1. ~ATE TIME CiAOUP HUMBER OF OBJECTS LENGTH Of OBSIRVATION 48 Seconds, 36 Seconds TYPE OF OBSERVATION Ground- Radar From 120 Deg 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE River. HarYland CONCLUSION Radar Anomalies BRIE' SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS Radar r~ort. of returns indicating report.ed speed of 4,800 - 6,000 lmots. Inronnation gi. ven wide coverage in Newspapers c wire se1vices. SEE CASE FIIE Nav.y evaluation indicat e s tha~ t h e returns were due to some other electronical device within t he Station or an intermittant abnorrr.al1 ty l'tithin the circuitry of the Radar set .UN CLASS l FlED wre t racl.:ltd into a range of t.,.uty cllee llhere they both faded. Cal- culated speed 1a 4300~000 )onts max. Abcut 12 aeconde a..rt.r bo~h radar tn.rgeta faJed .troa the ac:ope. a single target reappea.red at tt.a ,point of fade and traa.kecl out 1n the reciprocal. diJ"ectioza. About t1ve minutes later another cdtdlar target eutered t!le scope at 1"orty n1ltta bea:riD.iJ 120 and .... -aa trackecl. toward the utena rol' a u12'tance oi .. 30 ell At 10 :=Ues .. roJP the atation, the tar&et t.t.ieci oOCDenta.rUy tben ra:Lj)pe ored at. lO :oti1ea batt.ri~ lOCott 312.::1 '1At.S ~tae.lc01d "n ~1 lu~1U3 untU i~ disap?tared. ~t ~x1ua radar rana (40 ail~). Ili. tfanaer o~ Obaerta"tion Looa\ioa ot ObeCI'Yel'e -Patuen'\ RiTer Ua4ar Ail' 'l'ra1"fie! Control. Center. Anwaaa looatioa -38~1'15 Ronh, 7624o ilen. b. (1) l'UU7tTOll Ztun'\ D., ACC, UD, BacJar Appreaob COD'tzoller, ttxcelle!R. (2) n,IAOIJ, J"- D., ACC, USJ, RA7CC Watoh Superrtsor VII. n. CIG UJL/T!ilp 3l~/D!111P!' 4T/ACT 30.7la UNCL,~S.SJ FJ EO ~ Geve n tenth -c irx ua 'ill!:. ..:one ::-(. :ont~ted Waath!D.too Au-Ro.,t ~!'tic Co ntrol C8nter via ~,...1; '!.ir:c :or con1'1rr..A't1 on of ~ar c:ootact.. C:o:1ter u~vb.U no ~raffie in t~e r1re1, nor c:ould t.'le:r .a1n rade.r contact. llo funnel'" ac1.iun taken. li. Air O!>!;ra.!on, Ot:,f'1e.eJ" s. Coa!E':!nts. The cirawutancea ereati.ng tb1a npon vue prcepted by a pbDne call bCIIl a l.ooal radio a~moua er to tbe SIO a.t.. &bon 2000L o ~ Juu&r7 1965 in.quirizsa abou-t a r'IIDlOl" t"l'oa au tmdiacl.oecl aDcl vnot.tio1al I&YT IIOW'Oe. The in.tlliJ7 vaa b&ed ~ the rteor' oJ" eYeD' \A&t bk eeeure4. a~ abcut 19 30Z 011 19 .Decem~ 1965. Tvo of the obHrter 1e41a-tel.y re~arded tbe r&Gar acope indications p,a an electrozd: tl'ee.k &nd. 'tAQU&ht no z:uore ot it. 'Ibe ot.he.r obMrYe7 dil!CU3AM the 1ui4ellt n-eely rltb ather .caember o~ the d1Tio1oa. ny la Ja!l\.l&.r7 1965 the infortHtion had t)xp&Aiied. to a joki%18 situation. Until t h e tille o~ the iJletuiry, !movl~ or the eY.,n't. va.a li.llited to toe t .hree iUSCC watchataders p.lua thoae tbat. ;AJA.7 haYe OYerbeard "barr.clts or be.r roao tY"J,. eon,.tSTa.tion. Until 'tbe ti:ae o the tele-pbone inquiry DO uperY1Mtry _perosmel had been .ade &VI'U'e of '"'he unu.ual. eighti~a. Ba4 this been clo11e it. 1 doubttul that. a:trf report. votl.ld haYe bea made d.ue t.o 'tha nature of radar pre8eutat.ion. lnYeatig&tiona and diacuutaion Yitb he air aontrol.ler ob1JerT..ra !LJ\d others reYeal the tol.lovi.Dc add1 Uoal 1.oror-t.io1u a . 'l'b.e C:~A ndar Ya8 not being peaked n~ repaired by aay teehaicia . 