Santa Monica, CaliforniaDecember 1956

Unidentified

Summary

On December 10, 1956, a policeman in Santa Monica, California, reported two objects. The sighting was logged under Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports. The objects were bright grey blue, flat, and circular, about the size of ping pong balls.

The two objects flew very fast in a straight line and in trail. They passed out of sight in three to five seconds. The sky was clear and visibility was good. There was no sound and no trail. A senior director at the reporting unit said the objects were probably a falling star or a comet with a tail.

Based on the description, the short time, and the way the objects vanished, the Air Force concluded the sighting was caused by a meteor.

Reported location

Santa Monica, California

Date of incident

December 1956

State / country

CA / US

Page count

2 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 2

View transcribed text

{ \ |
: a |
t t f
i PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
; O Was Bolloon
) __10 December 1956 Santa Monica, California |Q Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION NRE Yes 9aN
local | 3BGround-Visual 0 Ground-Radar HEEL
: GMT 10/08287Z : D Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar DO Possibly Aircraft
i 5. PHOTOS + SOURCE HXWas Astronomical MEtOOT
§ 0 Yes a] Lrabably Astronamise
3 XR No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomica
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0); OTR FE es dae wa
| 0 Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
i 0 Unknown
three to five sec | = twa | strai
4 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS /
Two bright grey blue flat circular Description, duration, manner
p objs, size of ping pong balls, Objs of disappearance indicate |
J moved extremely fast on straight sighting was caused by meteor.
] flight path, Obj passed out of
i sight in 3 to 5 seconds.
: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
| a)
ii 3 3
i! Rk dad pase A i di bia) Prt

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28968584