On March 10, 1977, at between 3:30 and 4 p.m., Ricky Brandenburg, 13 had just arrived home from school in Indianapolis. Indiana, when he saw an object coming out of the north at low altitude. He at first thought it was an airplane, but it made no sound and had an odd shape. His mother and a neighbor were in the yard and he called to them, “Look, a UFO.” They paid no attention, so he ran into the house and got his Instamatic camera which was loaded with color film in preparation for a projected visit to the Museum of Science and Industry. He ran into the yard and began snapping pictures. The object made a 360° circle above the neighborhood, during which time Ricky snapped nine photos. Of the nine, only three clearly showed the object; they were numbers six, seven and eight.
After the object completed its sweep of the area it went back into the north and “just disappeared in the clouds.” Ricky then went inside and told his parents. His father. Morce Brandenburg, told Field Investigator Fritz Klemm that he at first didn’t believe Ricky but when the photos were developed he was convinced Ricky has really seen and photographed a UFO.
Photo number six shows a dark disc-shaped object with what appears to be a transparent dome against a blue sky and scattered clouds. Number seven shows the object further away than number six, but under a powerful magnifying glass, a slightly orangeish tint is visible on the lower part of the object. On number eight, which is considered to be clearest of the three, the area just above the rim of the disc shows an orangish hue.
Weather conditions were the following: Wind out of the SSW at 13 knots, temperature 65 degrees, barometric pressure 29.145 and steady. As noted earlier, there were scattered clouds. Mr. Klemm was not able to accurately check the air traffic because he could not pinpoint the exact time of the sighting.
These photos have been examined by Dr. B. Roy Frieden, APRO’s Consultant in Optics,’ Dr. Daniel Harris, APRO Consultant in astronomy, as well as other members of the headquarters staff and are considered to be genuine.
