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The Ellsworth AFB 1953 case, discussion. |
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The official report by US Air Force's Project Blue Book. |
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The events by Capt. Ed Ruppelt, USAF ret., head of Project Blue Book. |
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The article in TRUE Magazine by Capt. Ed Ruppelt, USAF ret., head of Project Blue Book. |
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A word on the case by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, astronomer and consultant of Project Blue Book (This page). |
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The study of the case in the Condon Report, with comments. |
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A skeptical article in Magonia magazine, 1994, with comments. |
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Case summary by Robert Emeneger. |
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References. |
J. Allen Hynek - Saturday Eve. Post (1966) In the following "12/17/66 Saturday Evening Post article, Dr. Hynek speaks about his years examining the UFO phenomena and explains what he thought of the Ellsworth AFB 1953 case:/p
[...]
In 1953, the year of the Robertson report, there occurred one of the most puzzling cases that I have studied. It was reported first in Black Hawk, S. Dak., and then in Bismarck, N. Dak., during the night of August 5 and the early morning of August 6. A number of persons in Black Hawk reported seeing several strange objects in the sky. What made these reports particularly significant was the fact that these people were trained observers--they were part of the national network of civilians who were keeping watch for enemy bombers.
At approximately the same time, unidentified blips showed up on the radarscope at Ellsworth Air Force Base, which is near Black Hawk. An airborne F-84 fighter was vectored into the area and reported seeing the UFO's. The pilot radioed that one of the objects appeared to be over Piedmont S. Dak., and was moving twice as fast as his jet fighter. It was "brighter than the brightest star" he had ever seen. When the pilot gave chase, the light "just disappeared." Five civilians on the ground, who had watched the jet chase the light, confirmed the pilot's report.
Later a second F-84 was sent aloft and directed toward the UFO, which still showed on ground radar. After several minutes, the pilot reported seeing an object with a light of varying intensity that alternated from white to green. While the pilot was pursuing the UFO, he noted that his gunsight light had flashed on, indicating that his plane's radar was picking up a target. The object was directly ahead of his aircraft but at a slightly greater altitude. It then climbed very rapidly. When the pilot saw he was hopelessly losing ground, he broke off the chase. Radar operators on the ground tracked the fighter coming back from the chase, while the UFO continued on out of range of the scope.
As the object sped off to the north, Ellsworth Air Force Base notified the spotter's control center in Bismarck, 220 miles to the north, where a sergeant then went out on the roof and saw a UFO. The Air Force had no planes in Bismarck that could be sent after the UFO, which finally disappeared later that night.
I investigated this reported sighting myself and was unable to find a satisfactory explanation. In my report, I noted that "the entire incident, in my opinion, has too much of an Alice in Wonderland flavor for comfort."
[...]
