---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1953-10-6982109-Mapleton-Maine.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ [Note: Primary form is FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TDE), not the standard ATIC Form 329 (REV 26 SEP 52). Field numbering on the FTD form differs from the ATIC standard and is mapped to the ATIC structure below. A 1953 case filed on a form not issued until September 1963.] FIELD 1 -- DATE: 30 October 1953 [FTD form Field 1 appears to read "20 October 53" but the associated teletype unambiguously dates the incident to 30 OCT 53. Probable misread of "30" as "20" due to document degradation.] FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Mapleton, Maine FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: 30/0030Z (from FTD form Field 1) [Teletype paragraph 4A cites 30/2230Z/OCT 53. Discrepancy between form and teletype is unresolved in the record. See analysis.] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] [FTD form: "Ground-Visual 8X" -- 8-power field glasses utilized. Confirmed in teletype para 3B.] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: Civilian FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: 1 Hour (approx; see analysis) FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: Three FIELD 9 -- COURSE: North (with occasional triangular deviations from straight course) FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: [FTD Field 11 combines brief summary and analysis. Transcribed verbatim from primary form:] Two round objects emitted a dark green glow which changed to white with green-blue fringe. Objects traveled on a straight N course with occasional triangular deviations. Third object trailed the first two. Third object had a blue flaming trail. No sound. Objects at 60 deg elevation 150 deg azimuth moving to 80 deg elevation 90 deg azimuth in one hour. General direction South to North with occasional erratic movements. Observed through 8X RX [8-power field glasses]. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: [No separate ATIC Field 11 equivalent on FTD form. Physical evidence: No (FTD Field 9; no direct ATIC equivalent in template). Additional detail available in November 3, 1953 teletype -- see supplemental document catalog below.] FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [ ] Other: [specify] [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [X] Unidentified [FTD form Field 10: "UNIDENTIFIED"] Form: FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TDE) [Standard ATIC Form 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) absent from this file. Case supplemented by a two-page teletype from Presque Isle AFB dated 3 November 1953.] ================================================================ SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ================================================================ Doc 1: FTD Form 0-329 (TDE) -- carbon copy PDF page 2. Severely degraded duplicate of primary form. No additional readable data beyond page 1. Doc 2: Teletype JEPSN 10, 3 November 1953, page 1 From: COMDR Flight 3-G, 4602D AISS, Presque Isle AFB ME To: JEDEN/COMDR ADC, Ent AFB, Colorado Springs CO JEDUP/COMDR ATIC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio JEPHQ/COMDR Dir of Intelligence, USAF HQ, Washington 25 DC JEPSN/COMDR Dir of Intelligence, 32d Air Div, Hancock Field, Syracuse NY JEDEN/COMDR 4602D AISS, Ent AFB, Colorado Springs Sender: [name redacted] Re: F3G 4602D AISS K-1 UFOB Ref: TWX this flight J-23, dated 30 OCT 53, para 6, AFR 200-2 Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Provides supplemental information per AFR 200-2 format: 1(A) Round in shape. 1(B) When first observed: softball size. At closest distance: small pumpkin size. 1(C) Dark green glow changing to white with green-blue fringe. 1(D) Three objects. 1(E) Two abreast; one trailing behind. 1(F) Blue diagonal line across the object. 1(G) Bluish flame trailing behind the last object. 1(H) Negative -- no sound. 1(I) Negative -- no unusual features. 2(A) Movement. 2(B) Approx 60 degrees elevation, 122 degrees azimuth. 2(C) Approx 80 degrees elevation, 92 degrees azimuth. 2(D) General direction south to north... [continues] Doc 3: Teletype JEPSN 10A, 3 November 1953, page 2 (PAGE TWO JEPSN 10A -- continuation of Doc 2) 2(D) cont: ...with occasional triangular deviations from the straight course. 2(E) Blinked out. 2(F) Approx one hour. 3(A) Ground visual. 3(B) Eight-power field glasses utilized. 3(C) Negative. 4(A) 30/2230Z/OCT 53. 4(B) Night. 5 GEOREF MKGB 5241. 5(A) [Redacted]; age 16; Mapleton, Maine; Student; Reliability: Unknown. [Redacted]; [Redacted]; Maine; Student; Reliability: Unknown. [Two civilian observers, both students, Mapleton Maine. One is 16 years old. Both names redacted in source document.] 7(A) Windy; clear weather; stars visible. 7(B-F) [Partially illegible; references data identical with TWX this flight no J-27.] 8 S/SGT [illegible] and A/1C MUTH, members Det 17, 12th Weather Squadron, PIAFB, released a 32-grain weather balloon with flask light battery EA-253/U at approx 0225Z/30 OCT 53 to test wind velocity. Eleven theodolite readings were taken within approx 15 minutes before the lights disappeared suddenly. 9 Negative. 10 Ref TWX this flt no J-27, 4602D AISS. 11 Unknown. 12 Officer in Charge, Flight 3-G, 4602D AISS: cause of the sighting UNDETERMINED. Timestamp: 02/1551Z NOV JEPSN Doc 4: Teletype -- carbon copy PDF page 5. Severely degraded duplicate of Doc 3. No additional readable data. ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Mapleton Maine Aroostook-County northeastern-Maine 1953 October 1950s civilian student teenager two-witnesses unknown-reliability round sphere dark-green white green-blue blue-flame formation two-abreast trailing erratic triangular-deviation north course disappearing-suddenly blinking field-glasses 8x-binoculars no-sound night clear-weather stars-visible windy Presque-Isle-AFB PIAFB 4602D-AISS 12th-weather-squadron Det-17 weather-balloon flask-light EA-253 theodolite unidentified cause-undetermined GEOREF-MKGB5241 JEPSN AFR-200-2 ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- The FTD Form 0-329 carries the conclusion "UNIDENTIFIED." The officer in charge of Flight 3-G, 4602D AISS at Presque Isle AFB stated the same in plainer language in the November 3, 1953 teletype: "CAUSE OF THE SIGHTING UNDETERMINED." Notably, that same message documents that Air Force weather personnel released a lighted weather balloon in the area during the observation period, and the investigating officer still declined to attribute the sighting to it. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- Two unnamed civilian students -- one aged 16 -- reported watching three luminous objects from Mapleton, Maine on the night of October 30, 1953. Observed through 8-power field glasses for approximately one hour, the objects moved generally south to north at elevations ranging from about 60 to 80 degrees, with occasional triangular deviations from an otherwise straight course. Two objects traveled abreast; a third trailed behind. No sound was reported. Weather was windy but clear, with stars visible -- good conditions for optical observation. The color description is specific and internally consistent: dark green initially, transitioning to white with a green-blue fringe. The trailing third object showed a blue diagonal line across its body and a bluish flame behind it. Observers estimated size as softball-like at first observation, closing to small-pumpkin size at nearest approach -- suggesting the objects were at some distance and closing slightly before departing. The critical context is paragraph 8 of the teletype. Weather personnel from Det 17, 12th Weather Squadron at Presque Isle AFB released a 32-grain balloon fitted with a flask light battery (EA-253/U) at approximately 0225Z on October 30 to measure wind velocity. Eleven theodolite readings were taken within approximately 15 minutes before the lights disappeared suddenly. A date-time group discrepancy runs through the file. The FTD form gives 30/0030Z for the incident DTG; the teletype paragraph 4A gives 30/2230Z/OCT 53. These cannot both be correct and neither is reconciled in the record. The 0030Z reading -- about 7:30 PM Eastern Standard Time -- is more consistent with the balloon release timeline than 2230Z (5:30 PM EST), and is the reading taken as primary here pending clarification. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The count is the core problem with a simple balloon explanation. One weather balloon with a flask light accounts for one illuminated object drifting north on the wind. It does not account for two additional objects in a specific formation -- two abreast and one trailing -- nor for distinct visual characteristics attributed separately to each: a shared glow transition on the lead pair, and a blue diagonal marking plus trailing flame on the third. Whether 8-power field glasses in variable wind conditions could produce apparent multiplication or fragmentation of a single light source is a legitimate question the record does not address. The theodolite connection is the most intriguing element in the file. Air Force weather personnel were actively tracking something through a precision optical instrument in the same general area at the same time the observers reported the lights disappearing suddenly. A natural comparison exists: the theodolite data on the balloon's position at each of those eleven readings could theoretically be checked against the observers' reported elevations and azimuths. No such comparison appears in this file. Whether it was performed and exists elsewhere in Project Blue Book holdings is unknown. The file references an earlier teletype, J-27, from the same flight unit at Presque Isle AFB. That document apparently contains related observations or data on this same event and is not included here. It may resolve some of the ambiguity, or document a corroborating sighting. Both observers were teenagers of unknown reliability -- an honest and appropriate rating. Their description is notable for its specificity and internal consistency, including numbered objects with distinct individual characteristics. That level of detail is not typical of casually fabricated accounts, though it remains unverifiable without the observers' statements. BOTTOM LINE ----------- The UNIDENTIFIED classification is defensible. The weather balloon is a serious candidate the investigating officer was aware of and did not use as a definitive explanation -- and that restraint looks reasonable. Three objects in a specific formation with distinct individual characteristics do not map cleanly onto one balloon. The sudden disappearance coinciding with the end of theodolite tracking is genuinely interesting, but the correlation needed to close that gap is absent from this file. Without the referenced J-27 teletype or the theodolite position data cross-referenced against observer- reported directions, the case remains legitimately unresolved on the evidence available here. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------