---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1954-09-8727100-Butler-Missouri.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ [NOTE: This file uses FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TDE), a later form version that replaced the ATIC Form 329. The form header reads "PROJECT 10073 RECORD" rather than "RECORD CARD." Field structure differs from ATIC Form 329. This record was therefore created or updated post-September 1963 -- after the sighting date of September 1954. The implications of this timing for the BIRDS conclusion are addressed in the analysis. See also companion case 1954-09-8726528- Butler-Mo for related September 1954 sightings at the same location.] FIELD 1 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: 26 September 1954 / 26/1007Z (NIGHT) [Three sightings at 1007Z, 1010Z, 1015Z -- total window 8 minutes. Individual durations: ~40 sec, ~30-40 sec, ~30 sec per teletype and record summary. Minor discrepancy between record card and teletype on 2nd sighting duration (40 sec vs 30 sec).] FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Butler, Missouri FIELD 3 -- SOURCE: Civilian [Spelled "Civilain" in original -- apparent typo.] FIELD 4 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: 20-30 FIELD 5 -- LENGTH OF OBSERVATION: 8 minutes [Total observation window from first to last sighting. One copy may read "3 minutes"; 8 minutes is consistent with 1007Z-1015Z timestamp span.] FIELD 6 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground Visual FIELD 7 -- COURSE: [blank on record card] [Course detail provided in teletype: see supplemental.] FIELD 8 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 9 -- PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: No FIELD 10 -- CONCLUSION: OTHER: BIRDS FIELD 11 -- BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS: 20-30 Objects appeared as small cluster of stars flying in formation - silver to white, no sound, no features. Heading North. Flight made 3 complete circles. Sighting overhead. Three sightings. Second observation, objects headed east, disappearing into clouds. 1st sightings 40 seconds, 2nd sightings 40 seconds, 3rd 30 seconds. Sighting resembles observation of birds. Possible bird observations. Form: FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TDE) [Previous editions of this form may be used -- standard notation. Record card present in two copies.] ================================================================ SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ================================================================ 1. Incoming teletype, 2 pages. Message ID: JWFAM 01. Relay headers: R 261130Z. Routing: RR JEDEN JEDKF JEDWP JEPHQ 444 / DE JWFAM 01. From: FLIGHT SERVICE CENTER LOWRY AFB COLO. To: COMDR AIR DEF COMD ENT AFB COLO; JEDKF/COMDR CADF GRANDVIEW AFB MO; JEDWP/COMDR AIR TECH INTEL CNTR WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OHIO; JEP[HQ]/DIR OF INTEL HQ USAF WASH 25 D.C. Transmitted: 26/1253Z SEP JWFAM. Sighting data (UFO report format): (1)(A) V SHAPED (B) GRAPEFRUIT (C) WHITE (D) TWENTY OR THIRTY LIGHTS (E) V TYPE (F) NEGATIVE (G) NEGATIVE (H) N/A (I) APPEARED TO BE LIKE CLUSTER OF STARS (2)(A) TAKING WEA OB (B) DIR OVERHEAD (C) DIR OVERHEAD (D) FIRST SIGHTING HEAD 360 DEGREES MADE THREE CIRCLES AND DISAPPEARED ON HEADING OF 360 DEGREES. SECOND SIGHTING HEADING 090 DEGREES AND DISAPPEARED IN SAME DIR. THIRD SIGHTING HEADING 250 DEGREES AND DISAPPEARED IN SAME DIR. (E) DISAPPEARED IN CLOUDS (F) FIRST SIGHTING FORTY SECONDS SECOND SIGHTING THIRTY SECONDS THIRD SIGHTING THIRTY SECONDS. (3)(A) GROUND VISUAL (B) N/A (C) N/A (4)(A) FIRST SIGHTING 1007Z SECOND SIGHTING 1010Z THIRD SIGHTING 1015Z (B) NIGHT (5) BUTLER [Missouri] Page 2: MO INSAC STA (6)(A) MR [REDACTED] BUTLER MO INSAC STA (B) N/A (7)(A) TWENTY TWO THSND THIN BRKN VISBY EIGHT MI (B) SFC CALM; 6000 FT 220 DEG 15K; 10000 FT 270 DEG 15K; 16000 FT 280 DEG 20K; 20000 FT 290 DEG 30K; 30000 FT EST 270 DEG 60K; 50000 FT UNAVBL; 80000 FT UNAVBL. (C) TWENTY TWO THSND THIN BRKN (D) EIGHT MI (E) EIGHT TENTHS (F) NONE (8) NEG (9) NONE (10) UNK (11) OPS OFF NO COMMENTS AS TO POSSIBLE CAUSE OF SIGHTINGS. (12) NONE. 2. Follow-up investigation teletype from JEDKF Grandview. Message: DE JEDKF 54. P 291600Z. From: COMDR CADF GRANDVIEW AFB MO. To: JEDEN/COMDR ADC ENT AFB COLO; JEDWP/COMDR ATIC WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OHIO; JEPHQ/DIR OF INTEL HQ USAF WASH DC. Reference: INT 9897 PD REF FLT SERV MSG DTG 26/1130Z. Source: Det 2, 4622D AISS (Air Intelligence Service Squadron). Transmitted: 29/1640Z SEP JEDKF. Detailed description (from investigation): LA. In a swept back formation similar in shape to a "V." No individual shape discernable. Appeared like small stars as a comparison with 20 to 30 stars in a "V" shape. Silver to white. Nothing definite, 20 to 30. In a swept back formation similar in shape to an inverted "V." No discernable features or details. No tail, trail, or exhaust. No sound heard. No other pertinent features. 2A. Observer noted unusual lights in the sky. D(1) Sighted coming in from S, disappearing to E. (2) Sighted coming in from E, disappearing to WSW. (3) Sighted coming in from W and made 3 circles over WEA STA, disappearing to E. 2E. Objects disappeared behind overcast. 