Report of Unusual Incident — Western Hokkaido, 4 November 1952

On November 4, 1952, an unidentified single-engine aircraft was observed on three separate occasions in Western Hokkaido, Japan. The sightings occurred at 1025I, 1105I, and 1125I. The first sighting was reported by a member of the NRP near Rabun, west of Wakkanai. The second and third sightings were reported by the same organization over Horonoei and Teshio, respectively, with the aircraft observed flying north to south at an altitude of 1000 feet. The 511th AC&W Group reported that no friendly aircraft were in the area at the time, and no radar plots were obtained. Weather conditions were reported as a 1000-foot ceiling with 10-mile visibility and broken clouds. Subsequent investigations by the 6th District CIC Headquarters in Sapporo confirmed that the aircraft was neither a Japanese newspaper plane nor a 1st Cavalry Division observation plane. Further investigation was initiated to determine if the aircraft was of Japanese origin. Colonel George D. Hastings, in a Deputy for Intelligence comment, noted that the proximity of Sakhalin Island raised the possibility of the aircraft being of Soviet origin, suggesting that slow-flying, low-altitude aircraft could potentially evade EW radar detection.