| UFOs, Unidentified Flying Objects - Flying | | | | moved the F-84 back and forth, convinced a |
| Saucers, whatever you care to call them, and | | | | flaw in the canopy's plexiglass was blanking |
| whether you believe in them or not, there are | | | | out the airplane, however, still none to be |
| too many sightings to be totally dismissed. | | | | seen. Whatever the object, it was darned |
| Here's an exceptional one extracted from | | | | high, or darned small. The object was |
| "Project Blue Book", written by "EJR" former | | | | traveling at approximately 300 miles an hour, |
| chief of the Air Force's project for | | | | as it was necessary to reduce engine power |
| investigating UFO reports. | | | | and "S" to stay under it. |
| | | | |
| The incident took place at Luke AFB, Arizona, | | | | He was beginning to get low on fuel about |
| the Air Force's advanced fighter-bomber | | | | this time so he hauled up the nose of the |
| school that is named after the famous | | | | jet, took about 30 feet of gun camera film, |
| "balloon buster" of World War I, | | | | and started down. When he landed and told his |
| Lieu¬tenant Frank Luke, Jr. It was a | | | | story, the film was quickly processed and |
| sighting that produced some very | | | | rushed to the projection room. It showed a |
| inter¬esting photographs. | | | | weird, thin, forked vapor trailbut no |
| | | | airplane. |
| The sky was clear except for a few high | | | | |
| cirrus clouds, late morning of March 3, 1953, | | | | Lieutenant Olsson and Airman Futch (veterans |
| when the pilot took off from Luke Air Base in | | | | of the UFO campaign of 1952) worked the |
| an F-84 jet, to add some more hours to his | | | | report over thor¬oughly. The photo |
| flight log. He had been flying F-51s in Korea | | | | lab confirmed that the trail was definitely a |
| and had recently started to check out in the | | | | vapor trail, not a freak cloud formation. But |
| jets. After take off, clearing the traffic | | | | Air Force Flight Service said, "No other |
| pattern, he climbed toward Blythe Radio, | | | | airplanes in the area," and so did Air |
| situated about 130 miles west of Luke. | | | | Defense Command, because minutes after the |
| | | | F-84 pilot broke off contact, the "object" |
| He'd climbed for several minutes and had just | | | | had passed into an ADIZAir Defense |
| picked up the coded letters BLH that | | | | Identification Zoneand radar had shown |
| identified Blythe Radio when he looked up | | | | nothing. |
| through the corner glass in the front part of | | | | |
| his canopyhigh at about two o'clock he saw | | | | There was one last possibility: an astronomer |
| what he thought was an airplane angling | | | | said that the photos looked exactly like a |
| across his course from left to right leaving | | | | meteor's smoke trail. But there was one |
| a long, thin vapor trail. He glanced down at | | | | hitch: the pilot was convinced that the speed |
| his altimeter and saw that he was at 23,000 | | | | of the object at the head of the vapor trail |
| feet. The object that was leaving the vapor | | | | was approximately 300 miles per hour. He was |
| trail must really be high, he remembered | | | | unsure how many miles had been covered, but |
| thinking, because he couldn't see any | | | | on first picking up Blythe Radio, whilst |
| airplane at the head of it. | | | | flying on Green 5 airway, he was |
| | | | approximately 30 miles west of his Air Base. |
| He altered his course a few degrees to the | | | | When the pilot had disengaged from the chase, |
| right so that he could follow the trail and | | | | a further radio bearing confirmed his |
| increased his rate of climb. Before long he | | | | position as almost up to Needles Radio, 70 |
| could tell that he was gaining on the object, | | | | miles north of Blythe. He could see a lake, |
| or whatever was leaving the vapor trail, | | | | Lake Mojave, in the distance. |
| because he was under the central part of it. | | | | |
| But he still couldn't see any object. This | | | | Was a high-altitude jet-stream wind the |
| was odd, he thought, because vapor trails | | | | reason for the smoke cloud? Futch checked |
| don't just happen; something has to leave | | | | thisno. The winds above 20,000 feet were the |
| them. | | | | usual westerlies and the jet stream was far |
| | | | to the north. |
| His altimeter had ticked off another 12,000 | | | | |
| feet and he was now at 35,000. Still | | | | Several months later I talked to a captain |
| climbing, the F-84 began to mush; it was as | | | | who had been at Luke when this sighting |
| high as it would go. The pilot dropped down | | | | occurred. He knew the F-84 pilot, whose |
| 1,000 feet and continued oneven when he was | | | | report he had heard in minute detail. Maybe |
| below the front of the trail, however, still | | | | not a confirmed believer, however, certainly |
| no sight of an airplane. This bothered him | | | | curious. "I never thought much about these |
| too. | | | | reports before," he said, "but I know this |
| | | | guy well. He's not nuts. What do you think he |
| Nothing in 1953 flew over 55,000 feet except | | | | saw?" |
| a few experimental airplanes like the D-558 | | | | |
| or those of the "X" series, and they don't | | | | I don't know what he saw. Maybe he didn't |
| stray far from Edwards AFB in California. | | | | travel as far as he thought he did. If he |
| | | | didn't, then I'd guess that he saw a meteor's |
| He couldn't be more than 15,000 feet from the | | | | smoke trail. But if he did know that he'd |
| front of the trail, and you can recognize any | | | | covered some 80 miles during the chase, I'd |
| kind of an airplane 15,000 feet away in the | | | | say that he saw a UFOa real one. And I find |
| clear air of the sub stratosphere. | | | | it hard to believe that pilots don't know |
| | | | what they're doing. |
| He looked and he looked and he looked. He | | | | |