Randolph AFB, TexasOctober 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of October 4, 1959, two civilians driving in a car about two miles south of Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, saw a single object for about 25 minutes. One observer worked as an aircraft electronic technician and was considered reliable.

The object was oval-shaped and white, described as fluorescent and about the size of a baseball. It moved very slowly in a southerly direction and stayed in the same general area. There were no maneuvers, no tail, and no sound. It faded slowly from view. The sky was generally clear with thunderstorms and lightning to the north.

Checks with several radar facilities gave negative results, and the preliminary analysis found no probable cause. The Air Force record card concludes the object had the characteristics of a balloon, based on its duration and movement, and lists the case as a probable balloon sighting. This was part of Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

Reported location

Randolph AFB, Texas

Date of incident

October 1959

State / country

TX / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 37

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

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3
: :, Ei : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE {2. LOCATION {12. CONCLUSIONS
A | la Was Balloon
4 Oct 59 | Randolph AFB, Texas 5 Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION Ja Possibyy Bullooh
A ; A 0 Was Aircraft
5 Local Te 8:Ground- Visual Q Ground-Radar |o Probably Aircraft
GMT. Dx/( LORROZ, be 0 AirVisual 0 Air-Intercept Radar Ei Possibly Aircraft
fH 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE i Was Astronomical
: O Yes CO Probably Astronomical
B-No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
8 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE ME [CTE cy pA
- 2 Insufficient Data for Evaluation
Ss 3 i : ! © Unknown ¥
25 mins 7 one southerly
| 4 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Oval shaped white flourescent obj in view Obj view has characteristics of a
for 85 nins. Movement general y Southerly. balloon, Duration and movement of the
: Observers in auto, Disappearanze slow. Sky sighting conform tc this analysis. Wind
; was clear in rea of observation w/thinder- infor not included. Czse listed as a
4 storms to the North. Wind data not included. |probaviec balloon sighting.
: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
4 2 : $ % |
bY . . 5
Pi SEAR sss Si A

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28984830