Ponca City, OklahomaAugust 1958

Insufficient Data

Summary

On August 4, 1958, a civilian woman and her 11-year-old son near Ponca City, Oklahoma, reported an unidentified flying object at 1015Z (about night). They described one round object the size of a basketball held at arm's length, red and orange in color. It had small protrusions of light that went off and on, which reminded the witness of a Fourth of July sparkler. They reported a buzzing sound like a bee that grew louder and softer as the object moved toward and away from them. The object then went straight up at great speed and vanished. It was visible for several minutes.

Weather was fair and clear. The preparing officer felt the witness gave an honest account but said there was not enough information for a factual analysis. The Air Force conclusion on the Project 10073 record card was that no firm conclusion could be reached due to lack of information, but apart from the sound, the details pointed toward an astronomical sighting. Project 10073 was the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

Reported location

Ponca City, Oklahoma

Date of incident

August 1958

State / country

OK / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 33

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

| ua . BR PRY DoT NI RR Sir TGR Wepre ry a BD Te I EL TRA MNINEH IT Mp mt ams Doss Shy amv sg
| |
4
| : A PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
D Was Balloon
4 August 195 Ponc ity kl Rl i +L
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ossibly Bolloon
Loe | EGround-Visual O Ground-Rader 0 Probetly fiverah
GMT 04/1015%Z OQ Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar |O Possibly Aircraft
5. ‘PHOTOS . O Was Astronomical
a Yes O Probably Astronomical
& No | Civili D Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF. OBSERVATION " NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BE IN cic sinatra
: X Xinsufficient Date for Evaluction
‘ 0 Unknown
4 1] i N ° not D' ven
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Red & orange, round obj, size of Cannot conclude due to tack of
basketball, w/small protrusions of necessary info, Eliminating
light similar to 4th of July spark- sound as a factor all other
| ler. Had sound of buzzing of a bee considerations indicate astro
which alternated louder & softer as sighting, Jupiter, Venus, Mars
obj moved toward & away fm obsvr, & Saturn were not setting at
Obj disappeared straight up at a the time, Only astro obj of 1st
tremendous speed, mag in position to causc sight-
ing was Altair at 250dgr azimuth
however, no firm conclusion can
be reached,
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
ig
Ee dion cine coi ui

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28979210