---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1952-09-6383128-Rabat-FrenchMorocco.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: 9 September 1952 [Card date field partially illegible in scan; first character reads consistently with "9"; month field ambiguous but confirmed 9 September 1952 by all supplemental documents] FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Rabat, French Morocco FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local [not recorded] / GMT 2100 [Teletype gives event window as 2100-2115 GMT; Air Intelligence Report gives 2100-2110Z -- minor end-time discrepancy between documents (2115 vs 2110); local time not recorded on card or teletype] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] [No checkbox visibly marked on card in this scan; all supplemental documents confirm ground-visual observation from witness's residence] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: [not legible on card] [Supplemental documents identify source as COLOSIMO -- see name flag note below -- civilian DAF, Directorate of Intelligence, HQ 5th Air Div] FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: 5 seconds FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: [not recorded on card] [Teletype and AI Report describe one disc-shaped object displaying 8 white lights in formation] FIELD 9 -- COURSE: [not recorded on card] [Supplemental: heading NW, turning W to SW] FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: Disc shaped. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: [Blank or illegible on card; see supplemental documents for full account] FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [ ] Other: [X] Insufficient data for evaluation [X] Unidentified [The "Unknown" checkbox appears to contain a typed lowercase "x" (possibly "xx") -- a deliberate typewritten entry rather than an erasure artifact or handwritten mark. Status of the "Insufficient Data for Evaluation" checkbox is less clear in this scan; the Unknown / Unidentified classification appears to be the operative one as entered.] Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) [Record card appears twice in the file bundle; the second rendering is lower quality and adds no additional readable content.] Supplemental documents present: -- OPERATIONAL IMMEDIATE teletype, two copies (CY-1 and CY-2), from 5TH AIRDIV RABAT FR MOROCCO, dated 10/2140Z SEP [10 September 1952, 2140Z]. Distributed to: CS USAF WASHDC/DIR INTELL; AIC WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB OHIO (ATIAA-2C); ADC ENT AFB COLO SP/DIR INTELL; CINCUSAFE WIESBADEN GERM/DIR INTELL; SAC OFFUTT AFB NEBR/DIR INTELL. Subject designator: FLYOBRPT / FLYCSRPT [flying object report]. -- Second teletype version (JFMUC 23), dated 10/1515Z SEP, routing through JRCP JFPNC JFCNP JFDEN JFPSU JFCNI. Content largely consistent with CY-1/CY-2; minor textual variants noted (see analysis). -- AF Form 112 Air Intelligence Information Report, Report No. 5-31C-11, Country: French Morocco, Place of Report: French Morocco, From: Directorate of Intelligence, Hq 5th Air Div, Date of Information: 9 September 1952, Date of Report: 10 September 1952, Eval: F-6 [source reliability cannot be judged; information truth cannot be judged], Prepared by: 1st Lt. Trenn R. Adams [or Trenn B. Adams -- middle initial unclear], USAF. Approved by: Col. [name partially illegible], USAF, Director of Intelligence; and Glenn D. Adams, 1st Lt., USAF, Asst Chief, Programs Division. Four pages: Part I: Cover / header / preparing officer comments Part II: Narrative account from source Part III: Witness illustration of object -- scan too degraded for content description Part IV: Hand-drawn map: Atlantic coastline, observer position (circled), first sighting point, route of object (arrow NW then curving W/SW), labeled "APPROX 5 SEC" duration [Flag -- unredacted names: COLOSIMO: the civilian DAF witness; named in teletype body. All AI Report references to the witness are redacted; COLOSIMO's name appears unmasked in the operational teletype copies. TRENN R. ADAMS: Preparing Officer (official capacity). GLENN D. ADAMS: Asst Chief, Programs Division (signing officer, official capacity). Col. [illegible]: Director of Intelligence (signing officer, official capacity). Recommend masodo review COLOSIMO identification before publication.] ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Rabat French-Morocco Morocco 1952 September 1950s disc-shaped disc-shape disc eight-lights 8-lights white-lights formation ground-visual civilian-DAF intelligence-directorate 5th-Air-Division 5AD T-33 jet-trainer speed-estimate NW-heading northwest west southwest soundless no-radar Air-Intelligence-Information-Report AF-Form-112 FLYOBRPT FLYCSRPT operational-immediate Cazes-Airdrome Casablanca CINCUSAFE SAC ATIC ATIAA unidentified insufficient-data 5-seconds brief-observation F-6-evaluation fog-mist naval-aircraft-carrier-experience illustration sketch map ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- The "Unknown" (Unidentified) checkbox on the record card appears to carry a typed lowercase "x" -- a cleaner and more deliberate classification entry than the erasure situation observed on the LaCrosse card. This case was typed in as Unidentified. The AI Report's F-6 evaluation rating -- source reliability and information truth both indeterminate -- sits in some tension with that conclusion: ATIC could not evaluate the source or the information, yet the card carries a positive Unidentified entry. No formal analytical judgment appears in the file. The data was collected and the box was typed, but the reasoning that connected the two was never written down. