UFO sighted in Connecticut in 1955

Summary

In February 1955, two witnesses in Connecticut and New York reported seeing a reddish luminous object traveling in a straight line. One of them, Robert C. Hardy, described it as an oval ball of light, while another observer near the Hudson River saw it as a spherical light. Both agreed the object had no tail, made no sound, and moved at high speed. The USAF classified report concluded it was likely an astronomical phenomenon, such as a meteor, though a balloon or aircraft was not entirely ruled out. The lack of photographic evidence and the brief sighting (5-6 seconds) made a precise evaluation difficult.

The Air Force investigated the case as part of Project 10073, a program dedicated to collecting and analyzing UFO sightings. Although the witnesses were different and separated by distance, they described similar characteristics of the object, adding credibility to their accounts. However, the final classification pointed to a conventional explanation, a common practice at the time, where efforts were made to minimize public alarm by attributing phenomena to natural or known causes.