DOW-UAP-D156, Air Intelligence Information Report, Guam, 1956
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An Air Intelligence Information Report from the FEAF Air Technical Intelligence Liaison Office (FEAF ATILO), report IR-7-57, on an unidentified blinking light that an F-86D pilot encountered over the Guam radio range on the night of December 31, 1956.
Document Highlights
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Short overview
An Air Intelligence Information Report from the FEAF Air Technical Intelligence Liaison Office (FEAF ATILO), report IR-7-57, on an unidentified blinking light that an F-86D pilot encountered over the Guam radio range on the night of December 31, 1956.
Why this is interesting
The forwarded message from the 7th Air Force describes a round white light that passed under the interceptor, which the pilot first took for a B-47. According to the report, the light turned with the F-86D, could not be closed on even with afterburner, climbed from about 20,000 to some 30,000 feet and twice circled the aircraft until the pilot had to return to Andersen Air Force Base for lack of fuel, after about ten minutes. The pilot was rated a very reliable observer, and a check found no other traffic. A lighted weather balloon had been launched 1 hour 38 minutes before the sighting and had climbed more slowly than normal; the preparing officer, Captain Alan G. Pound, concluded that it could explain the sighting only if it had malfunctioned and levelled off or descended, otherwise the object “can not be readily explained.” The pilot himself rejected the balloon explanation because the object manoeuvred with his aircraft and accelerated past it.
Selected passages
- “leveled off or descended, it could possibly explain the reported UFOB”
- “Tried to get type and shape and to observe the object.”
Background
This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (AIIR), a standardized U.S. Air Force reporting form used to record raw information of potential intelligence value for later analysis. The form served as a primary vehicle for U.S. Air Force field intelligence collection throughout the early Cold War, until defense-wide reporting standards were established in the early 1960s. This AIIR records a December 31, 1956, incident in the vicinity of Guam in which the pilot of a U.S. Air Force F-86D aircraft reported observing an unidentified aerial blinking light. The report notes that a lighted weather balloon had been launched before the sighting and states that, if the balloon had malfunctioned and remained at a relatively low altitude, it could possibly explain the reported object. It also indicates that the preparing officer did not regard the balloon explanation as sufficient unless that condition applied. All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.