Francis
Ridge:
Not listed in either BB Unknown list,
original or Comprehensive Catalog of Blue Book Unknowns , but has
aspects that may ultimately classify it as an unknown. At 4:55 PM on
October 20, Larry Riordan, the Superintendent of Security for the X-10
control zone became a witness. While driving to a residential
area he saw an object which he thought at first was a balloon which had
lost its “basket.” It was generally round, appeared to
“come together at the bottom in wrinkles (rather indistinct and
something was hanging below.” It appeared to be 8 to 10
feet long and lead or gunmetal colored. It didn’t seem to be
moving but, since he was traveling and only saw it for a number of
seconds, he couldn’t be sure. He was sure it wasn’t a weather
balloon, although he thought it might have been a gas bag balloon
launched by the nearby University of Tennessee Agricultural Research
Farm.. On the same day at 3:27 PM the radar unit at the Knoxville
airport detected radar targets near the area of Mr. Riordan’s sighting
and scrambled a fighter plane. The pilot searched the area for
about an hour and a half, which included the time of Mr. Riordan’s
sighting, and found nothing.
Brad Sparks:
The Riordan sighting might be a balloon, but we won't know until AF
data can fill in more details.
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reports, documentation, analysis or discussions - see below:
