Two radars tracked 900 mph unidentified target at 13,000 feet heading northwest. Attempted scramble of F-86 interceptor too late. The course and speed of the object tracked was consistent with the Lubbock lights seen in Texas and the Flying Wing seen in Albequerque the same evening.

One object was observed by over two military witnesses at an airfield for eight minutes.

Project Grudge report:

On 26 August 1951 at 0836 PST, an unidentified flying object was detected by an AN/OPS-4 and AN/CPS-l radar sets. The object was tracked continuously for a period of six minutes and made a timed ground speed of 950 mph. The object was on a course of 340° with only slight deviations enroute. An altitude reading of 13,000 feet was obtained but the accuracy of the measurement is questionable due to brief length of time the object was detected.

The F-86 aircraft were scrambled but radar contact with the object was lost before the aircraft were airborne, A visual search was conducted from 17,000 to 25,000 feet with negative results.

The operator of the radar set, an Air Force Captain, is considered to be an expert operator.

Weather

Weather conditions at the time of sighting were not favorable for anomalous microwave propagation.

Status of Investigation

Review of this incident by the Electronics Section of ATIC concludes that the return was possibly due to interference. This was concluded because of the apparent path of the object, directly approaching the station, and the fact that the target was observed on only the low beam of the AN/CPS-l radar set.

Google map of this location.