UNIDENTIFIED PLANE 'MIGHT HAVE BEEN A PHANTOM'

On February 11, 1992, the South Korean Air Force reported an unidentified aerial intrusion in the West Sea airspace. According to an Air Force spokesman, radar systems first detected an object at 10:05, located approximately 24 kilometers south of the Shandong Peninsula in China. The object was tracked moving at a speed of 630 knots (1,160 kph or 724 mph) until it reached a position 128 kilometers west of Kunsan, Korea, at 10:20, at which point it suddenly disappeared from radar. In response to the detection, the South Korean Air Force scrambled 18 fighter planes, a rescue helicopter, and a C-130 transport aircraft to investigate the area. Despite these efforts, the search yielded no results. The Air Force subsequently suggested that the incident was likely a 'ghost signal' resulting from the overlapping of air surveillance systems, noting that such pulses can occasionally cause birds or other phenomena to appear on radar. Alternatively, the spokesman suggested the object might have been a Phantom aircraft.