Sign Historical Group

NXS

NIGHT LEAD OBJECT.

LONDON, APRIL 30. –(UP)–AN "UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT" IN THE SKIES OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF ENGLAND WAS SPOTTED ON THE RADAR SCREENS OF A ROYAL AIR FORCE STATION LAST NIGHT, THE AIR MINISTRY ANNOUNCED TODAY. A LONDON NEWSPAPER SUGGESTED IT MIGHT BE A NEW TYPE OF SOVIET BOMBER.

THE MINISTRY SAID TWO OF BRITAIN'S FASTEST JET FIGHTERS—TWIN-ENGINED DELTA2EINGED (sic) JAVELINS CAPABLE OF WELL OVER 700 MILES AN HOUR IN LEVEL FLIGHT—WERE SENT IN PURSUIT BUT FAILED TO MAKE CONTACT.

IT WAS THE SECOND SIGHTING OF A MYSTERIOUS FLYING OBJECT IN BRITISH SKIES IN THE PAST THREE WEEKS.

THE AIR MINISTRY ANNOUNCEMENT SAID "ONE OF OUR RADAR SCREENS" SIGHTED THE OBJECT TRAVELING DUE WEST OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL NEAR ST. MARGARET'S BAY. THE BAY, ABOUT 70 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LONDON, IS AT THE CHANNEL'S NARROWEST POINT.

"TWO JAVELIN FIGHTERS WERE DISPATCHED FROM ODIHAM R.A.F. AIRBASE TO INVESTIGATE BUT DID NOT MAKE CONTACT," THE MINISTRY ANNOUNCEMENT SAID.

ODIHAM IS THE MAJOR R.A.F. BASE HALFWAY BETWEEN LONDON AND SOUTHAMPTON.

THE AIR MINISTRY SAID IT HAD ORDERED A FULL-SCALE INVESTIGATION INTO THE MATTER.

THE LONDON EVENING NEWS SAID THE OBJECT WAS TRAVELING AT AN ESTIMATED 1,000 MILES AN HOUR WHEN PICKED UP BY THE RADAR SCREE (sic) AT A SOUTH COAST STATION. THE NEWSPAPER SAID THE OBJECT WAS "FLYING AT GREAT HEIGHT DUE WEST."

THE SIGHTING OF THE OBJECT RAISED THE QUESTION "ARE THEY NEW TYPE LONG DISTANCE BOMBER OF THE RUSSIAN AIR FORCE ON A TRAINING FLIGHT?" THE EVENING NEWS SAID.

EARLIER THIS MONTH, A BOMBER COMMAND RADAR POST IN SCOTLAND PICKED UP AN OBJECT TRAVELING AT GREAT HEIGHTS AND SPEED. THE R.A.F. IMMEDIATELY ORDERED INCREASED VIGILANCE AT THE COASTAL RADAR STATIONS WHICH MAKE UP BRITAIN'S EARLY-WARNING SYSTEM. THE FIRST SIGHTING CAME DURING THE PERIOD WHEN SOVIET RUSSIA WAS FIRING HARSH WARNINGS TO EUROPEAN NATIONS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF NUCLEAR WARFARE.

AT THAT TIME THE AIR MINISTRY REFUSED TO DISCLOSE SPECIFIC DETAILS OF THE COURSE AND ALTITUDE OF THE OBJECT, REVEALING ONLY THAT IT WAS TRACKED BY THE RADAR SCREEN "FOR SOME CONSIDEERABLE (sic) TIME"

THE FIRST OBJECT WAS SIGHTED APRIL 4. THE MINISTRY MADE NO ANNOUNCEMENT UNTIL SOME 48 HOURS LATER AFTER AN EXHAUSTIVE CHECK.

WING CMDR. W. P. WHITWORTH, CHIEF OF THE WEST FREUGH R.A.F. BASE NEAR STRANRAER TOLD NEWSMEN THEN "THIS WAS NO FREAK."

"IT WAS AN OBJECT OF SOME SUBSTANCE AND NO MISTAKE COULD HAVE BEEN MADE," HE SAID. "THE OBJECT WAS CAUGHT ON THE SCREEN AND DOUBLECHECKED BY ANOTHER RADAR 90 MILES AWAY."

JH403P

COPY FROM ORIGINAL TELETYPE MATERIAL

1957

R51

LONDON, MAY 15-(REUTERS)-MYSTERIOUS OBJECTS SIGHTED OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL ON APRIL 29 TURNED OUT TO BE TWO OF A LARGE NUMBER OF BRITISH HUNTER JET FIGHTERS ON A TRAINING EXERCISE, AIR SECRETARY GEORGE WARD SAID TODAY.

THE OBJECTS AROUSED WIDE SPECUTATION (sic) AT THE TIME AND ROYAL AIR FORCE JAVELIN FIGHTERS WENT UP TO CHASE THEM. BUT THEY OUTSTRIPPED THE JAVELINS.

QUESTIONED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS TODAY, WARD SAID THAT THE HUNTERS' MOVEMENTS, AS OBSERVED BY RADAR, WERE "SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL AND AROUSED THE SUSPICIONS OF THE RADAR DEFENSE."

PATRICK WALL, CONSERVATIVE, ASKED WHETHER IT WAS TRUE THAT THE HUNTERS WERE TRAVELLING AT 1,000 MILES AN HOUR AS REPORTED.

WARD SAID: "I CAN AS URE (sic) YOU THAT THE SPEEDS OF THE OBJECTS AS TRACKED ON THE RADAR WERE NOTHING LIKE AS FAST AS REPORTED IN THE PRESS."

HE ADDED THAT FIVE FLYING OBJECTS REPORTED THIS YEAR WERE AS YET UNIDENTIFIED COMPARED WITH SIX LAST YEAR.

0QL051A

(ABOVE COURTESY BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICE, D. C.)

Following information from British Military Air Attache:

Hunter Jet fighters are supersonic; in a shallow dive or so could probably reach 300-900 miles per hour.

Javelins run up to around .9 Mach (actual speed in mph would depend on altitude, then, but it would appear in this case around 650 mph).

His suggestions on the case indicate that the radar operators et al are not advised of such flights; the flight plans are not prepared in advance; pilots do not necessary (sic) stick to their flight orders and plans too rigidly and may not know it when off course; at that speed they cover so much area so quickly it could cause quite a bit of unusual activity.

He added also there is a strong possibility the radar operator is inexperienced and "doesn't know how to handle his damn set."

He further added re NICAP, "You fellows seem to take this thing seriously." When pursued re UFO he said he didn't think there was anything to it; just a hell of a lot of nonsense. Advised he had been transferred here from Intelligence where he had been working on just this sort of thing.