The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

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

this most unbelievable target they had just seen. The inspecting officers were appalled that such a coincidence should happen. I was part of the meager intelligence reporting machinery at the base and I was called in to make an immediate urgent intelligence report on the incident. The prevailing theory at the time was that it was a meteor. I personally discounted this since upon interviewing the radar observers on both sides of the base they stated that it maintained an altitude of 60,000 feet and a speed of approximately 9000 mph.

"To make this story more incredible the very next day both radars again reported an object hovering over the base at about 10 mph, at 45,000 feet. The "official" story on this was that they were probably some type of "high-flying seagulls." You must remember all these incidents happened before the days of fast high flying jets and missiles and the now common altitude record-breaking helicopters."

(Maj. Jerome then added: "On my recent tour in Alaska [circa 1960], I became very familiar with the early warning and air defense systems on the DEW Line and Alaska Air Defense Sectors. Many times high speed unknown objects were discerned which could not be explained as normal air breathing vehicles penetrating our sectors. Many of the citizens of Alaska along the Bering Sea Coast have reported seeing missile-like aircraft flying at very low altitudes at very high speeds. The AF denied the presence of Russian aircraft vehemently. When it was suggested that they might be extra-terrestrial everyone clammed up.")

## October 15, 1948; Japan

Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt reported the following case received by Project Sign (the original Air Force UFO investigation project) in October 1948.

An F-61 "Black Widow" night fighter on patrol over Japan, October 15, picked up an unidentified radar target. The UFO was traveling about 200 mph. between 5000 and 6000 feet. Each time the F-61 tried to close in, the object would accelerate to an estimated 1200 mph., outdistancing the interceptor before slowing down again. On one of six passes at the UFO, the crew of the F-61 got close enough to see its silhouette. The UFO appeared to be 20-30 feet long and shaped "like a rifle bullet."

## November 23, 1948; Fursten-Feldbruck, Germany

An unidentified object resembling a reddish light was sighted east of the base at 2200 hours, local time. Capt.___[names deleted from Air Force reports] said the UFO was moving south across Munich, turned southwest, then southeast. Not knowing the height, the speed could not be estimated; but it appeared to be traveling between 200 and 600 mph.

Capt.___reported the sighting to base operations, and the radar station checked its scope. An unidentified target, traveling 900 mph., was detected at 27,000 feet about 30 miles south of Munich. Capt.___verified that the UFO was now visible in that area. Radar then reported that the target had climbed quickly to 50,000 feet and was circling 40 miles south of Munich.

## March 8, 1950; Nr Dayton, Ohio

In mid-morning, the CAA received a report from Capt. W. H. Kerr, Trans-World Airways pilot, that he and two other TWA pilots had a UFO in sight. A gleaming object was visible, hovering at high altitude. CAA also had 20 or more reports on the UFO from the Vandalia area. Wright-Patterson AFB, near Dayton, was notified, and sent up four interceptors. The UFO was also visible to control tower operators and personnel of Air Technical Intelligence Center on the base. Radar had an unidentified target in the same position.

Two F-51 pilots reported that they could see the UFO, which presented a distinct round shape and seemed huge and metallic. But clouds moved in, and the pilots were forced to turn back. The Master Sergeant who tracked it on radar stated: "The target was a good solid return. . . caused by a good solid target." Witnesses reported that the UFO finally climbed vertically out of sight at high speed.

## July 14, 1951; White Sands, N.M.

During the morning two radar operators at a missile tracking site caught a fast-moving object on their scope. At the same time a tracker watching a B-29 with binoculars saw a large UFO near the bomber. Another observer sighted the UFO and, with a 35 mm camera, shot 200 feet of film. The UFO showed on the film as a round, bright spot. (The film has never been released.)

## Fall 1951; Korean Area

Following are extracts from a letter to NICAP dated May 16, 1957, signed by Lt. Cmdr. M. C. Davies, U.S.N., then stationed at the U. S. Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida.

My background is a Naval Aviator with approximately 4000 hours. At the time of the incident I was deployed with an Anti-Submarine Squadron aboard a CVE class carrier. I was assigned Air Crew Training Officer and prior to deployment had attended CIC Air Controller School at Point Loma, also Airborne Air Controller School and Airborne Early Warning School both located at NAS, San Diego. .

It was at night, I was riding with a radar operator which I often did to check on their proficiency. We were flying at 5000 feet, solid instruments, with our wingman flying a radar position about 3 miles astern and slightly to our right or left. The target, which was slightly larger than our wingman, I picked up on our scope, had been circling the fleet; it left the fleet and joined up on us a position behind our wingman, approximately the same position he held on us.

I reported the target to the ship and was informed that the target was also held on the ship's radars, 14 in number; and for us to get a visual sighting if possible. This was impossible because of the clouds. The target retained his relative position for approximately 5 minutes and then departed in excess of one thousand miles per hour. He departed on a straight course and was observed to the maximum distance of my radar which was two hundred miles.

Upon completion of my flight an unidentified flying object report was completed, at which time I was informed that the object was held on ship's radars for approximately seven hours.

## July 1, 1952; Ft. Monmouth, N.J.

A radar tracking of two UFOs at Fort Monmouth, N. J. was one of a series of sightings which fit a definite pattern. It occurred at a time when the Air Force was swamped with UFO reports - good ones. [See Section XII, 1952 Chronology.] Also, it was the first of ten known incidents of UFOs tracked by radar during July 1952. (See chart).

The sequence of events, reported by the Air Force UFO project chief, was as follows.

7:30 a.m., Boston, Mass. A couple in nearby Lynn and an Air Force Captain in Bedford saw two F-94's which had been scrambled on an intercept mission. The Captain saw one and the couple saw two silvery cigar-shaped UFOs, which moved southwest across Boston, outspeeding the jets.

9:30 a.m., Ft. Monmouth, N. J. Radar tracked two UFO targets, also observed visually as two shiny objects. The UFOs approached slowly from the northeast, and hovered nearby at 50,000 feet for about 5 minutes.. Suddenly the blips on the scope accelerated and shot away to the southwest, confirmed by visual observation.

A few hours later, Washington, D. C. A physics professor at George Washington University, and dozens of others, saw a grayish UFO bobbing back and forth in the sky about 30-40 degrees above the north-northwest horizon.

None of the sightings could be explained.

## August 5, 1952; Haneda AFB, Japan

Just before midnight, two Air Force control tower operators noticed a brilliant light in the sky, and joined others watching it through binoculars. The UFO approached the base slowly and hovered, plainly visible from the control tower. Behind the brilliant light, the observers could see a dark circular shape