UFO Case Report:

B-29 Radar Visual, Multiple Witness Observations

Date: December 6, 1952
Location: Gulf of Mexico, United States

When watching the radarscope, Coleman observed two UFOs which he tracked at a speed in excess of 5.000 miles per hour, quite impossible for planes of the day.

Classification & Features

Type of Case/Report: MajorCase
Hynek Classification: 
Special Features/Characteristics: Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar

Full Report / Article

Source: UFOs at Close Sight (Patrick Gross)
[go to original source]

Just before dawn on December 6, 1952, on a bright moonlight night, a B-29 bomber of the US Air Force was cruising at the altitude of 18.000 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, 100 miles south of Louisiana, on a bearing which has not been disclosed.

The B-29 had been on a night training flight and the mission was at its end, the plane was now traveling back to his home base.

The crew comprised:

Captain John Harter, flight commander
Lieutenant Sidney Coleman, radar operator
Master Sergeant Bailey, assistant radar operator to Lieutenant Coleman Staff Sergeant Ferris, assistant radar operator to Lieutenant Coleman

Lieutenant Coleman was watching his radarscope, waiting to detect he coastline. At 05:25 local time, he saw a fast moving target on the radarscope, approaching the plane from ahead, at the relative direction of 12 o'clock. What puzzled Coleman is that between each sweep of the radar, the object seemed to have moved 13 nautical miles towards the B-29, which he knew was a speed impossible to any known aircraft.

Lieutenant Coleman used his stopwatch to measure the sped of the object and calculated that it was flying at the speed of 5.240 miles per hour.

He then decided to alert the flight commander, Captain Harter. Harter replied that such as speed was "impossible" and asked Coleman to re-calibrate his radar set.

As Coleman was re-calibrating his radar set, four other blips of an unknown nature appeared on his radarscope, but also on Captain Harder's radarscope and on the navigator's scope, also at the relative position of 12 o'clock, and also approaching the B-29 at high speed.

Coleman was done recalibrating the radar set; he actually found out that the calibration was correct from the start and that the radar was functioning correctly.

At this time, one of the four blips on the radarscope left the group of the four blips and accelerated, approaching the B-29, coming very near. Master Sergeant Bailey noted that, and rushed to the right waist blister to try to see what the object was.

Bailey was totally bewildered to see that indeed at the expected position, an object was visually visible; a blue lit object streaking by the plane far enough to the right side of the plane, circling around it.

At this moment, a second group of blips appeared on all three radar set, seen by all, as the crew was now aware that there was something strange on the radar set. The new group of object also appeared at the relative position of 12 o'clock, they were rushing towards the bomber but this time their courses missed the bomber by several miles. Their speed was calculated with the sop watch; it was also 5.000 miles per hour.

At 05:31 local time, the radar set was clear again. The crew who has been on his nerves started to relax a little. But then a third group of blips appeared on the scope, also coming from their 12 o'clock position. Lieutenant Coleman was using the stopwatch again and Master Sergeant Bailey was doing the calculation: the objects of this third group moved at a pace above 5000 miles per hour. This time, it was the flight navigator who rushed to the right waist blister, and he could see two of the unidentified object: they appeared as blue-white lights streaking at a fantastic speed.

Meanwhile, Captain Harter was studying his radarscope; he noted that forty miles behind the B-29, at the relative position of 6 o'clock, a group of five object was cutting the flightpath of the B-29, and turned as to follow the B-29 from behind. They were heading straight to the B-29 at fast speed, then slowed down when they were closing in on the B-29. The remained right there at the back of the B-29 for ten seconds.

Meanwhile, a larger blip had appeared on the radarscopes. This blip made a motionless half inch spot on the radarscopes, a size impossible to any known plane.

The group of five objects pacing the B-29 then turned, and started to accelerate. The entire crew saw on their radarscope that the group of five approached the huge motionless blip and seemed to merge into it. Now, only the large blip remained on the scope. In a moment, the huge blip took speed.

Coleman called Harter on the intercom and told him that he and Bailey clocked the huge blip. Coleman said: "You won't believe this. It was making over 9000 miles per hour."

Harter replied: "I believe it, all right. That's just what I figured."

Case ID: 16 edit: 16

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