*DATE: January 1, 1975TIME: 1722 local CLASS: R/V ground(?) radar/air visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Weinstein AUERVC, Vol. 4
Groton, Connecticut
RADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: No official
INITIAL SUMMARY: TBP
NOTES: TBP
STATUS: TBP
*DATE: Jan 12, 1975TIME: CLASS: GR (unknown trace)
LOCATION: SOURCE: FOI request to Department of Transport 2004
Albury New South Wales, Australia
RADAR DURATION: Not Stated
EVALUATION: No official evaluation
Internet:
Added case: Aldrich
Initial Summary:Occurrence number 19750294. Occurrence id 91062. 12 Jan 1975. Albury
NSW. UFO sighted on radar at 20,000ft in CTA. Not possible to identify.
NOTES: TBP
SUMMARY: TBP
DATE: March 6 1975TIME: 1930 local CLASS: R/V ground(?) radar/ ground(?) visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 79
Off Algerian coast
RADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: No official
PRECIS: Message No. 071792 from American Embassy, Algiers, to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Washington, March 7 1975, relayed Algerian Defence Ministry concerns about unidentified objects in Algerian airspace. Numerous sightings led to personal intervention by Col. A. Latreche, Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, who desired American reassurance about intrusions possibly related to US 6th Fleet activities. Particular concern was shown over a radar/visual incident March 6. Excerpt from message as follows:
3. HE SAID OBJECT HAD BEEN SEEN FIVE TIMES, USUALLY ABOUT 1900 OR 1930 AND ON ONE OCCASION IT HAD REMAINED VISIBLE FOR OVER TWO HOURS. HAD BEEN SEEN TWICE NEAR ORAN, ONCE IN CENTER OF COUNTRY, ONCE NEAR BECHAR AND, MOST RECENTLY, OFF THE COAST LAST NIGHT (MARCH 6). OBJECT HAS VERY BRIGHT LIGHT (HE [Latreche] KEPT COMPARING IT TO HEADLIGHT OF A CAR) WHICH OBSCURES ITS SHAPE. OBJECT MANEUVERS AND HAS BEEN SEEN TO LAND AND TAKE OFF. SIGHTING LAST NIGHT, AT ABOUT 1930, WAS FIRST BY RADAR AND SECONDLY VISUALLY. OBJECT WAS AT ABOUT 15,000 METERS ALTITUDE. ON OTHER OCCASIONS IT HAS BEEN SIGHTED AT ESTIMATED ALTITUDE OF 2,000 METERS. LATRECHE EMPHASISED THAT IT WAS ALWAYS SEEN BY MORE THAN ONE PERSON AND THAT IT WAS THEREFORE NOT HALLUCINATION. HE DID NOT SEEM PARTICULARLY WORRIED, BUT DID SEEM TO BE TAKING STORIES SERIOUSLY.
NOTES: The message states that the Algerians had been reassured of no intrusive American air activity, but that immediate requests for information were being sent to both civilian and military authorities. No copies of any messages to or from navy or air force authorities are known to exist, however, and the State Department's response is not extant. The possibility exists that sightings of bright lights could have been unusually bright astronomical object(s), although Algerian defence authorities might be expected to have filtered out obvious misinterpretations before officially approaching the US at a high level. The message notes that Latreche was not an excitable type and that "ALGERIAN MILITARY ARE IN GENERAL PRETTY MATTER-OF-FACT"; further, that there might be some natural explanation but that "GIVEN LEVEL AT WHICH QUERY MADE, WE MUST TAKE IT SERIOUSLY . . ." In the absence of more information, however, the reported radar sighting is unevaluable.