'fbia racler hci bee rovtl.De~ ohecked. one d&T ~Gl" sntl wu reooortecl 1A aeelle~ eoaet'\icm. b . Only oae J"ep n ~... IICOJ!e or trut C~lSA 1raa sat on tbe 4o t'lUe l'ange) th nbw three aeop .. aero the roc::u ...,..re set oa the 1 0 :zrlla Daale nncl were DO\ oheek 4 tor at ilr clau. 'r.'te ""~ se'tt.ina s oc. ~e acopoe depen4 upoa '\be ei.rauastaDCea and operator's d~ire. radar c~ka4 t.o Teri1';y the :d;;nal 1m\ reTeal4cl d . Each ONe~ saw a ra4aJ" a16nal... Though not one or tbem cl:li.lla to haYe D the eM ire &X"OlQ ot s~a thY ,sv eo~lec:t 1 ~l=r they ~ baaieal~7 tQ tbe eiae, shape. 41ree~iou, s~ed, rsn~e ~nd !~d e he ~na l3.~t. outbound !ndicat.!on J~Ss cl~:iJ!l~d tl) hAY!') b n .:le.:,n by onJ.y ::1:1~ nbu.,rr.,::-mo inte!'!>rt!+.-ed ~he chan.-~ c f locftttn'!'l ,f' lnti1.cJII.t1.,n ~.-:t~r ~'\"' UNCLASS\F\ED~ t . !\o other radar at arq locatioa is known to baYe t1cqu.irt!<1 ab1Uar .;. the ob1arnrs agree they hsve ne"Ter seen any ndar tArset similar t o tile cbera.cterinica ot this !Dd1oatioDI they IU.so agree t b e y ~ve :lf!Yer 'IIi tne<l 1nt.r~erence o~ this I!& ture. ~a= ooserYera :a~s of ai~i!1cacce t~ initially ~auae bhe7 ~elt there waa 1. The 11141 Ti dUal ( s) wo in!anaed th local radio annouuce.r ia unlruOWJh It is DO~ 1'el.t to b4a D7 o~ thtt obasnen. J. btormation relati DC to this lneiclent vas releuri t.o the P"blio t".'CliS a ~\11''! 0\her than loeal. 8horUy ~r the inYaatieation nartecl = long bef'ora 1~ ,.. acapltrted. 'The data praAelJted by the intormatiou considered fAc:tul a r.d 3t&te.~cnta 1:>7 t~ obael"'Ters inc1.1c:ate radar preMnt&ti~n.a o~ extreme ai,aa. exceptional a peecl aDd ereat brilliance. I!o :unnTera ( turua) were eYer obaerree. T'ae initial preaentatioza OA t!le Kcpe waa ill the fez=. oi 2 oblong rshapecl ndioationa proeecd.1ft8 directly in a l!ne tovarc:l the aeo~ center. :'he artu .1D41onioD vaa yositionecl about 210 rela~i .... to the track abovt 3 ;'!lil .frOID tba cloer one. ':he indicatiour~ ver e tracked !or 3 s uccesi'Te 8'Veep s ( dx seooncls per avep) . They appear11d on t.ha ecope at. &bout. 40 mil 30 aUes and 20 =11 at vb.icb poizr\ they :taded. The next 3 sw:cHs1Ye nHps reftal.H 110 intormaticm. ~"he aevettth sw:c:essive SYeop re"Teelecl a alD(ile 1D41A:Iation at e.l::out 20 l'ilcs; the 2 reetnt' S'.tee~a vitb ipdiaat.iou ahowfl4 it at &bout JO aDd ~0 :tileft raapeo~i'Tel7. !'be tr .. k was ~h reoi])roeal o~ the inbo~Del traoll. Abou" 5 minu~n l.ater aDOt.ber 1-1 1D41oat1on abovefl at 4o rail ~ree auceeeoi'Te :rwttepa diapl.aye4 it. at abollt 30. 20 au 10 mUea :rea:paot.i .... l;r. 'l'be next ucweaai.... .veep atovecl it 11:. a. ~-~e ana the !'ol !owins 2 we~ .-1 th 1Dd1eatioaa bouecl it at 10 u4 20 a1los respeeti'Tel.y and ou't.bOUDd aDd traella abOu~ 100~ Ybare it n.a lat aeeu. :"lut last tvo 1n41cat1ona vv. ccrtieecl (r~portad.) ~ c one ob rser.-er. '1'he t'a..b !lov a large 1Dd1cation ao'T1ns tO'Ir8.J"d the acope oenter and a C:.~w lla t.lte ac:ope cezzter at a a~ed ~ about 6ooo knota. Men a-.ppocitioD would 1nrt1a~t while in the tNie a nee.rly !:l!tta:taneou. reenal. or 41rect1en OJ" a:1 extrea.ttl.7 tigbt and rapid ~ occ:urd both Yit~out los !I or S.,e'!4 .Al.thOU!h a lcsiC/U expl&Mt1on Of the phencr.ena 1 IJOt a.ailbl it ia f'el\ the 1::.d1c:lt.!on ns s t'al:se t.&r&C!t due to .. uroe~a~ure in~ion, um.u" 1e l interl:Jreoce cruat.Jtd h7 o~her ~lM:tl"\lniC devi~.