McKinney, TexasApril 1956

Unidentified

Summary

On April 4, 1956, a civilian at McKinney, Texas, reported one object that was watched for about six hours. The witness was the local Weather Bureau observer, and an amateur astronomer also viewed it through a 200-power telescope. The report was filed under Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

The object was first noted at about 3:15 p.m. and stayed in view until dark. It was located about 7 degrees north of Venus and kept that position as Venus moved west. The object was bright silver with a band around the middle that did not rotate. Through the telescope it looked like translucent rubber, and through a 4-power glass it looked solid. The observer estimated it at great height and over 200 feet across. It glowed in sunlight after the sun had set and disappeared as Venus set.

The Air Force concluded the case was unidentified. The record noted some association with Venus and listed parhelia as a possibility.

Reported location

McKinney, Texas

Date of incident

April 1956

State / country

TX / US

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 25

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

a . 0
[aii PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ;
1. CATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
: 0 Was Balloon
| 4 April 1956 Re , Texas 8) Raobauly Ration
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION sick 8 Ad bbl
De ON Fiprovnd Vi sual 0 Ground-Radar 9 4d
GMT 04/. 211 152 ; D0 Ailsa cope O Air-Intercept Radar D Possibly Aircroft
5. PHOTOS + SOURCE O Was Astronomical
O Yes O Probably Astronomical
Ro | Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
| 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0, Other UNIDENTIFIED
D Insufficient Data for Evaluation
XXUnknown
6 hours | one west
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
| Object observed fm two separate locations through 200X telescope by one
observer & thru 4X glass by other. On¢ observer amature sstronomer,
| other Weather observer at local WX station. Obj subtending one minute
of arc. Located about 7 dgrs to North|of Venus thru/out sighting. Obsvd
| fm 1515 until 2100, As Venus set w/this time, obj disappeared as Venus
set. Also disappeared w/setting of sun, Obj similar to balloon, Bright
silver w/band around middle, Band did |not rotate but had same position
| thru/out sighting, High cirrus clouds |appeared at 1900, Thru TX look8d
| like it was made of translucent rubber, Thru 4X glass looked solid.
Color silver thru/out sighting. Movemgnt w/Venus to West, Upper air
| currents to East, Glowed in sunlight after sun had set,
COMMENT: Unidentified, Some association w/Venus, Possibly parhelia
"ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2) : :
+f.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28965298