2F. Objects observed for several minutes at a time. Station: INSAC WEA STA, Butler, Missouri; altitude 870 ft; latitude 38 deg 17.4', longitude 94 deg 20.4'. Observer: MR [REDACTED] 400 W OHIO, BUTLER, MISSOURI, WEA OBSR. [Note: observer address partially visible, name redacted.] Weather: 7A. Thin broken clouds at 22,000 ft, 8 mile visibility. No restriction of visibility at that time. 7B. Negative. 7C. Ceiling -- thin broken clouds at 22,000 ft. 7D. Visibility 8 miles. 7E. Seven opaque, 3 cover. 7F. None. 8. None. 9. N/A. 10. None. 11. NOTHING DEFINITE ON SIGHTINGS. OBSR SEEMED TO BE SINCERE IN HISD [sic] ACCOUNT AND MAY EASILY HAVE OBSRD SOMETHING OUT OF ORDINARY. OWING TO FACT THAT NO DEFINITE CONFIGURATIONS WERE ESTB RELATING TO PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OF UFOBS. A CHECK WITH OTHER WEA STA IN AREA MAY BE APROPOS. 12. NEGATIVE. ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Butler Missouri Bates-County 1954 September 1950s V-formation V-shaped grapefruit multiple-objects night 20-30 lights silver white no-sound no-features circles three-sightings overhead clouds weather-observer INSAC Lowry-FSC Grandview-AFB CADF 4622D-AISS birds bird-hypothesis swept-back-formation cluster-of-stars radar-negative ops-off-no-comment unresolved-contemporaneous FTD-0329 late-classification companion-case-8726528 ================================================================ ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- The record card (FTD SEP 63 0-329) concludes OTHER: BIRDS. This assignment warrants scrutiny on two grounds. First, it was placed on a form version created in September 1963, meaning the record card itself was produced or updated at least nine years after the sighting. Second, the actual field investigation conducted at the time -- by Det 2, 4622D AISS out of Grandview AFB, three days after the event -- reached a different conclusion: "Nothing definite on sightings. Obsr seemed to be sincere in his account and may easily have observed something out of ordinary." The contemporaneous investigator's recommendation was to check other weather stations, not to close the case as birds. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- On the night of September 26, 1954, a civilian weather observer at the Butler, Missouri INSAC station reported three separate sightings within an 8-minute window. The object or objects appeared as 20-30 lights in a V-shaped swept-back formation, silver to white in color, no sound, no discernable features. Each sighting lasted 30-40 seconds before objects disappeared into cloud cover. The three sightings tracked different directions: the first came from the south and made three circles before departing north; the second came from the east and departed WSW; the third came from the west, made three circles over the weather station itself, and departed east. Thin broken clouds at 22,000 feet. Winds above 30,000 feet estimated at 60 knots from the west. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The V-shaped swept-back formation is indeed the classic shape of migrating waterfowl (geese in particular), and bird flocks over a weather station at night, illuminated by ground lights, can appear as strings of lights to observers looking up. Disappearing into clouds is consistent with flock behavior in a broken-ceiling sky. September is peak migration season for waterfowl in western Missouri. The BIRDS classification has real support from the physical description. However: migrating birds make circles twice in 8 minutes? The circling behavior -- especially the third sighting making three complete circles directly over the weather station -- is atypical of the straight-line or gradual- curve flight patterns of migrating birds. Birds do circle, but it is feeding or roosting behavior rather than migratory, and two separate circling events in one night from the same observer is unusual. The investigator from Grandview did not call it birds; he said nothing definite and suggested follow-up. The user who flagged this case noted the BIRDS and UNIDENTIFIED classifications looked swapped between this file and its companion case 1954-09-8726528. They are not formally swapped -- the classifications appear on the right files. But the BIRDS label here is a retroactive judgment placed on a post-1963 form, overriding the contemporary investigator's inconclusive finding. The companion cases from September 4 and 5 at the same location (UNIDENTIFIED, 1954) received their classifications contemporaneously. BOTTOM LINE ----------- The BIRDS conclusion is arguable from the physical description -- V-formation, no sound, disappears into clouds, migration season -- but was not the contemporary investigator's conclusion, and the circling behavior does not fit the pattern cleanly. This classification reflects a retrospective ATIC judgment, probably made during Blue Book standardization in the 1960s, applied without the benefit of the ambiguity the original investigation preserved. UNRESOLVED is a more honest characterization of what the September 1954 investigation actually found. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------