STATUS: Insufficient information
*DATE: May 3, 1975TIME: 1130 local CLASS: R/V ground radar/air visual
LOCATION: SOURCE: Hall, UFOE II, 133-134, 246
Tequesquintengo Lake,
Mexico
RADAR DURATION: Unspecified
EVALUATION: No official evaluation
Added case: Aldrich
Initial Summary: TBP
NOTES: TBP
SUMMARY: TBP
*DATE: August 14, 1975TIME: 2135 local CLASS: R/V ground radar/air visual, ground visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Weinstein AUERVC, Vol. 4
Stockton, California
RADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: No official
INITIAL SUMMARY: TBP
NOTES: TBP
STATUS: TBP
DATE: October 27 1975TIME: 1945CLASS: R/V ground radar/multiple ground visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 17
Loring AFB
MaineRADAR DURATION: 45 mins +
EVALUATIONS: No official - believed poss. helicopter
PRECIS: @ 1945 control tower radar showed a target entering the restricted area approx. 10-13 miles ENE of the base. Numerous attempts at communication were made on all military & civilian frequencies without result. The target began circling, approaching within 300 yds of a nuclear weapons storage area @ 150' alt. A Security Police sergeant at the weapons dump reported an independent visual of an object with a red light and a white strobe penetrating the N perimeter at an estimated altitude of 300'. The Command Post implemented a security alert and requested a radar track. At 1952, the Wing Commander and security units arrived at the weapons area. A request for fighter coverage was denied by 21st & 22nd NORAD regions, so local security was tightened and ID assistance requested from the Maine State Police. Local flight services were checked: No ID. The target was now circling approximately 10 miles ENE of the base. After 40 minutes the target broke its circling pattern and was lost between two sweeps @ 12 miles 065 degrees near Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada.
NOTES: The scope presentation and hovering behaviour were believed to be similar to a helicopter, although no visual or flight-plan ID was achieved. See similar incident @ Loring 24 hours later.
STATUS: Insufficient information
DATE: October 28 1975TIME: 1945CLASS: R/V ground radar/multiple ground visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 18
Loring AFB
MaineRADAR DURATION: 60 mins
EVALUATIONS: official - possible helicopter (no positive ID)
PRECIS: @ 1945, 3 security police sergeants saw possible a/c lights approaching Loring from N @ an estimated altitude of 3000'. The miniumum estimated range from the base perimeter was 3 miles. Security called the Commander, 42nd Bomb Wing, who also acquired a visual: the object appeared as an amber light and a white strobe. At the same time, 1945, radar acquired a target in the same geographic location 3 miles N of the base perimeter. Concurrent radar-visual tracking was constant from 1945 - 2020, then intermittent to 2045. The object appeared and disappeared visually, once appearing over the N end of the runway @ 150', blacking out, then reappearing over the weapons storage area, still @ 150', where a B-52 ground crew reported a visual at an estimated 300' range of an elongated football the length of 4 cars, predominantly red/orange, the colours blending as though seen through heat waves. The object hovered silently at about 5', appearing "solid", but no power units or control surfaces were visible. The object blacked out and disappeared as security vehicles approached down the flight line. Radar tracked the target to 12 miles 065 degrees near Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada.
NOTES: The official evaluation - "possible helicopter" - was based on the eliminative argument that the radar track indicated a performance not inconsistent with that of a helicopter, but concurrent visuals do not positively support the helicopter hypothesis. In terms of available information the incident is an "unknown"; however, the radar data are unevaluable due to insufficient information. See similar incident at Loring 24 hours earlier.
STATUS: Insufficient information
DATE: October 31 1975TIME: eveningCLASS: R/V ground radar/ground visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 21
Loring AFB
MaineRADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: official - possible helicopters (no positive ID)
PRECIS: "Several reports" were made of objects over the base and at ranges up to 10 n.miles NE. Some visuals were confirmed by GCA radar, targets appearing at altitudes between 300' & 5000'
NOTES: Despite the official conclusion, "possible helicopters", it remains noteworthy that not one positive identification seems to have been achieved, despite multiple intrusions into restricted military airspace. The reported radar tracks, however, are unevaluable.
STATUS: Insufficient information
DATE: November 7 1975 TIME: 0345 local CLASS: R/V
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 38
Region of Malmstrom AFB
Montana
RADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: No official
PRECIS: SAC Launch Control Facilities K, L & M reported visuals of bright objects overhead. Simultaneously, missile sites K-8 & L-6 were reporting objects with bright streamers that appeared to hover and descend. At the same time reports were received from an area 120 miles SE of Malmstrom of unidentified lights at a bearing of 120 degrees from observers. Radar targets were also reported, and two F-106 interceptors were launched from Great Falls. At some time the lights reportedly dimmed and disappeared and the radar targets were also lost.
NOTES: Weather was 35F degrees, visibility 45 miles, suggesting a cold, clear night. Such conditions might favour abnormal stellar scintillation, and reports of "streamers" might suggest auroral lights. Clear, cold, stratified air may have been conducive to anomalous radar propagation. Stars would have dimmed and disappeared with the dawn, and AP effects commonly diminish with the atmospheric mixing due to pre-dawn solar warming. However, as reported both visual and radar reports are unevaluable.
