---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1950-12-9619415-Ft-Myers-Fla.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ [Note: This case is documented on the Temporary ATIC Form 329 (2 Jan 52), a pre-standard precursor to the ATIC Form 329 (REV 26 SEP 52). The temporary form predates the standardized field layout; fields do not map directly to the GMA template numbering. Fields 10 (Brief Summary) and 11 (Comments) are not discrete sections on this form; relevant data is distributed across form fields. FIELD 12 (Conclusions checkboxes) does not exist on this form variant. No formal evaluation conclusion is recorded in this file. GMA template field numbers applied where content corresponds; differences noted.] FIELD 1 -- DATE: 6 December 1950 [Form: DATE OF INFO: 6 Dec 1950; newspaper clipping confirms event occurred 6 Dec, article datelined 7 Dec saying "yesterday"] FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Ft. Myers, Florida (north side) FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local 1700L [No GMT recorded on this form variant; 1700L consistent with approx. 5 PM EST as stated in newspaper article] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] [Form: TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: None noted [form shows dashes] Sketches: None noted [form shows dashes] FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: Civilian FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: 7 Min FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: 1 [Form: NO. IN GROUP: 1] FIELD 9 -- COURSE: NW FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: [Not a discrete field on Temporary ATIC Form 329. Core data from form fields, as entered:] Object description: COLOR: Silver, Orange, Red & white. SIZE: 75' (14' thick tapering to 3'). SHAPE: [not filled in -- dashes]. ALTITUDE: 3000' [noted as Measured on form]. SPEED: Greater than known A/C [noted as Estimated]. MANEUVERS: Hovered then NW flight. SOUND: [not recorded -- dashes]. [Additional detail from newspaper clipping: Four boys with observer. Inspected through 10-power binoculars. Object 14 feet thick at middle, three feet at edges, with revolving center extending to within four feet of edge. Boundary of moving part orange; rim red. Four jets on edge, two white and two orange. Bubble on top; no occupants visible. Hovered then departed NW at speed "faster than any airplane."] FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: [Not a discrete field on Temporary ATIC Form 329. No analyst commentary block present on this form variant.] FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [Not present on Temporary ATIC Form 329 (2 Jan 52). No formal evaluation conclusion is recorded in this file. The archive database classification may reflect a later processing decision not documented here.] Form: Temporary ATIC Form 329 (2 Jan 52) [Note: Pre-standard form used between Jan 1952 and Sep 1952 to document cases retroactively before the permanent ATIC Form 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) was finalized. This 1950 case was filed into the Project 10073 system using the temporary form. Processing stamps visible at top of form: PROJECT 10073 RECORD and related ATIC case-processing markings.] Supplemental documents present (in order of appearance): F-1/F-2: Two scans of the Temporary ATIC Form 329. One cleaner scan, one lower-quality scan. Same content. F-3/F-4: Cover letter (two scans). Headquarters Third Army, Office of AC of S, G-2, Fort McPherson, Georgia. UNCLASSIFIED. AJACI-3 360.33, dated 11 December 1950. Subject: Unconventional Aircraft. To: Commanding General, Hq 14th Air Force, Robins AFB, Macon, Georgia, ATTN: Director of Intelligence. Signed by John Meade, Colonel, GSC, AC of S, G-2. 1 Incl: Tampa, Florida newspaper clipping re "saucer" reported over Fort Myers, Florida. Endorsement (1st Ind): Hq Fourteenth Air Force, Robins AFB, Ga., 14 DEC 1950. To: Commanding General, Air Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. ATTN: MCIS AXA [handwritten]. Forwarded under HQ USAF letter dated 8 Sep 50 subject "Reporting of Information on Unconventional Aircraft." For the Commanding General: L. J. Powell, Captain, USAF, Adjutant General [signed by additional signatory]. F-5/F-6: Newspaper clipping with routing stamps (two scans). Tampa Times, "Special to The Times," datelined Ft. Myers, Dec. 7. Headline: "'Saucer' Reported Over Ft. Myers." Stamps on reverse: 14 AIR FORCE / ACQUISITIONS / 14 DEC PM (circular); RECEIVED stamp (circular); handwritten routing marks and numbers. Full article text: "Ft. Myers, Dec. 