Documents / Report
This declassified U.S. Air Force compilation of unidentified flying object incidents 101 to 172 contains check-list reports from 1948 and 1945. Incident 101 covers the 18 February 1948 sky explosion over Norcatur, Kansas, with letters from Norman G. Markham suggesting a lunar spacecraft, Dr. Lincoln LaPaz's reply judging it a genuine meteorite fall, and witness statements. The final incident, 172, records George F. Gorman's 27 minute F-51 pursuit of a white light over Fargo on 1 October 1948, corroborated by tower controllers and Dr. Cannon.
From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 Includes a "Check-List - Unidentified Flying Objects" that contains details about the incident. Many summaries also include witness lists or statements and other narrative reports or descriptions.
“Hill”9 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
Mr. Jensen was on duty nine during the time Lt Gorman sighted the light over Fargo. There was not much traffic during the evening hours on that day. With the exception of the F-51 Gorman was flying there was no other plane from Fargo Air Field in the air. At 2050 hours he was advised that a plane from privately-owned field south of Fargo that Dr. Cannon had taken off in a Piper Cub and had asked permission to land at Fargo Air Field. At 2100 hours Lt Gorman called the tower asking if any other aircraft were in the air. He was given the position of the Piper Cub. Approximately 5 minutes later Gorman called again and stated that there was another aircraft in the air in approximately the same altitude as the Cub, but he stated that it could not be the Cub in view of its speed. He was advised that no other aircraft was in the air from Fargo and none other had signaled from other air fields. Lt Gorman advised then that he was going to follow the other aircraft. Mr. Jensen then stepped to the south window of the tower and saw the object approximately 1,000 ft from the tower in a northwestern direction passing very fast over the field. Taking a pair of binoculars he observed the object as it passed over the field. He was, however, unable to distinguish any shape or form other than what appeared to be the tail-light of a very fast-moving craft. He did now, however, see the maneuvers carried on by the object nor the F-51 of Lt Gorman. He saw the object only once and then only as it passed in a straight line over the field. Mr Jensen heard no sound, noticed no odor and saw no exhaust streaks in the air. The object appeared to be only a round light, perfectly formed, with no fuzzy edges or rays leaving its body. The edges were clear cut. No other attached shape was observed. The main identifying characteristic was the high rate of speed at which it was apparently traveling.
Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 210 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.