---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1955-06-6964445-KENNEWICK-WASHINGTON.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: About June 1955 (approximately June 1, 1955 per FBI report) FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Kennewick, Washington FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local 2200 / GMT [not recorded] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: Civilian FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: Not given FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: One (1) FIELD 9 -- COURSE: Not given FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: Large, shiny metal ball appeared low over observer. Came to a stop, then left with a high rate of speed. States he heard "chug chug" sound. Reported to FBI who forwarded it to AF OSI. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: Object reported 1yr after sighting. Too old to investigate. Witness "Saucer" enthusiast. Unreliable report. FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [X] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [X] Other: Unreliable Rpt [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [ ] Unknown [NOTE: Both "Possibly Balloon" and "Other: Unreliable Report" are marked -- dual classification, consistent with investigative language concluding the object was probably a balloon while also labeling the source unreliable.] Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) ================================================================ SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ================================================================ FBI LETTER, SEATTLE FIELD OFFICE, 12 June 1956 (File 100-18945): From: R. D. Auerbach, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Seattle. To: Col. Spencer W. Raynor, USAF, District Commander, 20th District, OSI, McChord AFB, Washington. Re: Unidentified Flying Objects. Information furnished to Special Agent Clement W. Parkhurst, resident agent, Richland, Washington, on June 1, 1956: Sgt. Gordon Richardson, Kennewick Police Department, stated he has been interested in flying saucers for several years and has read everything available on the subject. He prefaced his remarks by acknowledging it sounds like a "nut complaint" but assured the FBI it was not. He considers the information of utmost importance to U.S. defense. He never told fellow officers because "they never pay any attention to what he says." Sighting account: About a year ago, on night shift, at approximately 10 PM, at 1st and Washington streets, Kennewick. A large, shining, metal ball approximately 30 feet in diameter swooshed in from the West at 200-300 feet altitude or less, traveling at a high rate of speed. When it got about three blocks east of Washington Street it came to a complete stop. It had left a trail of fire until it stopped, then emitted no fire or smoke. Richardson described it as perfectly spherical and shiny metal. While stationary, he heard a "chug chug" sound like a tractor engine -- apparently an internal combustion engine. The ball stood still several minutes then departed at great speed -- disappearing from sight in a matter of seconds. A different engine type (jet) was apparently used for departure. No fire or smoke on leaving. Richardson's analysis: The builders have mastered gravity. The object was either Russian or from "some outerspace planet." Flying too low for radar detection, too fast for interception by any U.S. device. Uses "likes attract and positives repel" principle with "electron beams or some other natural phenomena such as light waves." No other witnesses known. Richardson notes his police training makes him a skilled observer. FBI closing: No investigation by FBI. No objection to AF investigation and interview of Richardson. Handwritten annotation on letter: "Opinion: Balloon, plus highly -- over-active imagination." OSI LETTER, 20th DISTRICT, McChord AFB, 19 June 1956 (20D OSI 2h-O): Col. Spencer W. Raynor, District Commander. Forwards FBI letter to 25th Air Division (Defense). Action note: "Turned over to 4602 AISS Flt 1-A per telephone conversation w/ Sgt Francis 20 Jun 56 (1000)." DISPOSITION FORM, Flt 1-A, 4602d AISS, 21 June 1956: Capt. Leland R. Kirk, Officer in Charge. To: Comdr 4602d AISS, Ent AFB, Colorado, ATTN: AISOC. No preliminary investigation made due to age of report. OSI LETTER, 20th DISTRICT, McChord AFB, 23 Oct 1956 (20D OSI 24-O-232): Col. Spencer W. Raynor. References FBI letter of 17 Oct 56. Suggests matter be referred to 4602d AISS to contact Richardson and obtain his information. FBI LETTER, SEATTLE FIELD OFFICE, 17 October 1956: R. D. Auerbach, Special Agent in Charge. Reports that Richardson has contacted the FBI Senior Resident Agent in Richland "a number