STATUS: Insufficient information
DATE: November 7 1975 TIME: nightCLASS: R/V ground radar/multiple ground visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 28
K-7 Minuteman Site
Nr. Lewiston
MontanaRADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: No official
PRECIS: Electronic security sensors indicated a K-7 site violation. A Sabotage Alert Team (SAT) approached within 1 mile of the site and saw a glowing orange object. At 2 mile away, the SAT radioed the Launch Control Facility and reported an orange disc the size of a "football field" illuminating the missile site. They refused to approach further. The object then began to rise. NORAD radar picked up a target @ 1000', and 2 F-106's were launched from Great Falls to intercept. The aircrews reported no visuals, and there is no mention of AI radar contacts. NORAD tracked the target to 200,000' altitude.
The SAT team were reportedly traumatised and treated for shock at the base hospital. Inspection teams reported that the K-7 missile targeting computer had been reprogrammed, and launch and reentry vehicles were subsequently replaced.
NOTES: In terms of the limited data, the incident is an unknown. But in the absence of a NORAD target analysis or more data the radar track cannot be evaluated.
STATUS: Insufficient information
DATE: November 8 1975TIME: 0053 MST CLASS: R/V ground radar/ground visual
LOCATION: SOURCES: Fawcett & Greenwood 30
Malmstrom AFB Klass (1983) 101
Montana
RADAR DURATION: unspecified
EVALUATIONS: NORAD - unknown
PRECIS: National Military Command Center (NMCC) "Memorandum for the Record", 0600 EST, November 8 1975, subject: "Unidentified Sightings":
1) From NORAD Command Director: At 0253 EST [0053 local] 8 Nov, Malmstrom AFB, Montana received seven radar cuts on the heightfinder radar at altitudes between 9,500 and 15,500 feet. Simultaneous ground witnesses observed lights in the sky and the sound of jet engines similar to jet fighters. Cross-tell with FAA revealed no jet aircraft within 100 NM of the sighting. Radar tracked the objects over Lewistown, Montana, at a speed of seven (7) knots. Two F-106 interceptors from the 24th NORAD Region were scrambled at 0254 EST [0054 local], and became airborne at 0257 EST [0057 local]. At the time of the initial voice report, personnel at Malmstrom AFB and SAC sites K-1, K-3, L-3 and L-6 were reporting lights in the sky accompanied by jet engine noise.
2) 0344 EST From NORAD Command Director. Objects could not be intercepted. Fighters had to maintain a minimum of 12,000 feet because of mountainous terrain. Sightings had turned west, increased speed to 150 knots. Two tracks were apparent on height-finder radars 10-12 NM [nautical miles] apart. SAC site K-3 reported sightings between 300 feet and 1000 feet, while site L-4 reported sightings 5 NM from [NW of] their position. Sightings disappeared from radar at position 4650 N/10920 W at a tracked speed of three (3) knots.
3) At 0440 EST, NMCC initiated contact with the NORAD Command Director who reported the following: at 0405 EST [0205 local], Malmstrom receiving intermittent tracks on both search and heightfinder radars. SAC site C-1, 10 NM SE of Stanford, Montana, reported visual sightings of unknown objects.
At this time, as noted in a subsequent NORAD report to NMCC logged at 0522 EST that morning:
At 0405 EST [0205 local] SAC site L-5 observed one object accelerate and climb rapidly to a point in altitude where it became indistinguishable from the stars.
The main report continues:
0420 EST [0220 local]: Personnel at 4 SAC sites reported observing intercepting F-106s arrive in area; sighted objects turned off their lights upon arrival of interceptors, and back on upon their departure. 0440 EST [0240 local]: SAC site C-1 still had a visual sighting on the objects.
NOTES: There are some insignificant differences in the transcription of this message in the two sources. The only material ones are in para. 2, where Klass notes a range and bearing for the L-4 visual (interpolated above) omitted by Fawcett & Greenwood, and appears himself to misquote the minutes of latitude for the radar coordinates. (It should also be noted that F & G give a separate narrative of what appears to be the same sequence of events at Malmstrom on the same date [source 30, para.3] but with different times, altitudes and SAC site locations. The source of this confusion is uncertain.)
