Amazingly, given that airliners carry dozens of passengers, one would think that reports of encounters with unidentified flying objects would be considered something to get excited about. The years 1950 to 1959, however, were challenging times for major American Airlines such as American Airlines, United Airlines, and Trans-World Airlines as well as numerous smaller short-lived companies. To further confuse the issues, the skies were crowding, new airplanes were put into service with possibly fewer hours of air training than would have been best. Add to this the fact that the decade was one of the worst for airline crashes and the result is a pretty muddled mess.
So, when an airliner reported a near miss by a mysterious and unidentified craft, a quick solution and solid answer was in everyone's best interests.
Just consider the following:
July 24, 1948 near Montgomery, Alabama a DC-3 captained by Clarece S. Chiles and John B, Whitted observed at 2:45 a.m.a glowing object with a dull red glow above the aircraft. It appeared cigar shaped, had window like openings, a body that was blue-silver-white and a rear that gave off a orange-red glow. The object appeared to pull up into the clouds and disappeared. Officials said it was a meteor and most probably a bolide (Menzel and Hynek). The witnesses, the pilots, reported it had a vertical ascent and displayed a sharp "pull-up."
March 1950, DC-3 with the Chicago and South Airlines war airborne over Tennessee and Arkansas when it spotted at 9:29 CST a blue-white light, very bright, and a disc shaped object with no tail or wings. Captains were G.W. Anderson and Jack Adams, who said the object was ringed with what looked like portholes (see the Chiles-Whitted case).
April 27, 1950, an aircraft was flying in the area of South Bend, Indiana when it spotted a red disc that appeared to be rotating on its axis.
May 22, 1950, Flagstaff, Arizona a pilot reported seeing a cigar shaped object.
May 29, 1950, Captain Willis Speery, at 9:30 pm near Mt. Vernon, Maryland reported seeing an object with a brilliant bluish-white light similar to a florescent bulb. Officials said he had seen a meteor.
September 1950 - Over Korea, according to author McClaren (pg.298) a pilot observed two large circular silver, metallic objects estimated to be about 650 feet in diameter, that came to a dead stop, hovered and than left.
A "Hot" year was 1952 and the stories of UFO's and airliners added to the heat..
March 1952 , Kirksville, Missouri, a TWA C-54 cargo plane saw a large silver disc that paced his plane. Thinking it might have been a balloon he made a 360 degree turn, knowing that the balloon would remain where it was and thus prove it was just a mundane weather balloon. The turn made, however, the pilot realized the object was continuing to pace the aircraft through the turn.
July 14, 1952 - near Norfolk, Virginia pilots Nash and Fortenbery in a Pan Am flight (DC-4) saw large crimson, glowing objects at 9:15 EST. They said there were six of them, 100 feet in diameter, 15 freet thick, moving in a tight formation and estimate speed of 12,000 mph.
Oct. 19, 1953 outside of Philadelphia an American Airlines DC-6 captained by J.L. Kidd reported encountering a disc shaped object with no lights and only reflected by the glow of the moon and he had to make quick course changes to avoid collision.
Nov. 23, 1953 around Soo Locks, Michigan and Lake Superior, the pilot of an F-89c jet was ordered for a close look at something reported over the water. The pilot was tracked until it encounter, on radar, another object and appeared to smash right into the other object and both disappeared from the scopes. The Air Force claimed the F-86a had crashed into an off course Canadian C-47; Canada, however, denied any such thing had occurred.
April 14, 1954, a United Airlines # 193, a DC_6 under Captain J.M. Schidel reported that at 10:56 p.m. an large, dark object with an intense red light was hurtling toward their aircraft on what looked to be a collision course. The captain responded by sending the airliner into a sudden, steep climbing turn. Passengers were rattled, one and a hostess were injured . Civil Aeronautics Board declared it an encounter with an "unknown craft."
May 17, 1954, a squad of SF-97 jets in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area were surrounded by 16 silver disc shaped objects. The pilots, seasoned and experienced, were a bit - rattled.
Early 1957 - 150 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida a DC-6 Pan Am craft piloted by Capt, Matt Van Winkle (Flight # 257) at 3:30 a.m. saw an intense light coming from right and below them. It was a large disc shape that was moving upwards! The pilot had to induce a steep climb to avoid collision. Passengers, again, were tossed about and the injured were seen to when the craft landed in San Juan, P.R.
July 17, 1957, the famous RB-47h flight from the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, east and central Texas and southern Kansas where a UFO tracked by visual and ground as well as aircraft radar paced the plane for some 700 nautical miles as they headed home to Forbes AFB in Kansas. The Air Force explained it away as the object they tracked had been AA # 655; in truth that plane had a near miss with a mystery craft that turned out to be another airliner and not the RB-47h several hundred miles away. The Air Force never corrected there claim the encounter had been with Flight # 655 despite abundant proof to the contrary.
July 22, 1957 - Amarillo, Texas another near miss between an airliner and a presumed military aircraft.
Feb. 24, 1959, Bradford, Pennsylvania area an American Airlines # 713 from NJ to Michigan, under Capt. Killiam in a DC-6 observed three bright white lights in the sky, in a line formation, one broke formation and sped toward the plane but - to their surprise - slowed down to observe from a distance by pacing the airliner. The object was estimated to be three times the size of a DC-6. Radio check quickly confirmed that pilots on Flights 937 and 321 (United Air Lines) also saw the strange shapes and lights. The Air Force told all these experienced pilots and passengers they had merely misidentified stars.
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