-, or :.ere.l:r & opur!~ r9t~. ':.. ! f't 'Jooic d ela.y i n the sul:z::insion of' this re:;m-t 1 ' cu~ to i tHl~U1 t:r t o l'ir:1lj t:St<lbli,.l! a N\Y nnd t...i::.t! G~ t::~ o"JG~rvu .. ~.,n. .::a t,~ r or e r<.~ure CJt her rac~or~ 'lod rrtata~ents t:end to c o r 1 ohorat.e -:h.!. a t!;,et tlhd J a't.e. t!OH.,,~r, :.:rl3 Jootll 10 t l.iJtc<>Jn~ .!orl'tT'l.,.tel.;r ~!1ft ~.!.l1!2:S n-: :.'1? :ouoL.e r UNCLASSIFIED and l~ns erienced ob~erver Ybo or1g1Dlly stated the evnts occurad on 29 Deauaber, and then later, :?B December. It is 1elt. the -precise time :1nd day may M obt&inea t'rCD a tapec:l recordin~ of the br!e! conTersational inqlliry to llaabiJS~oo ARTCC ( ne per~. IX) Ma:Jy tapes ue "~lable ~or f!acb of the davs 3nd :\..'q'!'CC ia prnaestns these in ~tn effort to loeste the tsr~ 1nf!u1r:r a:td anset". 'This inYeatigatioo vlll continue l:trt m&j take sevenl -iays t'> dstftrmine. X!I. ;:.r;ne XIII. Cont14e!l\1&.1. COKlfABnlC 3 'I SCSUMA..'JJ, .rn ~N<Pi;bt-i'atterMD AP:B Al'THt Y.a,!Ol" ~I~A:fi"T...J.A, UNCLA~SIFJED NAVEX08-4181 Uu lOA CIAGlNT urrus o,our DO NOr CUAA rHAOIJ(;H COMJNJHICAIIOH (One boz mwt be cbeck.edl ~ Rf.GUlAII IWL 0 SKeW. DG.MitY MGISillltl> MAIL Saval Dis~rict~ WashinJton, D. c. WashiBitOA Navy Y&rd LJatblnatoD, D. c. ~ NAVAL SPEED LEn ER- Permlts dilpotch or informal language. May be eent (1) with encloeuret, (2) In a window onveJope (sfza 8~' X 3~'), lf oonten!a are not cla.Mifled 03 oonli dential or higher, (3) to both naval and nonnaval activitlet. Is packcqed 500 sheets of white or of one oolor: yeUow, p .nk. or qreeo. ~ubj: Unident1!1od FlyiJ ODjeets; suppleaental ro~ort of Uy SJ'eecllettr AO 370t) ser Ol of 3 J:an 196S statd a:l investi- natioa ~ boint contln~oJ to locato t h proci'a tiQe and dat o f th radar si~hti~i That ti2o has now beon detor~ined t~ b~ 19~054Z vhich is ~ala~ively close to t~e estio~ted tiae and date reported ottic1al1y. Enclosure (1) is a copleto rolate4 to tbo 1aeldat. tr3nscrlo t of all conversation R. W. SCHUNA~M, JR. (l) Traascri~t tro ARTCC tap recordinJ CO~NAlPrt:.IC A;1J r :r 'llt., J\Pl ..,.~.._-SENDER'S MAfl.ING ADDRESS o a shown a t left; or -ply l"_L!cw un .,.._, lop!t :lassiHfKl o w UNCLASS\FJED. T~A~SCRI?T F~O~ A~TCC TAPB ~tCOkDt"l~ l,lT UPO I,T Cllaamal 26 PXT Ua~niJtoa ka r P~tuxo~at Soctor hi~ft sltit~d tbls is PAt~xeat (uaiAtel) fifty one liae. ?Ai A~ t~xeat s~etor an ~o boJ, i, hi ~ltlt d. I t a couple tar Jow2 boro. ~ust b doi:1~ t~Q t~ous d 'not,. 1 just waata ,,. if th~y ~3~ e~. ?lT A~ they're loTty ah 1 ~eo~ lotln~ the aud p\ckia~ th ~? forty a11es sout~oaJt ot Patuxo~t ov~r to a~ victor o~ area ~ t~ey'r Dorthwtt bouad and tho~ t~ey go i~ r ~11 and c back out ~n~ t~ey'r wall oyr a thousact kftots --tby'r liYint .. aoJutro~s big tar,ets J ~ t~ forty ile cal her t~T j~P ahot tn ;o:ll a sweep. DC.