with a UFO.

The pilot was George F. Gorman, a twenty-five-year-old second
lieutenant in the North Dakota Air National Guard.

It was eight-thirty in the evening and Gorman was coming into Fargo
from a cross-country flight. He flew around Fargo for a while and
about nine o'clock decided to land. He called the control tower for
landing instructions and was told that a Piper Cub was in the area.
He saw the Cub below him. All of a sudden what appeared to be the
taillight of another airplane passed him on his right. He called the
tower and complained but they assured him that no other aircraft
except the Cub were in the area. Gorman could still see the light so
he decided to find out what it was. He pushed the F-51 over into a
turn and cut in toward the light. He could plainly see the Cub
outlined against the city lights below, but he could see no outline
of a body near the mysterious light. He gave the '51 more power and
closed to within a 1,000 yards, close enough to estimate that the
light was 6 to 8 inches in diameter, was sharply outlined, and was
blinking on and off. Suddenly the light became steady as it
apparently put on power; it pulled into a sharp left bank and made a
pass at the tower. The light zoomed up with the F-51 in hot pursuit.
At 7,000 feet it made a turn. Gorman followed and tried to cut inside
the light's turn to get closer to it but he couldn't do it. The light
made another turn, and this time the '51 closed on a collision
course. The UFO appeared to try to ram the '51, and Gorman had to
dive to get out of the way. The UFO passed over the '51's canopy with
only a few feet to spare. Again both the F-51 and the object turned
and closed on each other head on, and again the pilot had to dive out
to prevent a collision. All of a sudden the light began to climb and
disappeared.

"I had the distinct impression that its maneuvers were controlled by
thought or reason," Gorman later told ATIC investigators.

Four other observers at Fargo partially corroborated his story, an
oculist, Dr. A. D. Cannon, the Cub's pilot, and his passenger, Einar
Neilson. They saw a light "moving fast," but did not witness all the
maneuvers that Gorman reported. Two CAA employees on the ground saw a
light move over the field once.

Project Sign investigators rushed to Fargo. They had wired ahead to
ground the plane. They wanted to check it over before it flew again.
When they arrived, only a matter of hours after the incident,