Air Intelligence Information Report: Sighting of Unidentified Aerial Objects over Manchuria

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (Report No. 53-74) dated 29 April 1953, detailing a sighting of unidentified aerial objects over Manchuria. On 23 April 1953, at 1500 hours, a flight of four F-86 aircraft, call sign 'JOHN RED', observed an estimated 20 to 25 triangular-shaped objects at an altitude of approximately 30,000 feet near UTM coordinates XE 2250. The observers, including Major R.L. Bruce and other pilots of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, described the objects as large, triangular, and grayish-white. Approximately 5 to 10 of these objects featured circular disks or balloons attached to their bottom, with dark-colored streamers trailing from the circumference. The objects were observed for about 30 seconds and appeared stationary relative to the F-86s, which were flying at .93 Mach. The pilots suggested the objects might have been released from the nearby Antung Air Field, given the prevailing wind direction. Radar data corroborated the presence of slow-moving targets in the area starting at 1455 hours. Intelligence assessments from the Far East Air Forces (FEAF) concluded that the objects were likely balloons carrying radar reflectors, possibly used by Chinese Communist forces to test radar antenna lobe patterns or for meteorological purposes. The report includes a pilot's sketch and an overlay, and notes that similar sightings were reported by other pilots on 14, 19, and 21 April 1953. The document was approved by Colonel John V. Hearn Jr. and includes correspondence from the McMillin Observatory regarding the need for further investigation into these sightings.