AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT: Unidentified Radar Target

This Air Intelligence Information Report, dated March 1, 1950, documents an unidentified radar target encounter that occurred on December 26, 1949. The incident involved an RB-29 aircraft, identified by tail number 42-94113, which was conducting a routine training mission from Bermuda to the United Kingdom. While positioned approximately 500 miles southeast of Newfoundland at coordinates 43° 45'N 40° 47' W, the aircraft's APQ-13 radar set detected an unidentified object. According to the report, the object approached the aircraft from the rear at a speed of approximately 600 miles per hour. The aircraft executed a 90-degree turn, and the object subsequently faded from view after two miles. The report explicitly states that the object was not sighted visually by the crew. The document was prepared by Major Norman N. Perlberg of the 23rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and signed by Colonel William A. Adams, Director of Intelligence for the Strategic Air Command. The report is marked as unclassified and notes that it was declassified after 12 years under DOD Directive 5200.10.