================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1952-09-6383250-Allen-Maryland.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: 12 September 1952 FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Allen, Maryland FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local [blank] / GMT 0230 [Note: 0230Z on 12 Sep 1952 = 10:30 PM EDT on 11 Sep 1952 in Eastern Daylight Time.] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: COC observer [Civilian Observer Corps / Ground Observer Corps] FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: 35 minutes FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: 1 FIELD 9 -- COURSE: [NE per teletype; NE per AI report -- moving northeast] FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: Greenish-white, red rim. Round shape. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: Does not coincide with regular releases in area. FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [ ] Other [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [X] Unknown [Note: The Project 10073 Worksheet (ATIC Test Form 334) accompanying this report has "Insufficient Data for Evaluation" marked as the Final Evaluation, with source rated Fair and details of report rated Poor. The ATIC card marks "Unknown." Both reflect the same substantive finding: no conclusion could be reached. Database classification as UNIDENTIFIED may reflect either entry. Flag for review.] Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) [FLAG: Observer names appear unredacted in the FLYOBRPT teletype and AI report: David Kolb and wife, Allen/Salisbury, Maryland, telephone 21078. Civilian GOC volunteers. Military personnel named: Alexander MacIlhaney Jr., 1st Lt., USAF (preparing officer, AI report); A.B. Gordon, Capt., USAF, Adjutant (transmittal letter signature).] Supplemental documents present: - Project 10073 Worksheet, ATIC Test Form 334 (13 Aug 52). Reporting agency: 647 ACW, Manassas, VA. Object was blinking (not steady). Observation over 10 minutes. Binoculars used. No ground radar. No interception. Object did not change direction. Balloons released in area: Yes. Final evaluation: Insufficient Data for Evaluation. Source: Fair. Details of report: Poor. - Project 10073 Weather Data Sheet, ATIC Test Form 333 (13 Aug 52). Winds: 5,000-15,000 ft from 090 degrees (east) at 20-25 knots. Above 20,000 ft winds shift to northwesterly. No inversion layer. No thunderstorms. Visibility: 10 miles. - Transmittal letter, Hq 647th ACW Squadron, Manassas, Virginia. Dated 16 September 1952. To: Chief, Air Technical Intelligence Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. Signed: A.B. Gordon, Capt., USAF, Adjutant. - Air Intelligence Information Report, AF Form 112 (Parts I and II). Subject: Unconventional Flying Objects (FLYOBRPT). Area: Baltimore, Maryland. Agency: 647th AC&W Squadron. Date of Report: 15 September 1952. Date of Information: 12 September 1952. Evaluation: F-3 [source reliability cannot be judged; information possibly true]. Prepared by: Alexander MacIlhaney Jr., 1st Lt., USAF. Source: Mr. [REDACTED] and wife. - FLYOBRPT teletype, 2 pages. FM: CO 647 AC AND W SQ MANASSAS VA. TO: JEPHQ/DIR OF INTEL HQ USAF WASH DC; JEDWP/AIR TECH INTEL DTR WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB OHIO; JEDEN/CG ENT AFB COLO SPGS COLO. Time: 12/0630Z SEP. ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Allen Maryland Salisbury Maryland Eastern Shore Wicomico County 1952 September ground observer corps GOC civilian volunteer round streamers greenish white red rim flashing blinking northeast 2000 feet 35 minutes field glasses binoculars 647th ACW Manassas Virginia 26th Air Division no radar return no interception insufficient data unknown low source rating F-3 David Kolb Alexander MacIlhaney low level missions balloon does not coincide regular releases ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- Insufficient Data for Evaluation (Project 10073 Worksheet) / Unknown (ATIC record card). The evaluation on the Air Intelligence Information Report is F-3 -- source reliability cannot be judged, information possibly true. This is a low- confidence rating that accurately reflects what the file contains. The investigating unit, the 647th AC&W Squadron at Manassas, Virginia, did an immediate radar check (no targets detected) and filed the report. No further investigation was conducted or documented. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- At approximately 0230Z on 12 September 1952 (late evening local time on the Eastern Shore of Maryland), civilian Ground Observer Corps volunteers David Kolb and his wife, of Allen/ Salisbury, Maryland, reported an unconventional flying object to the Baltimore GOC Filter Center. The report reached the 647th AC&W Squadron at Manassas at 0245Z. The object as described: round with streamers, flashing greenish-white light with a red rim, moving northeast at approximately 2,000 feet altitude. Observation was visual through field glasses over 35 minutes, during which the red rim around the object grew fainter and the object faded altogether. The object was approximately eight miles east of the observer's position at 38°15'N, 75°45'W -- over the coastal plain of the Maryland Eastern Shore. The 647th AC&W made an immediate check of all electronic equipment at 0245Z. No targets were detected in the area of the reported sighting. No interception was attempted. The GOC was contacted to see if the object was still visible; at 0300Z, GOC reported the observer had watched the object for approximately 35 minutes from the original sighting before it faded. Weather was clear with 10-mile visibility, temperature 67°F. Winds at 5,000 to 15,000 feet were from the east at 20-25 knots -- meaning objects drifting with the wind at those altitudes would move westward, not northeast. Above 20,000 feet, winds shifted to northwesterly. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The ATIC card comment -- "Does not coincide with regular releases in area" -- is the one substantive analytical note in this file. It means the investigating unit checked the object's appearance against scheduled weather balloon releases in the area and found no match. Taken at face value, this rules out a standard scheduled balloon. The wind data complicates the balloon hypothesis further. At the altitudes where weather balloons typically operate (and where a free balloon with a green light and streamers would drift), winds were from the east at 20-25 knots, which would carry a balloon westward -- opposite to the northeast direction the object was observed moving. Unless the object was below 5,000 feet and wind data was not measured at that level, a balloon drifting with reported winds would not track northeast. The AI report notes that low-level missions were being conducted in the 26th Air Division (Defense) area at the time of the sighting. No aircraft were detected on electronic equipment in the area, but the caveat about low-level missions matters: at 2,000 feet, aircraft can operate below radar coverage from ground stations, particularly at range. A military aircraft operating below radar coverage, with exterior lights visible at distance as a greenish-white flashing source with a red position light (red rim), observed through field glasses at eight miles range, is a plausible conventional explanation that the file does not pursue. The source evaluation is a real limitation. The observers were civilian GOC volunteers -- a grocery store salesman and his wife -- with reliability and experience noted as "unknown." This does not mean they were wrong; it means the file contains no basis for assessing their observational accuracy. Thirty-five minutes of continuous observation through field glasses is longer than a casual glance, and the fading red rim suggests they were tracking something real that moved away or diminished. But what they saw through binoculars at eight miles range on a clear night is not described in enough detail to evaluate confidently. BOTTOM LINE ----------- This is a thin file that honestly earned its Insufficient Data conclusion. The balloon hypothesis has problems (wind direction, no match with scheduled releases), but the low-level aircraft explanation is plausible and was not investigated. The source rating is low, the description is brief, and no investigation beyond an immediate radar check was conducted. Nothing in this case demands exotic explanation. Nothing rules out a conventional one. The ATIC's honest assessment -- insufficient data -- is the appropriate conclusion here and the analysis does not improve on it. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================