7. A 75-foot silver flying saucer with welded seams and four jets hovered over the North side here yesterday for seven minutes according to Harry Lamp, U.S. airplane purchasing agent during World War II. Lamp said he and four boys, one his son, spotted the craft about 5 P.M. at 3000 feet and that he inspected it through 10-power binoculars. He said it was 14 feet thick at the middle and three feet at the edges with a revolving center extending to within four feet of the edge. The boundary of the moving part was orange and the rim red. On the edge were four jets, two white and two orange. Lamp said he could detect no occupants in what appeared to be a bubble on top. He said the disc hovered for a time and then disappeared to the Northwest at a speed 'faster than any airplane.'" [See POST-FILE NOTES regarding observer name.] F-7/F-8: Investigation document (two scans). UNCLASSIFIED. Signed by Patrick W. Hayes, Lt. Colonel, USAF, District Commander. CC: Hq. AMC / ATTN: MCIS. [Form printed with CONFIDENTIAL/L stamp at bottom, overprinted UNCLASSIFIED.] Content (partial -- this appears to be section 3+ of a multi-page investigation; preceding sections not present in this case file): "On 7 December 1950 [redacted] also stated that no weather balloons were airborne in the Oak Ridge area. Mr. [redacted] revealed that no unusual releases of radio active particles were made during the above period." "On 7 December 1950 Major H. C. Care, USAF Defense Area Commander stated that two (2) aircraft were flying in the Oak Ridge area during the above sightings. One was described as an F-82 fighter which is painted black and an aluminum C-45. Both aircraft during this period were in the south end of the Controlled Area of Oak Ridge which is about fourteen (14) miles south of the two (2) observer's positions. Major Care also stated that no unusual sightings were reported by the AF Radar Station at McGhee Tyson Airport, Knoxville, Tennessee." "3. ACTION: Will not take any further investigative action, but will maintain contact with NEPA officials and U.S. Air Force Radar Stations at McGhee Tyson Airport, Knoxville, Tennessee and will report any further occurrences." [Note: This document references the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area and NEPA (Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft), a classified Oak Ridge nuclear research program. The geographic location (Oak Ridge/Knoxville) is inconsistent with the Fort Myers, Florida sighting. This document appears to be from a separate, concurrent investigation filed in the same case folder. It is approximately page 3 of a multi-page report; the narrative refers to "the above sightings" whose description is on missing preceding pages. Flagged as probable co-filed companion document from a separate Oak Ridge-area case. See analysis section.] ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Fort-Myers Ft-Myers Florida Lee-County 1950 December civilian five-witnesses binoculars 10-power aircraft-purchasing-agent WWII disc saucer silver orange red white welded-seams revolving-center bubble-dome four-jets NW-departure hovering faster-than-aircraft 3000-feet 75-feet unidentified no-conclusion early-Blue-Book Third-Army 14th-Air-Force Robins-AFB Wright-Patterson MCIS Temporary-ATIC-329 Project-10073 NEPA Oak-Ridge co-filed McGhee-Tyson Knoxville nuclear Tampa-Times Ruppelt-era Grudge-era ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- No formal conclusion is recorded in this file. The Temporary ATIC Form 329 (2 Jan 52) used to document this case does not include the Field 12 checkbox system found on the later standard ATIC Form 329 (REV 26 SEP 52). The case was processed through Third Army G-2 intelligence channels -- forwarded from Fort McPherson to 14th Air Force at Robins AFB, then to Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson -- as "Unconventional Aircraft" per standing reporting requirements. No analyst commentary block is present on this form. The archive database classification, if any, reflects a later processing decision not documented in this file. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- At approximately 5 PM on December 6, 1950, Harry Lamp -- a civilian identified as a U.S. airplane purchasing agent during World War II -- and four boys (one his son) observed a disc- shaped object hovering at approximately 3,000 feet above the north side of Fort Myers, Florida. The observation lasted seven minutes. Lamp inspected the object through 10-power binoculars. The level of physical detail in the account is exceptional. The object was described as 75 feet in diameter, 14 feet thick at the center tapering to 3 feet at the edges, with welded seams visible on its silver surface. It had a revolving central section whose boundary extended to within four feet of the rim; the moving part's boundary was orange and the rim red. On the edge were four jets -- two white and two orange. A bubble-like dome on top showed no visible occupants. After hovering, the object departed to the northwest at a speed described as faster than any known airplane. Time of day matters here. The sighting was at 5 PM in early December in southwest Florida -- roughly 30 to 40 minutes before sunset. A setting sun to the southwest would illuminate the underside and rim of an elevated object in that sky, which could account for the orange and red coloration reported on the lower and edge surfaces while the top remained silver. This does not diminish the structural description but is relevant context for the color report. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The physical description is the defining feature of this case. Among 10,808 case files in this archive, accounts that specify welded seams, quantify thickness at center vs. edge, identify a revolving interior section, enumerate four propulsion-like outlets by count and color, and distinguish a dome feature are rare. Most witnesses describe shape and color; Lamp describes engineering details. This level of structural specificity -- possible only through binoculars at that altitude -- is difficult to attribute to optical misidentification of a known object. The observer's background is relevant. A WWII aircraft purchasing agent would have professional familiarity with aircraft dimensions, structural construction, and speed characteristics. When Lamp states the speed was faster than any known airplane, he is not a casual observer making a lay comparison. Similarly, his identification of the shape, dimensions, and what he terms "jets" reflects a conceptual vocabulary grounded in aircraft specifications. Binocular use at an estimated 3,000 feet is significant. A 10-power binocular brings the object to an apparent distance of 300 feet. At that apparent distance, a 75-foot disc would subtend a substantial arc, and structural features such as seams, rim detail, and propulsion outlets would be visible on a clear late-afternoon sky. The reported description is consistent with what a trained observer would be able to resolve under those conditions. The five-witness total (Lamp plus four boys) is noted, though the secondary witnesses are not named or separately interviewed in this file. The account as filed rests entirely on Lamp's statement. The co-filed Oak Ridge document warrants separate attention. The investigation document included in this case file references the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area, NEPA (Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft -- a classified nuclear aircraft propulsion program), weather balloon non-releases, radioactive particle monitoring, and an F-82/C-45 aircraft check in the Controlled Area of Oak Ridge. None of this has any apparent connection to Fort Myers, Florida. This appears to be section 3 of a multi-page investigation from a concurrent Oak Ridge-area sighting -- its preceding pages are absent -- filed in the same folder, probably during batch ATIC processing in 1952. The Oak Ridge sighting(s) it describes are a separate eval candidate. BOTTOM LINE ----------- The Fort Myers case is one of the more substantive physical description accounts in the early archive. The observer's aviation credentials, binocular inspection at estimated 3,000 feet, multi-witness group, and the specificity of the structural description -- welded seams, dimensional measurements, revolving section, color-coded propulsion outlets, dome -- set this apart from typical civilian reports of the era. The absence of a formal ATIC conclusion means this case was processed into the system but never officially resolved. What the evidence supports is a structured, disc-shaped object observed under good daylight conditions by a professionally qualified observer using optical assistance, hovering for seven minutes before departing at high speed. No known aircraft in December 1950 matched the described configuration. The welded seams detail in particular -- visible through 10-power binoculars, consistent with a constructed object -- is not characteristic of atmospheric phenomena, astronomical objects, or conventional aircraft. The case should be read as genuinely unresolved. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------