---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1956-09-7070630-Dallas-Texas.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: 4 September 1956 FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Dallas, Texas [Teletype specifies observation points at Hensley Field (NAS Dallas), Grand Prairie, Texas, and Dallas, Texas.] FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local [blank on form] GMT 05/0300Z [Central Daylight Time (CDT = UTC-5) in Texas, September 1956: 0300Z = approximately 10:00 PM CDT on September 4. Nighttime observation. Carbon copy shows "0255Z" -- minor 5-minute discrepancy from primary form's 0300Z; probable transcription error on the carbon.] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] [Reporting unit, 745th AC&W Squadron at Duncanville, TX, was an Air Defense Command radar station. No radar contact noted in this file despite the unit's radar capability.] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: Military & Civilian FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: 23 minutes FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: One FIELD 9 -- COURSE: West FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: One object star shaped, size of dime. Color white changing to red. Object was stationary at 20,000 ft for 20 minutes and then began moving west at about 200 knots. Object seen at Grand Prairie, Texas & Dallas, Texas. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: Object moving West against prevailing winds, ruling out balloon. Stationary for 20 minutes indicates possible astro body. Disappearance at 330dgr azimuth and initial observation at 080dgr azimuth indicates large lateral movement. Unidentified. FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [X] Other: UNIDENTIFIED [written into Other field on form] [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [X] Unknown Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) ================================================================ SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ================================================================ Doc 1: ATIC Form 329 -- carbon copy PDF page 2. Degraded duplicate. Time shows "0255Z" vs primary form's "0300Z" -- 5-minute discrepancy, probable copying error. Doc 2: Teletype routing/cover page, 6 September 1956 PDF page 3. Handwritten annotations: "Multi"; "05/0300Z"; "ACTION"; "1/4E4 16"; "3 Atts" Receipt stamp: 6 Sep 56 / 07 31 From: COMDR 745TH ACWSON [AC&W Squadron] DUNCANVILLE TEX [Duncanville, Texas -- Air Defense Command radar station southwest of Dallas] To: RJTPNT/DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE HEDUSAF WASH DC JEDEN/COMDR ADC ENT AFB COLO JEDWP/COMDR AIR TECHNICAL INTELL CEN WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB OHIO OJTRM/COMDR 33D AIRDIV OKCITY AFB OKLA Subject: FLAT INTEL S 9-7. SUBJ: UFOB. Message: DE RJWFNW 20 Doc 3: Teletype body, RJWFNW 20, pages 1-3 PDF pages 4-5. Largely degraded but key data recovered. AFR 200-2 structured data (partial reconstruction): Shape: [illegible; form summary: star shaped] Color: WHITE CHANGING TO RED Other description fields: N/A, N/A, NEGATIVE, NO SOUND, NEGATIVE [PAGE TWO RJWFNW 20]: Change in color: [confirmed] Initial position: 080 degrees azimuth from Hensley Tower at approximately 20,000 ft Final position: 330 degrees azimuth from Hensley Tower at approximately 20,000 ft Movement: OBJECT WAS STATIONARY AT 20,000 FT FOR ABOUT 20 MIN THEN BEGAN MOVING WEST AT A SPEED OF ABOUT 200 KNOTS Manner of disappearance: HORIZON [disappeared over] Duration: APPROX 23 MIN Observation method: VISUAL Instrumentation: N/A Electronics: N/A [Observer identification -- partially illegible]: LSSMI/P [?] RDF 58 [?] Period: NIGHT Locations: AT HENSLEY [FIELD], GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS AND DALLAS, TEXAS, HENSLEY TOWER [and further listed locations including a reference to: TO HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, O/A 6 SEP 56] [PAGE THREE RJWFNW 20]: Weather: A. CLEAR, GOOD VIS; B. UNLIMITED [ceiling]; C. UNLIMITED; D. 15 MI [visibility] E-G: NONE; S: NONE 10. LIGHT TO MODERATE [possibly turbulence or winds] 11. AD/2 TERRY HAS 13 YRS EXP AS ACFT MECHANIC AND 2 YRS AS A TOWER OPERATOR Transmission timestamp: 5/1712Z SEP RJWFNW Doc 4: Teletype body -- degraded copies PDF page 6. Near-illegible duplicate of Doc 3. No additional readable data. ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Dallas Texas Grand-Prairie Hensley-Field NAS-Dallas Duncanville 1956 September 1950s military civilian multiple-observers tower-operator aircraft-mechanic experienced-observer reliable star-shaped dime white red color-change stationary 20000-feet 20-minutes 200-knots west azimuth-080 azimuth-330 large-lateral nighttime ground-visual no-radar no-sound no-photos 23-minutes 745th-ACWSQ Air-Defense-Command ADC wind-ruling-out-balloon astronomical-ruled-out UFOB teletype unidentified unknown ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- UNIDENTIFIED, with both the written-in Other field and the Unknown checkbox marked. The Field 11 comments stand out for the analytical work they contain: the evaluator explicitly worked through two alternative explanations, found both inadequate, and stated why before landing on Unidentified. This is a more engaged evaluation than the file format typically permits. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- At approximately 10:00 PM on September 4, 1956, observers at Hensley Field (NAS Dallas, Grand Prairie, Texas) and in Dallas itself watched a single star-shaped object, dime-sized in apparent diameter, hold stationary at approximately 20,000 feet for about 20 minutes before moving westward at roughly 200 knots. Color was white initially, changing to red. The object was first observed at approximately 080 degrees azimuth from Hensley Tower and last seen at approximately 330 degrees azimuth -- a bearing change of 250 degrees -- before disappearing over the horizon. Total observation: 23 minutes. Sky conditions: clear, good visibility, unlimited ceiling. The key witness identified in the teletype is AD/2 Terry, a military airman at Hensley Field with 13 years' experience as an aircraft mechanic and 2 years as a tower operator. This is a highly qualified aviation observer who spends working days around aircraft and routinely tracks them in the sky. The report also references civilian observers at Dallas and additional location coverage extending toward Houston, though those accounts are not individually documented in this file. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The Field 11 comments are the most valuable element of this file. The evaluator explicitly eliminated the balloon hypothesis on the basis of wind direction -- the object moved west against prevailing winds, which is behavior a free balloon cannot produce. The astronomical body hypothesis was considered and initially supported by the 20-minute stationary period (stars and planets appear fixed on short timescales), but eliminated by the subsequent 200-knot movement (no astronomical body accelerates to 200 knots). Having systematically worked through the most obvious candidates, the evaluator settled on Unidentified. The 250-degree azimuth change is the detail that most resists a simple explanation. At 20,000 feet altitude, a 250-degree bearing change from a fixed observation point represents an enormous horizontal displacement -- the object would have had to travel many tens of miles to shift that far in bearing. This is consistent with the 200-knot speed estimate over the approximately 3 minutes of movement phase (after the 20-minute stationary period), which at 200 knots would cover roughly 10 miles -- enough to account for significant azimuth change at that altitude. The 745th AC&W Squadron at Duncanville was an Air Defense Command radar station. Its role in forwarding this report under AFR 200-2 is procedurally normal, but the absence of any radar data in the file is notable. Whether the 745th held any radar contact during this period and chose not to report it, or whether the object was below radar detection threshold or in a blind spot, is not determinable from this file. An Air Defense radar station with an unidentified aerial contact in its coverage area would typically attempt radar tracking; the visual-only record here leaves that question open. The color change from white to red is consistent with several phenomena: an aircraft's navigation lights seen from changing angles, a receding object against a darkening sky background, or altitude-related atmospheric effects on a bright light source. It does not by itself eliminate or support any particular explanation. BOTTOM LINE ----------- The evaluator's own analytical work makes this case more transparent than most. Balloon was considered and eliminated on wind data. Astronomical body was considered and eliminated on subsequent movement. What remains is an object tracked for 23 minutes by qualified aviation observers, stationary for most of that period, then moving west at aircraft speeds against the wind, with a bearing change that implies significant distance traveled. The UNIDENTIFIED conclusion is defensible and arrived at through a process the record shows rather than simply asserts. The missing piece is radar: a filing from a radar station with no radar data is a gap worth noting. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------