The KC-97 off Newfoundland

The KC-97 off Newfoundland

On 6 July 1955 the crew of a USAF KC-97 tanker reported an unidentified airborne object in the Newfoundland area, and a ground radar in the same area obtained a return on an object that apparently was the one the crew were watching. A Headquarters USAF intelligence committee could not explain the simultaneous radar returns and visual sightings, tentatively accepted Northeast Air Command's evaluation of an electrical phenomenon and misinterpretation by the crew, classified the incident as an unidentified flying object, and recommended that fighters be scrambled without delay in future incidents of this kind. The crew's accounts, the radar data and the original messages are not in the released file.

Source document: Original public reference