The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

## Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0

Int:	When you said *****(garbled), was it low, or was it low for a jet?
Neff:	Well, it was low and it was also low for a jet. There happened to be an overcast that evening which eliminated the possibility of a star right off the bat, and *****(garbled) the way I understand it a jet burns up three or four times the amount of fuel at low altitude than it does at high altitude. I don't think a jet could stay down that long without using up a considerable amount of gas.
Int:	How fast were you going?
Ryan:	About 250 miles per hour.
Int:	*****(garbled) then did they slow down or why didn't****(garbled)
Ryan:	They must have slowed down. "They" or "it" must have slowed down.
Neff:	We trailed out as far as Oswego which is right on the south shore of Lake Ontario and we passed up our point of landing at Syracuse and we weren't sure we should hold the passengers up any longer, and of course we didn't advise them.
Ryan:	We called them (Griffiss AFB) and they said they were "about off," and that was about 8 minutes and we couldn't work them any longer, and we turned over with Syracuse tower, and they were giving--relaying the messages back and forth, and it was then about 10 to 12 minutes and they're still not off yet. And we can't--I don't know, we'd probably still be flying. I just don't know where the jets were. Why didn't they get the jets up?
Int:	Well what happened to the object?
Ryan:	It went off, it just went to the northwest and it went out of sight.
Foster:	Was it more rapid? All of a sudden did it accelerate its speed?
Ryan:	It did appear to--after it got over the water it appeared really get out of sight very fast.
Neff:	It did, in the direction of Toronto--in that direction.
Int:	Was this object saucer-shaped or not?
Ryan:	Oh I don't know; I couldn't say.
Neff:	There was no definite shape to it, it was just a brilliant light.

Radar-Visual Sighting by PAA Flight

March 29, 1957: About 7:30 p.m. local time, Pan American flight 206A was northbound off the east coast of Florida, at 30 degrees N. Latitude. The plane was enroute to New York from Nassau at 16,000 feet, moving through the tops of cumulus clouds, on a heading of 25 degrees magnetic. At the controls was Capt. Kenneth G. Brosdal. The engineer, John Wilbur, was in the co-pilot's seat. The co-pilot, George Jacobson, was navigating.

"About 50 miles east of Papa-3, a checkpoint between Nassau and Tuna," Capt. Brosdal stated, "we (the co-pilot, engineer and myself) saw this very bright white light. It seemed to grow in intensity to the point where it would be about 3 or 4 strengths of a rising Venus, then would subside. This happened about 3 or 4 times, during which I came to enough to check on the radar screen. Sure enough, a target showed up at 3 o'clock between 45-50 miles away.

"Using the curser on the face of the radar, I checked the angle of sighting and it checked with the visual angle. This light appeared to be stationary, or moving in a N.E. direction (same as us). I observed this on the scope long after the light went out. I checked with Miami ATC [Air Traffic Control] but no other traffic or firing was in the area, to their knowledge." [40]

The radar set, tuned to the 50 mile range, tracked the unidentified target for 20 minutes. The visual observation lasted 4-5 minutes. The blip on the scope, Capt. Brosdal added, indicated an apparent size in excess of the size of normal aircraft. The altitude of the light, on the basis of angle of sight and radar ranging, was estimated to be 20,000 to 25,000 feet.

Capt. Brosdal indicated that he was most impressed by the exceptional intensity of the light during the bright phase of pulsation.

## Pilot Reports High-Speed Light

October 8, 1957: Another Pan American pilot sighted an unidentified light. Capt. Joseph L. Flynn, bringing a DC-7C flight into New York from Paris, noticed the UFO at 7:05 a.m. about 25 miles southwest of Boston. The object, "like a star travelling very fast," showed up to the right of the plane. "The sun was directly behind the plane and the object glowed a very bright silver," Captain Flynn said. "It was much brighter than the morning star." The pilot turned the plane and, for five minutes, tried to follow the UFO. But it sped out of sight.

At first Captain Flynn assumed the object was the Russian satellite, Sputnik I. But a check with the Smithsonian Institution's astrophysical observatory revealed that the satellite had passed over the New York area at 8:03 a.m., nearly an hour after the UFO sighting. [41] Nor would a satellite be so readily visible or appear to travel at high speed as described.

## Gyrating Light Ascends After Crossing Path of Plane

February 4, 1959: Over the Western Caribbean, 3:00 a.m., Capt. H. Dunker, Pan American Airways, was piloting a DC-6-B from New Orleans to Panama. He and the crew saw a reddish light speed across their course from right to left (west to east). About 45 degrees to their left the light stopped suddenly, fading in luminosity. Seconds later it sped back across and stopped about 10 degrees to the right. Then the UFO moved again to the left. After remaining visible about 45 seconds, the object went straight up out of sight at tremendous speed. [42]

## Airliners Paced by Three UFOs

The sighting of three glowing objects by several airline crews February 24, 1959 is one of the most thoroughly investigated (and, ironically, one of the most controversial) on record. The key witness, Capt. Peter W. Killian, was interviewed by NICAP personnel. A detailed investigation report, including weather data, air navigation maps, etc., was submitted to NICAP by the New York City Affiliate. The Akron UFO Research Committee cooperated in the investigation, adding valuable details. Other published references are listed in the Section Notes [43].

The Air Force later attributed the sighting to a refueling mission involving a tanker aircraft and jet bombers flashing brilliant lights. Discrepancies in this explanation are discussed in Section IX.

February 24, 1959: Captain Killian and First Officer James Dee, American Airlines, were flying a DC-6B nonstop from Newark to Detroit. It was a clear night, with stars brightly visible and no moon. At 8:20 p.m. EST the plane was approximately 13 miles west of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, flying on a heading of 295 degrees at 8,500 feet. Off the left wingtip, Captain Killian noticed three bright lights, which he first thought were the three stars making up the belt of the constellation Orion. But then he realized that Orion was also visible, higher overhead. The UFOs were about 15 degrees above the plane.

As he and F/O Dee continued to watch, the objects pulled ahead of the wingtip. At this point, in the vicinity of Erie, Pennsylvania, Captain Killian contacted two other American Airlines planes in the area. One at the Dolphin checkpoint (over the northern shore of Lake Erie) saw the objects directly to the south over Cleveland. The other aircraft, near Sandusky, Ohio, and headed toward Pittsburgh, spotted the objects a little to the left of their heading, to the southeast. [See map in Section IX]

As the DC-6B continued west, the UFOs occasionally pulled ahead and dropped back until they were in their original position with respect to the left wingtip. Then Captain Killian began letting down for landing in Detroit, and the crew no longer had time to watch the objects.

During the 45 minute observation, the UFOs continuously changed brightness, flashing brightly "brighter than any star," and fading completely. This did not occur in any apparent pattern. The color fluctuated from yellow-orange to a brilliant blue-white at their brightest. The last object in line moved back and forth at times, independently of the generally western motion of the formation.