United States: USAF retracts Orion explanation for Killian sighting, cites refueling
On March 19, 1959, USAF spokesman Maj. Lawrence J. Tacker retracted the Orion explanation for the Killian case and said the pilots had seen B-47 bombers refueling from a KC-97 tanker; Killian rejected the new explanation in the press.
Background
On March 19, 1959, USAF spokesman Maj. Lawrence J. Tacker retracted the dubious Orion explanation for the Killian case and said instead that the pilots had seen B-47 bombers refueling in flight from a KC-97 tanker. Killian told the papers, “I don't care what the air force says.” He said he knew what refueling looked like and that the UFOs were “at least three times the size of any tanker or bomber we have. They could travel at 2,000 mph. And they were not conventional aircraft.” The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.