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On 10 and 11 September 1951, a series of incidents of both visual and radar sightings were reported from the Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, area. VISUAL SIGHTING BY PILOT AND PASSENGER OF T-33 AIRCRAFT A. Discussion At approximately 1135 EDST an unidentified object was sighted by the pilot of a T-33 aircraft, an Air Force Lieutenant, enroute to Mitchell Air Force Base, New York, from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The object appeared to be over Sandy Hook, New Jersey, between 5000 ft. and 8000 ft. at 11 o'clock from the aircraft heading. The T-33 was approximately over Point Pleasant, New Jersey, at the time of the initial sighting. Upon seeing the object, the pilot started descending at 360° turn to the left in an attempt to intercept and identify the object. Approximately 45 seconds after the pilot first sighted the object, the passenger, an Air Force Major, who had been making a radio check, sighted the object. The object was then near Freehold, New Jersey, making a 120° turn towards the coast. The pilot continued his 360° turn but the object was lost as it crossed the coast. During the descending turn the speed of the T-33 increased from 450 to 550 mph and the altitude deceased from 20,000 ft. to 17,000 ft. (See inclosed overlay.) When first sighted, the object appeared to be descending over Sandy Hook, New Jersey. It then leveled out and maintained a constant altitude. The object was round and silver in color but did not reflect the sunlight. At one time during the attempted intercept, it appeared flat. The size was judged to be 30 ft. to 50 ft. in diameter. At approximately 1112 EDST, 10 September 1951, two balloons were released from the Evans Signal Laboratory, New Jersey, located at 40° 10' W and 74° 04' E. (See inclosed overlay.) These balloons are 7 ft. - 8 ft. in diameter and are painted silver for radar tracking. Experienced balloon observers state that when viewed from certain angle they appear to be disc shaped. These balloons would have been at approximately 18,000 ft., and would have moved to a position nearly in line with Point pleasant, New Jersey, and Sandy Hook. (Wind SSW at 10-15 knots.) Attempts were made to use the information obtained from the interrogation of the T-33 crew and the data on the balloon launching to prove that the pilot and passenger of the T-33 had observed a balloon. However, not all of the data given were consistent with such a conclusion. In an attempt to establish the fact that the object was a balloon, a flight path similar to the one given by the T-33 crew was interrogated twice and gave different flight paths and tracts of the object at each one. It is therefore assumed that due to the altitude and speed of the T-33, and the fact |
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