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- On the evening of 9 September 1952, at approximately 2100 GMT, a civilian employee of the USAF Directorate of Intelligence at HQ 5th Air Division observed a disc-shaped object from his residence at 4 Rue Cettigny, Rabat (34 deg 02 min N, 06 deg 52 min W). The observation lasted approximately 5 seconds. The object was soundless and displayed 8 white lights evenly spaced in a formation that showed no break during the sighting. The lights appeared enveloped in mist or fog. Object heading was northwest, turning west to southwest. Altitude was undeterminable. Speed was estimated at twice the apparent speed of a T-33 jet trainer -- a subjective but meaningful reference for someone with aviation-adjacent experience. The Preparing Officer's report notes the witness's background: civilian DAF assigned to the Directorate of Intelligence with auxiliary experience directing aircraft to parking areas on a naval aircraft carrier for three and a half years. French Civil Air Control at Cazes Airdrome, Casablanca, reported no aircraft in the area. Weather was favorable: 3/8 alto cumulus to 9,000 feet, surface winds south-southeast at 2 to 5 knots, visibility good to 20 kilometers. The sighting was made in good atmospheric conditions at night from a fixed ground position. The teletype distribution -- Chief of Staff USAF, ATIC, Air Defense Command, CINCUSAFE, and SAC -- reflects the elevated routing that overseas sightings near USAF strategic facilities routinely received in 1952. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The witness profile is unusual. This is not a random civilian but a person employed within the Directorate of Intelligence at the headquarters of a numbered air force. The Preparing Officer documents auxiliary aircraft handling experience on a naval carrier. This is someone who had worked around aircraft. Whether that makes the T-33 speed comparison more reliable or introduces motivated reasoning is impossible to say, but the observer is not unsophisticated. The 8-lights-in-formation description is specific. A witness testifying to a vague light in the sky is one thing; eight evenly-spaced white lights maintaining formation with no break during a 5-second pass is a more structured observation, even at 5 seconds. The note that the lights appeared enveloped in mist or fog is interesting -- the weather report shows 3/8 cloud cover at 9,000 feet, not low fog, and visibility was 20 kilometers. If the mist effect was seen around the object rather than in the atmosphere, that is worth noting. The hand-drawn map on Part IV of the AI Report is a genuine piece of documentation. The witness sat down and sketched the Atlantic coastline, marked his position, indicated first sighting, and traced the object's path. Whatever was seen, it made enough of an impression to produce a careful geographical record. The object illustration (Part III) is too degraded in this scan to describe. The JFMUC 23 teletype includes a garbled rendering of "T-3" where the CY-1/CY-2 copies read "T-33" -- a transmission corruption, not a different estimate. The word "TOLE" in the CY versions ("SPEED ESTD TOLE TWICE APPARENT SPEED") is teletype corruption of "TO BE." The string "EKIUMN" or "EKIWMN" in one version ("NO EKIUMN AREA REPT BY FRENCH CIVIL AIR CONTROLS") is also corrupted -- context indicates "no [aircraft in the known] area reported by French civil air controls." Both are flagged rather than silently corrected. BOTTOM LINE ----------- A 5-second observation is genuinely short. Perceptual compression at night, combined with the mist-envelope effect that may have obscured edges, limits how much structural detail could reliably have been resolved. The T-33 speed estimate is a sensible reference but remains observer impression. What the file does well is document what happened procedurally: the witness went straight to his chain of command, the Preparing Officer interviewed him the next morning, an Air Intelligence Information Report was prepared, the witness produced illustrations, and the teletype went to ATIC, SAC, and CINCUSAFE within hours. The institutional response was proportionate and prompt. What the file does not provide is any follow-up analysis. The F-6 rating was assigned and that appears to have been the end of it. The 8-light formation reported by an intelligence directorate employee, in good visibility, with a drawn track map and witness sketches, rated F-6 and left without further investigation, is a fair summary of what this case is: well-reported, procedurally handled, analytically abandoned. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------