An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed by one witness for ten minutes.

Project Grudge Assessment:

I. DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT On 11 February 1952, between 1205 and 1215 CST the source, a civilian woman, was watching a B-36 fly from East to West over Kansas City. While watching the B-36, she noticed a round bright object just north of the vapor trail left by the aircraft. The object was observed for ten minutes through 6 x 30 binoculars and during this period it drifted over the observer and continued south of Kansas City.

II. STATUS OF INVESTIGATION

Two balloons were launched in the general area prior to the time of sighting. A piball balloon was launched from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at 0930 CST and a Rawinsonde balloon was launched from Fairfax Airport, Kansas City, at 1130 CST. It is doubtful if the balloon launched at 0930 would be in the area at 1205 CST as they usually burst within an hour after the launching.

The balloon launched at 1130 CST could have been observed, however. In the 35 minutes between the time of the balloon launch and the observation, the balloon would have ascended to approximately 30,000 feet and would have traveled approximately 15 miles. (The wind was from 315° and averaged about 30 knots.) This would mean that the balloon passed near the source. If some allowance is made for an error in time, it is very possible that the balloon could have passed directly over the observer.

The fact that it could be observed at 30,000 ft. is probably due to the fact that the sun caused the balloon to glow.

III, CONCLUSIONS

The object observed by the source was very possibly a Rawinsonde balloon launched from Fairfax Airport.

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