Project 10073 Record Card and Air Intelligence Information Report: Unidentified Flying Objects Sighted by GCA Radar at Keflavik, Iceland

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (IR-110-52) detailing a series of radar sightings that occurred on March 13, 1952, at Keflavik Airport, Iceland. The report documents that a GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) team, while working with a local C-47 aircraft on practice runs, observed eight separate unidentified targets on their radar scope over a period of 57 minutes. The first target was picked up at 0712Z. The GCA Traffic Director, Master Sergeant J. W. Kelly, reported the sightings to the tower, which then relayed the information to the Base Operations Officer, Captain Frank Schreiber. A C-47 aircraft, piloted by Captain Clyde B. Knipfer, was vectored to the targets' locations to attempt a visual interception. Despite climbing to 10,000 feet, the aircrew was unable to make visual contact with any objects, citing poor weather conditions and cloud layers. The radar operator reported that the objects exhibited extreme speeds, noting they were faster than F-86 aircraft he had previously clocked on the same equipment. The preparing officer, Captain Charles J. Fovley, provided an assessment of the incident, noting that the lack of specific altitude and speed data in the initial reports was likely due to the technical limitations of the AN/MPN-1C radar system. The report concludes with an intelligence assessment that the radar returns were likely 'ghosts or angels'—radar phenomena that are not well understood but can produce returns indistinguishable from real aircraft. The document includes copies of the original Project 10073 record cards, certified statements from the personnel involved, and related teletype communications between the base and higher commands. The incident was also reported via CIRVIS (Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings) and was evaluated by the Air Defense Command as a possible Soviet reconnaissance effort, though the final intelligence assessment leaned toward radar phenomena.