◆ SpookStack

occurred every 600 microseconds. The radars scanned the horizon four times per minute. Three other officers (pilot, copilot, navigator) were in the cockpit and, as a result, could themselves see out of the aircraft. The six officers were questioned by MacDonald in 1969. They related that: - The first incident took place above Mississippi, probably at around 0930Z (0330 local time), when the aircraft, going back to the north from the Gulf of Mexico, was approaching the coast a little to the east of the Mississippi delta, flying at Mach 0.75. Captain MacClure detected on his screen a blip corresponding to a pulsed microwave source located behind and to the right of the RB-47 (at “5 o’clock”) that rapidly passed the aircraft and turned around it, departing again on its left in the other direction (between “6 o’clock and 9 o’clock”). The source was therefore airborne and supersonic. MacClure noted the characteristics of the signal: they were those of the aforementioned ground radar stations, with the exception of the length of the pulses, which were 2 microseconds. He did not report this incident immediately, thinking that it was perhaps a malfunction of the electronics. As Klass writes, at the time there were no supersonic aircraft either in the United States or in the USSR large enough to transport a radar, the signal from which possessed the characteristics that were observed. - The following incident occurred at 1010Z in Louisiana, when Commander Chase, pilot, and Captain MacCoyd, copilot, saw an intense bluish-white light aim at the aircraft from “11 o’clock,” then jump from their left to their right and disappear while it was at “2 o’clock.”” Klass showed that this object was perhaps a meteorite the trajectory of which caused an optical illusion, but, at the time, Chase and MacCoyd wondered whether it wasn’t a UFO. Hearing them, MacClure remembered his prior detection and looked for a signal of the same type. - He found this signal at 1030Z, which was identical to the previous one and, perhaps by coincidence, came from “2 o’clock.” This signal was confirmed by Captain Provenzano, whose detector was itself also able to operate at around 3000 MHz. It could not have been the signal from a fixed radar, because its “2 o’clock” direction remained unchanged when the aircraft followed its route to the west for several minutes. The aircraft entered Texas, then came within range of the “Utah” radar [center] located near Dallas. The crew reported to Utah, which detected both the aircraft and an object maintaining a constant distance of 18 km from it. - At 1039Z, still in Texas, Commander Chase perceived a large red light, which he estimated was moving 1500 m below the aircraft at approximately “2 o’clock.” The aircraft was flying at an altitude of 10,500 m, and the weather was perfectly clear. Although the commander was not able to determine either the shape or the size of the object, he had the distinct impression that the light was emanating from the top of the object. At 1040Z, he received authorization to pursue this object and notified Utah. He slowed down, then accelerated; Utah informed him that the object was mirroring his movements, all the while maintaining a constant distance of 18 km. - At 1042Z, Chase accelerated and saw the red object turn to the right in the direction of Dallas; this was confirmed by MacClure. - At around 1050Z, a little to the west of Dallas, the object stopped and simultaneously disappeared from the view of the radar(s) (Utah and the onboard radar that had just detected the object when the RB-47 had approached it) and from MacClure’s screen (the disappearance of an object from a radar screen is less surprising nowadays; it calls to mind the active stealth technologies currently in development if not in operation). The aircraft then banked to the left. MacClure picked up a signal that was perhaps the one from Utah.