Request for Analysis of Electronic Sighting - Kadena AFB, Okinawa, 3 October 1951

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (IR-25-52) dated 25 June 1952, concerning an electronic radar sighting of an unidentified object on 3 October 1951 near Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa. The report details the tracking of a high-speed object by the 529th AC&W Group at Site #51. The object was detected on the AN/CPS-1 search radar. Operators described the object as a solid, 'sausage-shaped' blip, approximately two miles wide and four miles long, which maintained a constant velocity and exhibited a rapid 90-degree change in direction. The object was tracked at an estimated speed of 2520 miles per hour and an altitude of 49,000 feet. The report includes extensive technical analysis, including horizontal and vertical coverage diagrams, and concludes that the object was likely a manufactured, possibly guided, missile equipped with an 'S' band radar beacon transponder. The report notes that other radar sites in the area failed to detect the object, likely due to differences in operating frequencies (L and P bands versus the S band used by the object). The document includes multiple enclosures, such as radar plots, survey profiles, and coverage diagrams, which were used to evaluate the sighting. The report was reviewed by the Technical Analysis Division of the Air Technical Intelligence Center, which noted that while two radar experts had conflicting explanations, further theorizing would be pure conjecture. The final analysis, prepared by Mr. Anton of Philco Technical Representative, argues that the object's flight characteristics and radar signature point to a man-made missile.