Over Saudi Arabia: B-52 crew tracks unidentified return on tail-gun radar scope
During a Strategic Air Command mission at night, the crew of a U.S. Air Force B-52 from Castle AFB, California, held an unidentified return on its A-3A gunnery scope for about five to seven minutes at roughly 27° north, 47° east. The return was smaller than that of a second B-52 and disappeared off the scope when the bomber banked left.
Background
According to a U.S. Air Force Air Intelligence Information Report, B-52 number 394 of the 93d Bombardment Wing picked up an unidentified aircraft on its A-3A gunnery scope, the tail-gun radar display, over Saudi Arabia on January 18, 1957, shortly before a planned rendezvous with a tanker, flying at 39,000 feet at night. The return held at the 6,000-yard marker for about five to seven minutes and was smaller than the return of a second B-52 at the 5,000-yard marker; when the bomber banked left, it disappeared off the scope to the left. The report concedes that the change of direction may explain the disappearance, but notes that the object seemed to vanish toward the Baghdad Flight Identification Region, and gives as its significance that it appeared where no aircraft were expected. The bomber’s speed is given inconsistently, 842 knots on the first page and 642 knots on the attached scope sketch, and the text layer of the scan is badly garbled throughout. The details are taken from records released by the U.S. Department of War in PURSUE Release 07 (record code DOW-UAP-D155) and do not represent an independent determination by From Beyond Space.