of times" since the original reporting. He is "most anxious to talk to a representative of the Air Force" and says he has new theories (not new observations) to share. His contacts continue to be forwarded to OSI. 1st INDORSEMENT, HQ 25th Air Division (Defense), McChord AFB, 25 Oct 1956: Signed by John Salarski [?], CWO, USAF, Asst. Adjutant. Forwards to Commander, Flt 1-A, 4602d AISS. DISPOSITION FORM, Flt 1-A, 4602d AISS, 2 Nov 1956: Capt. Arnold F. Von Marbod, Officer in Charge. Requests 4602d AISS guidance on whether to interview Richardson. If interview authorized, requests Von Marbod be put on orders to accomplish it. ATIC ROUTING AND COORDINATION SHEETS (ATIC Form 144), Dated 20 Nov 1956 / 5 Dec 1956: From: AISOC, Hq 4602d AISS, 20 Nov 56. To: ATIC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, ATTN: AFOIN-4X4. Since no formal UFOB report had been filed, investigation had not been authorized. ATIC analysis (AFOIN routing, 5 Dec 1956): 1a. One year delay -- impossible to investigate. 1b. Object described as large, at low altitude over a large summer town at night -- odd that no others reported it. 1c. Yakima, WA (approx. 75 miles NW of Kennewick) has an established U.S. weather bureau balloon-launching station; balloons launched every six hours. 1d. Nine to ten military airdromes between Yakima and Kennewick, all normally launching scheduled or unscheduled balloons. 1e. Radiosonde balloons at night are 7-20 feet in diameter; carry white running lights giving metallic sheen when light reflects on the balloon surface. 1f. General wind direction on night of sighting was east-southeast. Balloons can remain at low altitude, zigzag, or stop before rising again or dropping. 1g. Richardson is a "flying saucer enthusiast" who has "read everything" on the subject. CONCLUSION: "Our conclusions strongly suggest that the object observed was a balloon." CHARACTER ASSESSMENT: From a review of all material on file, Richardson "not only has a highly-active imagination and an apparently strong belief in so-called 'flying saucers,' but that he will continue making a nuisance of himself to the FBI and other USAF units." Recommended he be informed: a. Report to AF units, not FBI. b. His Kennewick information is in the data program. c. "In a rather firm manner" -- as a law officer he knows delayed reports have limited investigative value. e. USAF questionnaire and Form 164-A to be sent; personal interview desirable to "study or make some observation of the type of personality involved." Signed: WALLACE W. ELWOOD, 1st Lt, USAF, Asst. Adjutant ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Kennewick Washington Benton-County Tri-Cities 1955 June civilian unreliable metal-ball 30-feet shiny spherical chug-chug internal-combustion 200-300-feet trail-of-fire high-speed complete-stop 1st-and-Washington FBI OSI McChord-AFB 25th-Air-Division 4602d-AISS Ent-AFB ATIC flying-saucer-enthusiast one-year-delay Yakima balloon radiosonde Hanford-Site nuclear police-sergeant Gordon-Richardson serial-contact east-southeast-wind saucer-enthusiast possibly-balloon ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- Possibly Balloon, with a concurrent Other: Unreliable Report. The UNRELIABLE tag derives from the one-year reporting delay, Richardson's self-identified status as a flying saucer enthusiast, and his subsequent pattern of persistent contact with the FBI. The Possibly Balloon conclusion is supported by ATIC's analysis citing regional balloon launch activity from Yakima and multiple military airdromes. The FBI field agent who received the original report annotated it: "Opinion: Balloon, plus highly -- over-active imagination." No on-site investigation was conducted. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- The sighting account -- delivered to the FBI one year after the event -- is specific, internally structured, and self-consistent. Richardson placed himself at a named street intersection (1st and Washington, Kennewick) on night police shift at approximately 10 PM. He described a 30-foot shiny metal sphere arriving from the west at 200-300 feet altitude trailing fire, coming to a complete stop three blocks east of Washington Street, hovering for several minutes with an audible "chug chug" sound he compared to a tractor engine, then departing at extreme speed with no fire or smoke and an apparent transition to jet-type propulsion. The level of procedural, sequential detail -- trail of fire during approach, no fire when stationary, no fire on departure, two distinct acoustic signatures at different phases -- is atypical of a fabricated or confused account. The balloon analysis from ATIC is thorough but not without problems. The most significant is a wind direction inconsistency. ATIC reported wind from east-southeast on the night of the sighting. Wind from the east-southeast would carry an object toward the west-northwest, not from the west as Richardson described. A balloon originating in the Yakima area to the northwest would also not be consistent with easterly winds. If anything, the wind direction cited by ATIC is inconsistent with a westward-origin balloon account. The analysis does not address this discrepancy. The stop-and-hover behavior also sits awkwardly with the balloon hypothesis: radiosonde balloons ascending at 600-1200 feet per minute do not execute deliberate horizontal stops three blocks east of a specific street corner. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- No one mentioned Hanford. Kennewick is one of the Tri-Cities, across the Columbia River from the Hanford Site -- at the time the primary U.S. plutonium production facility and the largest nuclear weapons complex in the world. Richardson's account places the object at low altitude, traveling from the west (directly from the Hanford reservation direction), stopping over Kennewick, and departing at speed. That this observation was made by a police sergeant on night duty in one of the most security- sensitive corridors in the United States generated zero engagement with the Hanford context in any of the eight documents in the file. The investigators discussed Yakima balloon launches, regional airdromes, and Richardson's enthusiasms. They did not discuss the world's largest nuclear weapons facility two miles from the observation point. Richardson's persistent follow-up contact with the FBI is cited against him by ATIC. The same behavior is consistent with a genuine witness who cannot get anyone to take his report seriously. He prefaced his original statement by acknowledging it sounds like a "nut complaint" -- not the framing of someone seeking attention. He had kept the information for a year, had not discussed it with colleagues because they would dismiss it, and specifically sought out federal law enforcement as the party most likely to take him seriously. That is a coherent, if unconventional, reporting path for someone who believes they have witnessed something important. ATIC's character assessment -- recommending a personal interview to "study or make some observation of the type of personality involved" -- is the most patronizing language in the UNRELIABLE corpus so far. The intent is clearly to profile Richardson rather than to evaluate his account. The questionnaire was to be sent "for completeness of file," not because the investigators believed it would yield useful data. BOTTOM LINE ----------- The UNRELIABLE classification is applied on legitimate grounds: one-year delay, self-identified enthusiast, persistent contact that the institutions found irritating. These are real credibility factors. The balloon conclusion is plausible given the regional context but has a wind direction problem that was not addressed, and the stop-and-hover detail resists the radiosonde model in any straightforward way. What this case contributes to the UNRELIABLE corpus is a reminder that the tag can be applied to suppress a report that might otherwise require inconvenient engagement. Investigating a 30-foot metallic sphere that hovered over Kennewick in 1955 would have raised questions about Hanford. The investigators chose Yakima balloons instead. That may be the correct answer. But the record does not show the question was asked. POST-FILE FLAGS: - Sgt. Gordon Richardson, Kennewick Police Department, is named explicitly throughout multiple FBI and USAF documents. His name, occupation, department, city, and patrol location are all documented. He is not redacted anywhere in the file. This is the most extensively named civilian observer in the UNRELIABLE corpus so far. He voluntarily approached the FBI, so the disclosure originates with him, but his name appears repeatedly in military investigative documents. - Col. Spencer W. Raynor (20th District, OSI), Capt. Leland R. Kirk (Flt 1-A, 4602d AISS), Capt. Arnold F. Von Marbod (Flt 1-A, 4602d AISS), R.D. Auerbach (FBI Seattle SAC), and Clement W. Parkhurst (FBI Richland resident agent) all appear in official capacity. Standard institutional disclosure. - The sighting date is imprecise: Field 1 says "About June 1955." The FBI report gives approximately June 1, 1955 as the date (sighting was "about a year" before June 1, 1956 contact). - ATIC wind direction inconsistency noted: ESE wind would drive a balloon toward WNW, not from the west as described. This is not addressed in the analysis. - No questionnaire (ATIC Form 164) appears in the file; the recommended personal interview with Richardson apparently did not occur, or the results are not preserved here. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------