\ t\.l aft "it arcuu~4 aa all the way u~ tewarda Salisbury way. '~7 Yh well it'll be jus~ a 11ttl ~it sou'~ of Salisbury. nCA South of $alisburr A~ '#ut~t ot 3a11Jbury , I 1vss. t ., pickinJ u~ ~ littl~ bit nf 1ntorfgTence ~11 th ~a~ J):"~ fr.,.,. u:,.,ut ah t"ie:.ty ;:,ilo~ ~\) t iHt sauth oi S:~lis n~ry u~ Vietor one t o ~bout . ~ t~irt7-iive ~ilQ~ t~ tho Enclo,-.re UN C LJ\SS.l EiQ Yeah, I'~ p1~lln~ up Ch~t J~terf~rencd too d ~lctiq: it ~n evory ti~8 t hey ~owo inbound. ?IT Ta~, aa4 t~es l ( ?us) I nevor saw a t et Ya like s bfore. I nr saw on~ 'ive luch a oi~ radar rotura. T~ey ziye a r~d~r retur~ DD t~is r3dar 'c~n ob t t~ sl~ ot ~ ~neil ~r~ssr. . r~ot (pa~se) I'~ not ~icki n~ t hat up dt all. ~Ottinl (~au~o) ah ( UI) th~t l rf~rence rxr I'~ o~ly ~lcii~1 it u p on the on the s rt ra~ge. I'D not ~lckin; it up on the lons r A rqdar DCA Is that ri~!ht. PXT fJt.ty. U1~CLASSJFIED 5 Jan 65, Sigbtings (:tADAn), at P2.tuxent Radar, Navy t1issile Test Cente.c, ~a:uxent River, ryland on t h e night of 29 December 64 and 4 January 1964, Supposedly these nights. First i:1formation received regarding these sightings '.laS f'rom Major l4aston Jacks; SAPOI a t appr oxj mately 0930, 5 Jan 65 Asociatec Press ms a release of sighting. S ighting w.s b y t he Patuxent Radar a t Patuxent Naval Station, P~tuxent River, Maryland. Radar track on 29 Dec indicated speeds of in ~ . .-.:esa of 4, 800 mph also radar t rack on night of 4 J..m 65 indicated same thing plus having a 180 deg turn. vie then called Pub lic Information Office, at Patuxant, area code 301, 8 63- 3111, ext 7450, Lt Volz. He said that a eport had not been made io AOC. Also said that a time mention ed for the night of 29 DEC 64 w.s 130. We later found out it w.s 20 30 local time on 29th, and 0130Z/30 Dec 64. He said that there was not much information on it as yet a s they were in a conference regarding this matter. He is s ending us, a s info, a complete comprehensive report by Navy speed letter w~th SAFOI als o info. Major Realson, DOD Pres s .Duty Offic er on the n ight of 4 Jan 65 apparentl y made news release. Lt Dvoranik, Chief Information Navy Officer in Wash ington had the same information that Lt Volz ba d ava i lable. Lt Dvoranik's numbers are OX 7 - 5342 , OX 7 -5343 , a t Pentagon. Captain Bretthauer, ftXC Liaison offi~er checked out inf o regarding ADC. This included checking some 20 radar si~es i n the same general area of Patuxent. Negative a l l the way. Also ADC did not have any reports from Patu xent. FTD's press desk was notified t o s e e if anything had come o ve r the wires r egarding thi s sighting. Negative reply. Call f' r om SAFOI at approximatel y 1500 hours, 5 Jan. They indicated that repor t for 4 Jan targets was false. Mr Steponkus from the Journal Heral d called Major Cu intanilla, after duty hours, a t his home requesting information regarding this s ighting. TOld t~ that ~e had not received a report on this aa y et. At Appr.>rl:aatel.y 1630 hours Major Quintanilla, also received a ca l l from ~tajor .:"'as"tell Jacks. He tol d Maj Jacks that ther e w.s no additional matter. Called ?-iajor Mills, meteor logical liaison officer, and requested -weather data for hours of 2030, 29 Dec 64 to 0130, 30 Dec 64, local tL~e at Patuxent. He will try to obtain this data fo~ us today. Contacted Captain Bretthauer and requested an official from ADC giving the checkout of the 20 radar sites in the area wnich was given over the on 5 Jan 65. Major Gregory from AFSC (SCF) called. People there were bugging him regarding this sighting. Told him we did not have an official report as yet and that information of this type should be obtained from SAFOI, Major Jacks. Also mentioned to him that ADC did not have any tracks in that area. At approximatel y 1115 we contacted Lt