 Category 11 Case Directory SIGHTINGS FROM AIRCRAFT Preliminary Rating: 5 |
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| AVCAT is a special
project being conducted by NICAP, with the
help and cooperation of the original compiler
of AIRCAT, Dr. Richard Haines, and other
sources, to create a comprehensive listing of
sightings from aircraft with detailed
documentation from these sources, including
Projects SIGN, GRUDGE & BLUE BOOK. |
Aircraft
Encounters Rough Engine & Compass Deviation
April, 1951
Atlanta, Georgia
April, 1951
Atlanta, Georgia
| Morning. Duration 8-10 mins aircraft Loan L-4 United States |
Civilian 1 observer EMI No radar contact |
| Fran
Ridge: Morning. Pilot was flying a Loan L-4 that had taken off from Atlanta Municipal Airport. He climbed to 3000 feet on a 180° heading. The wind was from the west, 270° at 12-15 mph and there was some low ground fog and scud. Overhead, it was very clear, no overcast or cloud. Pilot was in the rear seat, as the aircraft was placarded for solo flights the pilot was to fly from the rear. He was about 20 minutes out of Atlanta when he saw a perfectly round disc slightly SW at about the two o’clock position. His first thoughts were that he had lost his heading and that he was looking at the sun through an overcast.. He glanced at his compass and he was steady on a 180° heading. He looked to the East and saw the sun well above the horizon. His next thought, was it a weather balloon? He ruled this out because it was not moving. He then headed in the direction of the disc which he noted was 210° and high. He tried to guess how far away the object was, but there wasn’t anything to compare or estimate the distance. He began to climb in the direction of the object, constantly observing it. The disc was a white silvery color and seemed to be oscillating but remaining perfectly stationary as far as vertical or horizontal motion was concerned. He continued towards the object and after 8-10 minutes of steady observation the L-4’s engine began to run rough and the instrument panel began to vibrate very badly. He looked at the compass and it appeared to be spinning wildly. He thought the engine was icing up and he tried to get the carburator heater on, but nothing happened, the vibration and roughness continued seemingly getting worse and he thought the engine was going to quit any second. His thoughts were of disappointment not to be able to continue towards the object but that possibly he could glide to some open field where he practiced emergency landings. He turned back N and headed for the airport and at the same time continued to look back over his left shoulder to watch the object, which was still in the same position. He was looking directly at the object, and as if someone pulled a switch the object completely disappeared, no vapor trail or anything, it was just gone. Immediately the vibration and roughness disappeared and the L-4 ran as smooth as ever. He landed at Atlanta. (NARCAP Case 12, Source : Capt. Robert H. Pasley written report sent to Major Donald Keyhoe, NICAP in March 1965). Jan Aldrich:
Barry Greenwood
and I continue to work on digitizing the CUFOS (NICAP,
CSI NY, CSI LA etc.) files. Nineteen fifty-one
was an interesting year which got me itching to check
some of the case files. Here in a letter to
Major Keyhoe in 1965 (too late for the UFO Evidence)
Capt. Robert H. Peters, Civil Air Patrol, who would
try sometimes to get flying time in the morning before
work, on April 1951 took of from the Atlanta Municipal
airport in an L-4 with a radio that only received,
common in those days. Heading 180 degrees at
3000 feet he saw a round silver-white disc at 210
degrees heading, above him, and stationary. He
turned the plane toward it. As he approached his
engine started to run rough, his instrument panel
began to vibrate and his compass began to spin.
He thought his engine might be icing up, so he turned
on the carurater heater, but things just got
worse. Thinking that the engine would quit he
turn back to the airport and landed. He told
others about the incident, but was just laughed at and
stopped talking about it.
Don Ledger: The L-4 was basically a Piper J-3 Cub, one of the most popular trainers of its day, 20,000 were built. Easy to fly and pretty much an ultra lite for its time.Being military it probably had a generator and a battery to support the voltage hungry radios of the day. It might have had a larger engine (80hp) but was a pretty sedate and slow airplane, cruise probably 75-80 mph. I flew a friends J-3. Cub pilots would joke about its airspeed but very maneuverable and somewhat aerobatic. Airline pilots would purchase them to get low and slow. Great airplane for that. Good camera platform. Whatever the pilot spotted seemed aware of the flimsiness of the aeroplane; knew that it was no threat but that its proximity to the object could have been harmful to the plane. Did it know enough to generate an airspace with the right mixture of temp and humidity to cause carb icing? I doubt it. More probably it had an electrical field that interfered with the L-4’s 2 magnetos’ ability utilize their normal magnetic field and hence produce enough voltage to the spark plugs. Or just enough to disrupt the field around the sparkplug cables. Wouldn’t take much to foul up a L-4 or J-3. You had to hand prop them to start them. Detailed reports and documents narcap.org/reports/emcarm.htm narcap.org/files/narcap_TR-3_2001.pdf |