the F-94 around for another pass, and this time the
radar operator reported a strong return. As they closed in, the F-
94's radar showed that the target was now almost stationary, just
barely moving. The F-94 continued on, but the target seemed to make a
sudden dive and they lost it. The pilot of the jet interceptor
continued to search the area but couldn't find anything. As the F-94
moved away from the radar station, it was again picked up on the
ground radar, but the unidentified target was gone.

A third F-94 had been scrambled, and in the meantime its crew took
over the search. They flew around for about ten minutes without
detecting any targets on their radar. They were making one last pass
almost directly over the radar station when the radar operator in the
back seat of the F-94 yelled over the interphone that he had a target
on his scope. The pilot called ground radar, but by this time both
the F-94 and the unidentified target were again too close to the
radar station and they couldn't be picked up. The F-94 closed in
until it was within 200 yards of the target; then the pilot pulled
up, afraid he might collide with whatever was out in the night sky
ahead of him. He made another pass, and another, but each time the
bright spot on the radar operator's scope just stayed in one spot as
if something were defiantly sitting out in front of the F-94 daring
the pilot to close in. The pilot didn't take the dare. On each pass
he broke off at 200 yards.

The F-94 crew made a fourth pass and got a weak return, but it was
soon lost as the target seemed to speed away. Ground radar also got a
brief return, but in a matter of seconds they too lost the target as
it streaked out of range on a westerly heading.

As usual, the first thing I did when I read this report was to check
the weather. But there was no weather report for this area that was
detailed enough to tell whether a weather inversion could have caused
the radar targets.

But I took the report over to Captain Roy James, anyway, in hopes
that he might be able to find a clue that would identify the UFO.

Captain James was the chief of the radar section at ATIC. He and his
people analyzed all our reports where radar picked up UFO's. Roy had
been familiar with radar for many years, having set up one of the
first stations in Florida during World War II, and later he took the
first aircraft control and warning squadron to Saipan. Besides
worrying about keeping his rad