Air Force radar in French Morocco records shifting V-, W- and M-shaped returns
December 16, 1953 · Northern French Morocco and the western Mediterranean · Sighting · Primary document linked
An Air Intelligence Information Report from the 316th Air Division, dated 23 December 1953, says radar operators of Detachment 2, 37th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, saw unidentified returns on a TPS-1D radar on the night of 16 December 1953. The returns lay in a straight line 20 to 40 miles out, numbered from one to twelve per sweep, kept changing between V, W and M shapes, stayed roughly stationary and faded after several minutes. No visual sighting is reported.
Era: Project Blue Book · Threads: Military and police witnesses
Why it matters (2/5)
A routine radar report whose authors pointed to likely conventional causes.
Caveats
The report offers its own explanations: the division's electronics personnel thought the returns could have been anomalous propagation, jamming from a ship-borne radar, or geese or storks in flight, and it calls one of these the logical cause. The height finder was out of service, so no altitude was measured.
Sources
- Air Intelligence Information Report Morocco 1953 (DOW-UAP-D160) (U.S. Department of War), primary