Mysterious UFO encounter with RB-47H in 1957

Mysterious UFO encounter with RB-47H in 1957

UFO encounters always go beyond the fantastic and strange, confuse and ask for an answer to the question of whether they really happen or is it, for example, an optical effect in the atmosphere. Often there is no real evidence, and we are left with simple stories without any evidence. Nevertheless, there are cases that are well documented, registered, and that serves as a real mystery, standing out from the rest. Truly one of the greatest cases of a relatively recent UFO encounter revolves around the flight of an experienced crew, and this was confirmed by numerous sources at the time in order to firmly establish itself behind the UFO legend.

It was July 1957, and a highly developed RB-47H reconnaissance aircraft was being prepared for the mission, on which the most modern electronic equipment was installed. The crew of 6 people was very experienced and consisted of experienced pilot Lewis D. Chase, co-pilot James H. Mccoid and navigator Thomas H. Hanley, as well as the observers of John J. Provenzano, Frank B. McClure, and Walter A. Tuscherer. It was supposed to be a routine training mission, starting in Topeka, Kansas, and flying over the Gulf of Mexico to perform navigation and enemy radar exercises, and then returning back through the south-central part of the United States, after which the aircraft was to be deployed to Germany. The crew was tested and instructed, an advanced aircraft, with the most sophisticated electronic intelligence.

When they took off early on July 17, at about 4:00 a.m., the first part of the mission was completed without incident, and the plane was heading back through Gulfport, Mississippi, to continue its exercises, when McClure recorded an abnormal onboard signal from the rear of the aircraft somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico. At first, it was thought that this signal was coming from a ground-based radar installation due to the nature of its frequency, but it was soon determined that the signal object was moving quite fast, exceeding the aircraft's flight speed of 500 mph to fly around it and then disappear over the Mississippi. At the moment, visual confirmation of the object has not yet been done, and, indeed, McClure did not mention it at the time, believing that it must have been due to a hardware failure.

Mysterious UFO encounter with RB-47H in 1957

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew did not notice this strange incident, and the plane continued its course over Jackson, Mississippi, where it was supposed to take part in a series of simulated military exercises against Air Force ground-based radar stations stationed there.  Everything was going fine until, over Winnsboro, Louisiana pilot Lewis Chase noticed a rather strange sight ahead. He reported a bright light approaching at a very high speed. At first, he thought it might be the light from the landing lights of the airliner, but it soon turned out that there were no navigation lights, and that this object was a very bright bluish-white light moving towards them at a dangerously high speed, and was described by big as a house.

Alarmed, Chase alerted the team to prepare for evasive maneuvers, but before they could do so, the light instantly flashed past them and disappeared. At this time, only the pilot and co-pilot actually saw the anomaly.  They described it to the rest of the crew.  At that moment, McClure realized his mistake in the equipment settings, and they managed to pick up the signal again, but this time it seemed that the UFO was keeping perfect speed with the RB-47H.

During all this, the pilot, by radio, contacted the ground and found that the ground radar at the Ground Interception Station (GCI) of the Carswell Air Force Base was also observing an inexplicable phenomenon associated with them. He asked for permission to approach the mysterious object, received it, however, as soon as the RB-47H approached the intercept, the signal quickly disappeared at an altitude of more than 20,000 feet almost instantly, beyond what any known aircraft was capable of.

Then the UFO played with the plane for more than an hour, subtly dodged them for more than 600 miles, and all this time, while the ground radar registered it, emitted its own powerful radar signal. It was noticed that the object suddenly changes direction, then accelerates, then slows down and rises or falls; far beyond the speeds of which any known aircraft is capable. It also periodically "flickered", then it was invisible both to the ground radar in several places and to the aircraft instruments, then it appeared again, as if from nowhere. It also began to take on the appearance of bright red light, and this was very alarming for the team.

By this point, due to lack of fuel, the RB-47H was forced to stop trying to intercept the object and headed north to Oklahoma to land. The mysterious object was detected on their instrument readings all the way to Oklahoma City before disappearing, this time forever.

In the 1969 book by Edward W. Condon, "The Final Report on the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects", it is reported that shortly after landing, "electronic interception data, graphic data and radar images that were taken during the flight were removed from the aircraft by intelligence officers," the crew was subjected to a thorough interrogation, and all this was saved.

The RB-47H report remains one of the best documented and unexplained UFO cases, and will likely hold that title for some time.


About author:

Ufologist, PhD, blogger, I go on my own expeditions for UFOs. I use scientific methods to investigate the UAP phenomenon

Serg Toporkov

Ufologist, Ph.D., blogger, I go on my own expeditions for UFOs. I use scientific methods to investigate the UAP phenomenon. Write to me


Related tags:

UFO encounters  UFO  1957  RB-47H  report  ufos  ufo sightings


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