Unidentified aircraft reported 14, 15 November 1950

This document archive contains a series of military endorsements and reports regarding unidentified aerial phenomena observed in November 1950 near Key West, Florida, and a separate incident from November 1949 in California. The primary focus is on two sightings reported by the Fleet All-Weather Training Unit Atlantic (FAWTULANT) on November 14 and 15, 1950. In the first incident, ground radar tracked an unidentified target at 15,000 feet traveling at 480 mph, which subsequently faded from the scope. An F6F-5N pilot attempted to intercept but could not close for a visual. The second incident involved a visual contact by an experienced pilot who described a silver, cigar-shaped aircraft with no lights that followed F6F-5N aircraft. The radar return for this object was noted as twice the size of an F6F.

Internal military correspondence shows a bureaucratic process of investigation and evaluation. The Eastern Air Defense Force and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) requested further information, expressing skepticism about the unconventional nature of the targets. ATIC eventually concluded that there was no substantial evidence to suggest the objects were unconventional, proposing instead that they were likely non-scheduled civil transport aircraft (such as a DC-6 or Constellation) or military aircraft on local training flights that were not reported to the Military Flight Service Center. The archive also includes an earlier 1949 report concerning a 'rocket' sighting by 374th Reconnaissance Squadron personnel in California, which was also investigated by the Office of Special Investigations. Throughout the documents, there is a consistent theme of military authorities attempting to reconcile radar and visual data with known flight patterns, often citing insufficient data or potential weather interference as factors in the radar detections. The documents are marked as unclassified and reflect the standard administrative handling of UAP reports during the early Cold War period.