PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1}. CONCl USI011S I. 12. LOCATION 3. OATETUI!.: GP.OtJP , ... TYPE OF O~Sl:~VATION Local_ .99 0 I}!?~------o :XGmuldYtsvol 0 GrouncfRndor : ~-PHOTOS I 6. SOURCE 0 Yf'!o I liT,' '~Jro-t' I I . NUII!lFR O F OOJECTS 1. L!:' CT:1 OF OBSERVATION 10. BRIEF SU'-~ \ARY OF SIGHTING Wo~ Bo lloo n oboLiy G ulloo n Po::~olo:y Uolloon Pro Lobl y Airunft Po~:.ibly Aircraft Wn s A~tonuonlcc! Probo l,l y A,.trunorn or.ol P os,ibly A -.t r\lnomicol ln!ouffoci"l'\f O oto fo r F.volu otion Shlny-r:v?tal color. Clrculnr Ghapecl. Scc: ted to clo~e on D-36 then rn:lclc ohrup Overtoolr: n-JG nt 3:-: n-3G ot.Jo.Jcd. :tic;ht lmvc been fiehtcro hm-rcvcr <lcs- ript'Lon prcctuucc thio. Too bud o.lt1tutl c o: ~-36 is Wlkno,m ATJC YORM J29 (R I::V 26 SJ::r S 2) Eovcrc d ncu.r n-3G then di3a ecttinu omaller. I t. \ll." ilr't o I t o I FA'Il, l.i ~": l'~F f'j "0 n.,~'A"S'o41 '.'iiO't01(TI4Fitf\Flo\ lf'iGFtr'j\O,,r'"~H'jlll,\'l '("l\'t'C ~t IJ '.tlllf<\IJTI,rJ ~ r II ~ lJ It< e.t,; I n: DECLASSIFIED A)'TER 12 YEA . .:;. THE lJNIVERSITY Or ARIZOl~A INSTITUTE 01" t\TMOSI'IIEHIC PHYSICS Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr. Project Bluebook Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio Dear Major Quintanilla: unsuccessful effort to locate in the of the B-36 incident at Davis- Following our second Bluebook files any record Monthan AFB, I have asked in a letter to me, an acco remember \-Ti th confidence. the Bluebook files, a copy put doto~n, details as he can still I enclose, for your insertion into of Maj. Pestalozzi's letter of Please file with it my present letter of transmi t tal, I shall put down a few additional pertinent points. has told me, in previous conversations, tha t he was an air telligence officer from about 1950 to 1960, and was stationed at Davis-Montha n during 1951-53. Field investiga- tion of UFO sightings was one of his routine duties, not only at Davis-Monthan but also at other duty stations. The B-36 case , which he believes occurred in 1952, was one in \vhich he himself happened to be an observer. Although he has now made a numb~r of efforts to run down clues to the precise date, the latter still remains uncertain, as I indicated to you in my last visit at WPAFB on June 30. lie recalls filing a rather thick report on this B-36 case , the thickest he ever filed on a UFO. It included not only his OttTn observations and those of the B-36 crew which he personally interrogated, but also that of an airman \vho \va s standing beside him during most of the time of his own observation. The airman (\-Those name he has forgotten) was coming out of the base hospita l just as about to enter (for treatment of an inj inted out to me today that approxi- mately six or seven other Air Force personne l at scat tered locv.- tions around the base also reported seeing the UFO's from the ground. Because their descr matched closely those given by himself and the airman not (at least a s far as he now recalls) include s official report. I ha 1e queried losely about the length of time during which he had the UFO' s under observation. He estimates it at something like five minutes. lie actually saw the two Major Hector Quintanilla UFO's overtake the westbound D-36, and he held them under observation as the aircraft passed overhead until the objects departed. His recollection, asof today, was that his line of sight to the B-36 at the time the UFO's move d into position was at an angle of elevation of about 50 degrees (estimated uncertainty about 5-10 degrees) 1 and the UFO's departed when the line of sight to the air- craft w<1s about the same angle above the \-.'estern horizon . The aircraft was almost due east of the base when the objects joined it, and it lay due west when they departed. Its heading was almost due west during tl1e enti eriod of observation. (In an earlier conversation, estimated the total time of observation at perhaps 3 minutes. The latter time would be a bit more compatible with an esti- mated flight altitude of 20,000 ft and the estimated angles of line of sight. But every one of these estimates is based on recollection~ of an event 14 years old, so perhaps all tl1at is now warranted is the conclusion that the UFO's paced the B-36 for "several minutes." The latter time is compatible 'tTi th the fact that all of the crew, save the pilot, were able to get back to the starboard blister to see the UFO before it-left.) As he sketched the relative positions, ~ recalled an important detail. The UFO near e a rcraft was at a level distinctly lower than the mid-section of the fuselage (see sketch). He recalled that the crew described loolcing some- what down upon it, and the blister itself is below mid-section. This may explain why there was no marke d aerodynamic disturbance of the aircraft's flight characteristics, one of the very puzzling features of the incident. enclosed account does not directly state it, mentioned to me ~hat the B-36 crew was a bit shaken by this experience. He pointed out to me that, after the UFO's departed, the B-36 radioed Davis-Monthan control tower and demanded permission to land immediately. It was just after they landed that Operations called him over to interrogate the crew. as related to me a number of other UFO cases whi gate in the early 1950's in the Southwest. I regret that our search of the Bluebook files during my June 7-8 visit did not turn up the one at Sequoia National Park where the ranger and his wife were iving in a jeep when overtaken by a disc-shaped UFO. said the rush of air bent tree-I tops, blew the ranger's ha o , and left the ranger with the impression that it had even rocked the jeep. This would be a good case study. If you ever run across it, I'd like to know of Major Hector Quintanilla Page Three it. Unfortunately, here as in the case of the D-36, dates are uncertain, though he'd put it at 1952 or 1953. Other very interesting UFO incidents in the Tucson area in the same period have been described but in my two visits to your office, I've had u :in locating them, so I suppose they're not going to show up now. If you should ever coma upon anything bearing on the B-36 case, please let me know. It seems to me to be an extremely important UFO incident. Sincerely, ~James E. McDonald Senior Physicist