9Mi Wof Benson reported aerial observation — October 10, 1957

Satellite was not sighted, but a bright object appeared over SE horizon and traveled rapidly across the sky disappearing over the NNW horizon. COMMENTS: Around this time artificial meteors were being shot into the upper atmosphere to heights of between 35 and 50 miles at which height they glowed brightly enough to be photographed. We first saw the unknown object thirty-eight minutes after sunset. The above calculation was intended only to give a rough estimate of the heights involved, and 39.3 represents the minimum height If the object we saw was illuminated by sunlight, the absolute minimum height appears to be 39.3 miles Note 2 - USAF A.F.G.E. [redacted] has been passed on to this office. Dubin said that only two of the original pellets were tracked and scientists "had no control of what direction the pellets would take after the explosion. The explosion was observed at Mt. 16 project, how- ever, was the first successful at- tempt and followed a series of failures, scientists said. Expected Crossing of NVU Alpha: It seems rather odd that these observers scored a crossing time with the arrival of the object on October 15, a[illegible] satellite was being observed by many stations throughout the morning sky. The satellite was scheduled to appear at 1829, and on this day the rocket was reported to be leading the satellite by twenty-six minutes. A camera was set up to record what we saw. No intensity variations were observed. Supporting case details: Reported special objects or artifacts: Still camera