r of a
patrolling F-94 spotted a light while flying at 26,000 feet. The crew
called their ground control station and were told that no planes were
known to be in the area. They closed on the object and saw a large,
round, white "thing" with a dim reddish light coming from two
"windows." They lost visual contact, but got a radar lock-on. They
reported that when they attempted to close on it again it would
reverse direction and dive away. Several times the plane altered
course itself because collision seemed imminent.

In each of these instances, as well as in the case narrated next,
the sources of the stories were trained airmen with excellent
reputations. They were sincerely baffled by what they had seen. They
had no conceivable motive for falsifying or "dressing up" their
reports.

The other dogfight occurred September 24, 1952, between a Navy pilot
of a TBM and a light over Cuba.

The pilot had just finished making some practice passes for night
fighters when he spotted an orange light to the east of his plane. He
checked on aircraft in the area, learned that the object was
unidentified, and started after it. Here is his report, written
immediately after he landed:

As it [the light] approached the city from the east it started a
left turn. I started to intercept. During the first part of the chase
the closest I got to the light was 8 to 10 miles. At this time it
appeared to be as large as an SNJ and had a greenish tail that looked
to be five to six times as long as the light's diameter. This tail
was seen several times in the next 10 minutes in periods of from 5 to
30 seconds each. As I reached 10,000 feet it appeared to be at 15,000
feet and in a left turn. It took 40 degrees of bank to keep the nose
of my plane on the light. At this time I estimated the light to be in
a 10-to-15-mile orbit.

At 12,000 feet I stopped climbing, but the light was still climbing
faster than I was. I then reversed my turn from left to right and the
light also reversed. As I was not gaining distance, I held a steady
course south trying to estimate a perpendicular between the light and
myself. The light was moving north, so I turned north. As I turned,
the light appeared to move west, then south over the base. I again
tried to intercept but the light appeared to climb rapidly at a 60-
degree angle. It climbed to 35,000 feet, then started a rapid descent.

Prior to this, while the light was still at approximately 15,000
feet, I de