Volz at Patuxent. The investigation board was in session all day yesterday, 5 Jan. Therefore, speed letter was not sent out. The reports that were released are quite inaccurate. Much conflicting data. Speed was more likely 24oo knots. The ground e lectronics people were still checking the radar out and the reports. The report bad evidently started by a rumor with someone (youngster) talking about to\111 and laughing about it. He suggested that interest ln the area vas provoked by this being the first report of this nature at that station and also by the article vri tten by (Major) Mr Donald E Keyhoe in TRUE Magazine in Jan 65 issue. People from town requesting information on this called. Taey-wepe ~9l<i-ua1o-t.'Ai.a-waa-99JRP*ei;ely. They were told that there was no information at all on this matter. Lt Volz at this time told Information Office in Washington (Navy) that this was a completel y unconfirmed report. For at this time the information he had was quite scanty. As of 1115 no technical report (analysis) had been made. And that information provided at first was conflicting, inaccurate and in error. He will call us back this af~ernoon regarding this matter and for additional information. At approximately 1130 ~ noti~ied SAFOI (Sara Hunt) of the above conversation and gave her the above infor.3ation. FTD's press service (Amn Henry) gave us an extract from the wires, pertaining to tllis sighting. They willoontinue to look for more information. 11 Jan 65 -Received Msg from Patuxent at 1100 brs. At 1130 received a call from Lt Volz at Patuxent asking if we bad received the report as yet. Told him we bad just received the message. A preliminary analysis was made from this message by Vincent D Bryant, GS-14, Electronics Engineer, F'l'D, TDEE. At 1145 we gave preljmjnary analysis of what was suspected to S~10I over phone. ~ Jan 65 -Received Navy Speedletter, at 1000 brs,. At Lt Volz called at 1038, be was at Wright-Patterson refuelling and will be here for approx 45 ~inutes, wanted to know 'What we thought about report. We called him back at 1100 hours. At 1110 Navy Commander called regarding Patuxent Speedletter, he gave the correct time of sighting. Also told Major Quintanilla that this time was confirmed by a repl~ of tapes. At 1130 we submitted Navy report to Mr Vincent Bryant for radar analysis. At 1145 Sara called and requested analysis. Informed her that we expected the analysis to be completed between 1330 and 14oo hours. At 14oo hours we called Sara and gave her the analysis. She called us at 1410 requested that Major Quintanilla submitt a draft for a ne~ release regarding the analysis. At 1515 we phoned SA..VOI and gave the suggested news release. Between 1515 and 1545 news release was discussed and coordinated vi th SAFOI. f.. 13 Jan 65 at 1130 final press release from SAFOI was received. 14 Jan 65 at oaoo hours we submitted ~lue Books report on the_analyaia of a copy of the Navy report and Project the Patuxent NAS sighting to SAFOI. Patuxent NAS 29 December'l964 Based on results of an investigation by the Patuxent NAS and analysis of information supplied to the Air Force by the Navy, it has been determined that false radar targets were mistakenly reported as uniden- t1f'1ed tlyins objects .on 29 Dec 64. Study of the shape and illnmjna