Shiny spherical UFO seen in Oak Ridge

Summary

In June 1958, a witness in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, observed a round object the size of a basketball, shining silver and moving very high in the sky. The sighting lasted two minutes, and the object traveled southwest in a straight line. Although initially considered a balloon or aircraft, weather data and nearby air routes suggested it could have been a high-flying plane. The official Project 10073 response did not completely rule out conventional explanations, but the report left the mystery unresolved.

The official investigation included consultations with the Weather Bureau to rule out balloons launched from Knoxville. Air routes near the area were recorded, and the object could have been an aircraft performing chaff drops, a substance used to confuse radars. However, the object did not display typical behavior of such aircraft or balloons, leaving open the possibility that it was something unusual.