By the time the radar crew had gotten three good plots of the target, they all knew that it was something unusual—­it was at 23,000 feet and traveling 1,500 miles an hour.  The duty controller, an Air Force captain, was quickly called; he made a fast check of the targets that had now been put on the plotting board and called to a jet fighter-interceptor base for a scramble.

The fighter base, located about 100 miles south of the radar site, acknowledged the captain’s call and in a matter of minutes an F-94 jet was climbing out toward the north.

While the F-94 was heading north, the radar crew at the outpost watched the unidentified target.  The bright dots that marked its path had moved straight across the radarscope, passing within about 50 miles of the site.  It was still traveling about 1,500 miles an hour.  The radar had also picked up the F-94 and was directing it toward its target when suddenly the unidentified target slowed down, stopped, and reversed its course.  Now it was heading directly toward the radar station.  When it was within about 30 miles of the station, the radar operator switched his set to a shorter range and lost both the F-94 and the unidentified target.

While the radar operator was trying to pick up the target again, the F-94 arrived in the area.  The ground controller told the pilot that they had lost the target and asked him to cruise around the area to see if he and his radar operator could pick up anything on the F-94’s radar.  The pilot said he would but that he was having a little difficulty, was low on fuel, and would have to get back to his base soon.  The ground controller acknowledged the pilot’s message, and called back to the air base telling them to scramble a second F-94.

The first F-94 continued to search the area while the ground radar tried to pick up the target but neither could find it.

About this time the second F-94 was coming in, so the ground radar switched back to long range.  In a minute they had both of the F-94’s and the unidentified target on their scope.  The ground controller called the second F-94 and began to vector him into the target.

The first F-94 returned to its base.

As both the second F-94 and the target approached the radar site, the operator again switched to short range and again he lost the jet and the target.  He switched back to long range, but by now they were too close to the radar site and he couldn’t pick up either one.

The pilot continued on toward where the unidentified target should have been.  Suddenly the F-94 radar operator reported a weak target off to the right at 28,000 feet.  They climbed into it but it faded before they could make contact.

The pilot swung the F-94 around for another pass, and this time the radar operator reported a strong return.  As they closed in, the F-94’s radar showed that the target was now almost stationary, just barely moving.  The F-94 continued on, but the target seemed to make a sudden dive and they lost it.  The pilot of the jet interceptor continued to search the area but couldn’t find anything.  As the F-94 moved away from the radar station, it was again picked up on the ground radar, but the unidentified target was gone.