSE it disappeared from view, Object emitted no fiery jets or
Static noise of any kind. : : |
6. PHOTOS |
O Yes
XX Ne :
} 9 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
0 Yes i ;
Se :
FORM |
FTD sep 63 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form may be used. N
E. FT RRC i ld |

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28938031