NORAD reported to the NMCC Deputy Director for Operations that the possibility of height-finder tracks being caused by auroral ionisation had been considered and rejected after a check with weather services "revealed no possibility of Northern Lights." The 0522 EST addendum to NORAD's initial reports, in part interpolated above, reads in full as follows:
At 0405 EST SAC site L-5 observed one object accelerate and climb rapidly to a point in altitude where it became indistinguishable from the stars. NORAD will carry this incident as a FADE remaining UNKNOWN at 0320 EST [0120 local], since after that time only visual sightings occurred.
This is the extent of the known official evaluation. The meaning of FADE is uncertain: Klass interprets it as "radar target fading out"; F & G also suggest this, but add that another Air Force code-term, "Faded Giant" meaning an incident involving tampering with nuclear weapons, might be relevant in the context of a Sabotage Alert situation. However, in the context of the NORAD message neither of these interpretations is convincing, and FADE is probably an acronym.
Klass interprets this 0522 EST message as indicating that NORAD had since concluded that the "intermittent" search and height-finder radar tracks being reported at 0205 local were caused by anomalous propagation conditions. This is quite possible, if speculative given that the message is hardly unambiguous. But on this interpretation 0120 local would presumably be the time of disappearance of the two earlier radar tracks described in para. 2 above, and it is certainly useful to consider the case as two distinct sequences of events.
Accepting that NORAD had discounted the 0205 radar tracks, Klass proposes that concurrent and subsequent visual reports were of bright celestial bodies. He notes that Venus was "particularly bright", rising about 0230 local time. Reports of the objects "turning off their lights on arrival of the interceptors, and back on again upon their departure" he interprets as due to observers focussing their dark-adapted eyes on the "intense glow" of the F-106s' jet exhausts and being temporarily distracted from the "distant" celestial objects which "would be much fainter and, comparatively, dark." (source 103-4) This is a little strained, however. The report does state (although brevity breeds ambiguity) that personnel at four separate missile sites described this behaviour: how many would be looking up the jet-pipes of the F-106s, and for what proportion of their unknown flight paths? Further, para. 2 states that the mountainous terrain forced the interceptors to fly above 12,000': how "intense" is a jet exhaust viewed at a slant range of several miles, as compared with a "particularly bright" Venus? Klass's hypothesis may be correct, but it is not without some supposition.
As regards the 0205 radar tracks, these may have been exactly or approximately concurrent with visual sightings from SAC site C-1; and if they were exactly concurrent they may or may not have been consistent with the reported visual position and movement of the "unknown objects". With so little information the report cannot be treated as a radar-visual incident. There is also insufficient information to diagnose the target(s) as anomalous propagation: if, for example, the target detected on search radar correlated with the heightfinder indication, then AP might be less attractive because such effects are frequency-dependent and the two instruments would probably operate at different frequencies. The description of both displayed targets as "tracks" may suggest a coherent sequence of paints, or multiple random blips on the two scopes. It should be noted, however, that "intermittent" tracking is not of itself diagnostic of AP as Klass implies: a real radar-reflective target can be painted intermittently for various reasons including nulls between radar lobes, variations in aspect, variations in range, variations in altitude near the bottom of the beam, weather, shadowing, and ground clutter.
Turning to the earlier events the picture appears to be slightly more coherent, and if NORAD's apparent disregard of the radar tracks after 0120 local means that they had been explained as AP, then by the same token its retention of the earlier tracks as UNKNOWN implies that these had not. Klass appears to come to the same conclusion, and suggests that these "few intermittent radar targets" (source 101) and "very slow-moving radar targets" (source 103) could have been due to migrating flocks of birds. It is true that even single birds could be detected by sensitive search radars, and flocks can have an integrated radar cross-section as large as an aircraft. But two points need to be made:
1) Klass's statement that these earlier targets were "intermittent" should be ignored as the insinuation it is. They are nowhere stated to have been intermittent, and If we extract the radar events and times from the report in clear sequence we have the following reconstruction:
0053: height-finder displays targets between 9,500' and 15,500'. During the next minute, personnel check flight plans with the FAA, radar displays the targets moving over Lewistown @ 7 knots, and NORAD considers scrambling interceptors.
0054: NORAD issues scramble authority.
0057: 2 F-106s airborne and vectored towards targets, but could not fly safely below 12,000' and were unable to intercept. Meanwhile two targets were being tracked, 10-12 miles apart, which turned onto a W heading and accelerated to 150 knots, eventually slowing to 3 knots.