Brad Sparks:
Aug. 5-6, 1953. Near Rapid City, South Dakota,
and Bismarck, North Dakota
9:05 p.m. – 1:23? a.m. (CST). GOC observer Miss
Phyllis Killian in Black Hawk, S.D., (about 8 miles NW
of Rapid City), reported to Ellsworth AFB bright red
object first stationary 4 miles estimated distance to
the SE [NE?] low on the horizon then rapidly heading S
[SSE?] 30° to the right at roughly 2°/sec angular
velocity (estimated by Hynek in interview), toward
Rapid City, changing color from red to green becoming
“greener” as speed increased. Object then
returned to original location to SE of Black Hawk but
at a greater distance about 7 miles, disappearing
behind hills. ADC radar controller found 2
targets heading S, had difficulty tracking due to
ground clutter, 3 airmen sent outside to look saw a
high speed light heading S. A few minutes later
GOC observer reported the object had returned.
An F-84 was vectored and made visual contact then
directed to stationary radar target about 15 miles NE
of Black Hawk, target started moving 320° Mag out to
70 miles range and F-84 intercept was called
off. F-84 pilot was about to land in Rapid City
when he noticed silvery object like the brightest star
he'd ever seen, to the NW, which he pursued on 350°
Mag keeping it at 11 o'clock high, 30°45° elevation,
it disappeared after 30 secs, reappeared for 30 secs
then faded from sight. A 2nd F-84 was scrambled
from Ellsworth AFB, and on a N 360° Mag heading at
15,000 ft he saw a target 30°-40° to his right and at
level elevation which "jumped" in elevation to
15°-30°, changed color from white to green, was much
brighter than a star and was moving in relation to the
stars (3 specific stars he picked out for
reference). Pilot turned on radar gunsight which
showed possible target beyond maximum range of 4,000
yards (2.3 miles) and GCI ground radar tracked target
5-10 miles ahead of the F-84 out to 80 miles for 5
mins [960 mph?] when intercept was broken off and
target went off scope [about 11:42 p.m.?]. About
20 miles from base F-84 pilot, now at 12,000-14,000
ft, saw a red and white pair of lights 10° below the
horizon at 180° Mag and height-finder ground radar
showed a target at 8,000 ft. Lights visible for
30 sec periods. Radar scope photos and gun
camera photos reportedly malfunctioned.
(Sparks; NICAP; Ruppelt pp. 232-5;
CR pp. 132-6; Saunders/FUFOR Index;
NICAP; BB Misc Microfilm Roll 1, pp. 123-151)
Fran Ridge:
There was a date discrepancy on this case. Ruppelt
said it was the 12th and subsequently NICAP listed
that date in The
UFO Evidence. Project Blue Book, which didn't
list this as an "Unknown", showed it clearly as August
5, 6, and the documents (see below) show that this
case as "unsolved." This incident always impressed me,
and apparently it impressed a lot of others, too. For
the die-hard skeptics at Project Blue Book this was
the one they had always asked for. Here was a
good UFO sighting. "This was an unknown, one of the
best", a ground witnessed visual, with a ground radar
tracking, and the pursuit of the object by a jet
interceptor that also locked on with its radar, with
all the maneuvers independently verified. The UFO was
playing a cat & mouse game with an F-84
"Thunderjet", the first USAF jet fighter able to
carry a tactical atomic weapon. Major Lawrence Tacker
not only confirmed this case, but he wrote one NICAP
member and told him the Air Force had gun-camera
photos of the object and radarscope photos.
(FSTS,243). Ellsworth AFB is located about 12 miles
from Rapid City, and in 1947, the base hosted the 28th
Bombardment Wing (BMW), flying the B-29. In July 1949,
the 28th began conversion to the gigantic B-36 bomber.
Ellsworth was one of the original five Air Force
Operational Storage Sites for nuclear weapons, and
first received its atomic bombs in 1952.
Joel Carpenter:
I've been checking on the model of F-84 assigned to
SAC, and it turns out that the F-84G was the one based
at Rapid City at the time. This was a
tactical-nuclear-capable day fighter-bomber with
straight wings and gun ranging radar.
|