Del Rio, TX: UFO high-speed intercept & crash
Radar detected a UFO on high-speed intercept course with F-94 jets near Abilene, Texas, on December 6, 1950. Object performed sharp turns, crashed near Del Rio; Col. Willingham witnessed site but was escorted away.
Background
Incident
On December 6, 1950, radar detected an unidentified object on a fast collision course during tests of F-94 jets at Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas. The object was flying at high altitude and made sudden 90° turns at high speed. Some soldiers saw it visually shortly afterwards. Col. Robert B. Willingham stated that it was not a missile.
Crash and Investigation
NORAD tracked the object until it crashed near the Mexican border at Del Rio, Texas. Willingham and a co-pilot flew to the site in a light aircraft but were removed by the authorities. They saw parts of the crash area and picked up a small piece of metal, which Willingham took to a naval metals laboratory in Hagerstown, Maryland — it was lost. Doubtful MJ-12 documents place the crash between El Indio, Texas and Guerrero, Coahuila, Mexico.
Assessment
Kevin Randle regards Willingham as the sole witness and as unreliable. The incident fell on a day of national radar alert caused by 40 unidentified aircraft northeast of the USA. Sources: NICAP, Sparks, Maccabee, Clark, Stringfield, Randle.