A blinking light circles an F-86D interceptor over Guam; the Air Force checks a weather balloon
December 31, 1956 · Over Guam, Mariana Islands · Sighting · Primary document linked
At 16:10Z on 31 December 1956 an alert pilot of the 41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, flying an F-86D in the Guam range holding pattern at night, saw a round, dime-sized white light that blinked in a steady rhythm pass under his aircraft. Thinking it was a B-47, he turned into it, but it turned with him and he could not close. It went south about 10 miles at his altitude, climbed to about 30,000 feet and came over the fighter, then circled him; with afterburner he still could not gain on it. It circled him again before low fuel forced him back to Andersen AFB after about ten minutes. No other traffic was known. A Far East Air Forces intelligence report (IR-7-57) records the case.
Era: Project Blue Book · Threads: Military and police witnesses
Why it matters (2/5)
A pilot's report that Air Force intelligence checked against a weather balloon; no further attention.
Caveats
The Weather Bureau had launched a lighted balloon about an hour and a half earlier, last tracked at 20,000 feet. The reporting officer wrote that if the balloon had malfunctioned and leveled off or descended it could possibly explain the sighting, but otherwise the object could not readily be explained. The pilot said it was not a balloon because it maneuvered with his aircraft and accelerated past it.
Sources
- Air Intelligence Information Report Guam 1956 (DOW-UAP-D156) (U.S. Department of War), primary