Hanford: Giant saucer sighted by Hellcat pilots
Mid-July 1945, radar at Hanford nuclear site detected a fast object that stopped overhead; six Grumman F6F Hellcat pilots visually confirmed a huge oval craft hovering at 65,000 feet before it ascended vertically.
Background
Event
In mid-July 1945, at midday, radar at the Hanford nuclear complex in Washington flagged a fast-moving intruder that became stationary directly overhead. Six pilots from Naval Air Station Pasco, flying Grumman F6F Hellcats, were sent to intercept.
Observation
The pilots saw a bright, disc-shaped object, as large as three aircraft carriers side by side, oval and streamlined like an elongated egg, pink in colour, giving off vapour. It hung fixed at 65,000 feet and then climbed vertically out of sight.
Witnesses
Roland D. Powell led the group; reports also name Byron D. Varner. Further cases in January 1945 involving Clarence R. "Bud" Clem and R.W. Hendershot point to repeated sightings. Military radar data confirm unknowns above the secret plutonium facility.
Significance
This occurred shortly after the Trinity explosion (July 16, 1945) near Alamogordo, New Mexico, during the Manhattan Project. The object appeared to be monitoring nuclear activity; sources such as NICAP and MUFON document radar-visual confirmation as an early military UFO event.