---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1963-05-9317210-SilverGrove-Kentucky.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: 1 May 1963 FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Silver Grove, Kentucky FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local 2215 / GMT 02/0315Z 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: 1.5 to 5 minutes FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: Two FIELD 9 -- COURSE: Southerly FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: Report from 15 year old who has reported many UFO's. Rpt taken over the phone. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: Previous reports from this witness have all been evaluated as stars, planets, a/c or misinterpretation of conventional objects. Witness asserts that he loves science fiction and believes in "flying saucers." Characteristics of this particular rpt indicate that objects sighted were a/c. FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [X] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [X] Other: Unreliable Report [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [ ] Unknown [NOTE: Both "Was Aircraft" and "Other: Unreliable Report" are marked. The handwritten bottom margin reads "Case Evaluation: Unreliable Report." The DB classification reflects the UNRELIABLE tag.] Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) ================================================================ SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ================================================================ ATIC FORM 164 (U.S. Air Force Technical Information Sheet, FEB 60 edition), completed by FTD staff member over the phone, 1 May 1963: Q1-2: Date 1 May 1963; time 10:15 PM. Q3: Eastern Daylight Saving. Q4: Location: [redacted], Silver Grove, KY. Routing stamp on form indicates Director, Aerospace, ATTN A.F., Maxwell AFB (standard distribution). Q5: Duration faded in form; record card gives 1.5-5 min. Q5.1: "Faded" noted for time determination method. Q6: Night. Sky: Bright. Q8.1: Stars: Many visible. Q8.2: Moon: Bright moonlight (partially obscured answer). Q9: Object appeared as a light. Q10: Brighter than brightest stars: Yes. Q11: Object stood still at some point: Yes. All other behaviors (speed up, break up, smoke, brightness change, shape change, flash, disappear and reappear): No. Q12: Did not move behind clouds: No. Q13: Did not move in front of something: No. Q14: Appeared: Solid. Q15: No optical aids used. Q16: Sound: None. Color: "Silver -- turned reddish orange." Q17 (SKETCH): A single egg/oval shape with direction arrow pointing eastward. Q18: Edges: [not clearly marked on form]. Q19: More than one object: Two. Second sketch shows two oval shapes side by side with direction arrow. Q20: Motion path: NNW to SSW to W. Q21: Size compared to familiar object: "Streetlight at close distance." Q22: Angular size (match head coverage): 1/2 to 3/4. Q23: Disappeared while watching: Yes. "Brighter, dimmer, then vanished." Q24: Common object comparison: "One of the brighter stars, then saw it move -- No wings." Q25: Location: Outdoors. Q26: In residential section of a city. Q27: Activity: "Walking along + looked up." Q28: Not in automobile. Q29: Direction first seen: Northwest. Q30: Direction last seen: West. Q31.1: When first appeared: 315 degrees from true North, 30 degrees elevation. Q31.2: When disappeared: 270 degrees (West), 35 degrees elevation. Q34: Clouds: Clear sky. Weather: Dry. Q35: Reported: 1 May 1963, FTD Duty Officer. Q36: Anyone else present: No. Q37: First time seen: No. "Last summer, same town." Q38: Observer's own explanation: "Gas filled balloon or ?" Q39: Can estimate speed: No. "Not a jet." Q40: Distance estimate: Yes. "4-6 miles." Q41: Name, address, telephone: [all redacted]. Age: 15. Sex: Male. Additional background: "Love flying + Science Fiction." Q42: Questionnaire completed 1 May 1963. Note: "Completed by [R.E.?] over the phone." SUMMARY DATA PAGE (Page 9), typed evaluative note: "Case No. 1 -- Although the object may have been an aircraft, we feel that because of the unreliability of the observer the report should be rejected from serious consideration." ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Silver-Grove Kentucky Campbell-County 1963 May civilian 15-year-old teen unreliable serial-reporter science-fiction flying-saucers ground-visual two-objects silver reddish-orange NNW-to-W southerly aircraft streetlight-size match-head 4-6-miles 10pm bright-moonlight clear no-sound no-wings phone-report FTD-duty-officer Cincinnati Ohio-River ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- Was Aircraft, with a concurrent Other: Unreliable Report notation. The Summary Data evaluation states plainly that although the object may have been an aircraft, the report is rejected from serious consideration due to observer unreliability. The unreliability assessment rests on the observer's age (15), his prior string of reports all resolved as mundane objects, and his self-declared belief in flying saucers and love of science fiction. The questionnaire was completed by a Blue Book staffer taking the call, not by the observer in his own hand. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- Silver Grove is a small residential community in Campbell County, Kentucky, directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. In May 1963, the Cincinnati area had active commercial and military air traffic including Lunken Airport and Greater Cincinnati Airport. An observer seeing two lights at 10:15 PM on a clear night moving from northwest to west at 30-35 degrees elevation, 4-6 miles distant, is well within the parameters of routine commercial or military flight paths. The specific description -- two objects, silver, turning reddish-orange, moving NNW to W, angular size of a half-to-three-quarters matchhead, brighter than the brightest stars, solid in appearance, disappearing by brightening then dimming -- is consistent with two aircraft whose exhaust or navigation lighting shifted in appearance as their aspect relative to the observer changed. The observer's own Q24 note "No wings" suggests he was looking at point-source lights rather than a visible fuselage, which is typical at distance. His own explanation in Q38 ("Gas filled balloon or ?") shows he was not committed to an exotic interpretation. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The dual Field 12 marking -- "Was Aircraft" firmly checked alongside "Other: Unreliable Report" -- makes the evaluator's reasoning visible in a way most cases do not. The investigator evidently believed the aircraft explanation was sound on the merits, and then applied the unreliable tag on top as a separate judgment about the source. This is worth examining for the companion article. The UNRELIABLE tag here does not challenge the aircraft explanation; it supplements it. The subtext seems to be: even if we are right about aircraft, this observer cannot be trusted to generate useful reports, so his submissions should be deprioritized or dismissed on receipt. That is a different use of UNRELIABLE than photo fraud (Southampton), destruction demand (Holt), or the suggestibility argument (Crane). It is closer to a prophylactic classification -- applied not because this specific report is demonstrably wrong, but because the source has a poor prior track record. The observer's transparency about his interests is notable. He volunteered "Love flying + Science Fiction" and answered Q38 with a reasonable mundane hypothesis. A motivated hoaxer or fantasist would typically not suggest balloon as a first explanation. His prior reports being all resolved as mundane objects does not necessarily mean this report follows the same pattern -- coincidence of resolution is not the same as demonstrated fabrication. BOTTOM LINE ----------- The aircraft explanation for this sighting is plausible and probably correct. Silver Grove sits in a high-traffic air corridor, and the described appearance and behavior of the objects are consistent with aircraft lights at distance on a clear night. The UNRELIABLE tag is defensible on prior-track-record grounds. But as applied here, it functions more as source management than as a finding about this specific sighting. The investigator believed the objects were aircraft and said so. The unreliability label added nothing analytically -- it was a filing decision. The verbal account, read independently, is one of the more specific and internally coherent in the UNRELIABLE corpus: angular size, color progression, elevation angles, direction, disappearance sequence, and a candid self-assessment from an observer who was already skeptical of his own experience. POST-FILE FLAGS: - Observer name, address, and telephone fully redacted throughout, consistent with standard practice. - Observer's age (15) and sex (Male) are present and not redacted. This is standard Blue Book form practice for demographic fields. - Prior sighting referenced ("Last summer, same town") suggests at least one additional Blue Book case from this observer may exist in the archive. - Questionnaire completed by FTD staffer over the phone rather than by the observer in writing; this limits the fidelity of the answers and should be flagged for any archive display of the form. - "Miss Sauer?" appears in handwriting on page 9, likely a staff routing note, not a substantive annotation. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------