4 THE 1950’S
The fifth decade ushered in a time of prosperity, a modern era in mode and thinking that was often at odds with a post-war rush to embrace the reassuring familiarity of the way things “used to be.” The fifties will see “hyper-femininity” and “hyper-masculinity” and a focus on the new demi-god of science. As a result new ideas, philosophies, lifestyles and values were being tried on. Overhead, in 1952, 1954, and 1957 there will be major flying saucer, or as they were now being called “unidentified flying saucer” flaps. To further confuse the issue, there will emerge the “Contactees” who will report travels to Venus, visits with the “Space Brothers,” and tended to share a prevailing message of peace.
These “contactees”, some experts believe, are not really part of the UFO phenomena but belong to something seen throughout human experience. In a previous age, these were simple, often misguided or mentally disturbed, people who would have used the imagery of Gods, Angels, Fairies, magic, animals, or other sacred symbols of religion to speak of some needed apocalyptic or transformative change. They saw saints, deities, and other mystic apparitions (such as Joan of Arc). Some “contactees” were often also simple charlatans or con artists.
As a general rule, even though they can be entangled in the literature of the UFO phenomena, it may be wise to view them as an aside. This work will largely exclude them for the reason that they may not truly be a part of the modern history of UFO’s and because there are some convincing arguments that they represent an aberration of human mental health. For that reason, with an assumption that other UFO sightings fall into a different category, they will be considered separately and not really part of the main body of unidentified flying objects of the 20th century.
Post WW-2, however, anyone who saw anything in the sky that was questionable was often met with accusations of being drunk, mentally damages, mistaken, or suffering from hysteria left over from war-time tensions. Sometimes the labels fit – often, however, they did not fit at all.
The Kansas Clergy and the UFO – Kingman, Kansas area 1950.
Heading due west out of Wichita along Highway 54 several small communities are passed: Cheney, Kingman, Pratt and others. These are all towns south of Hutchinson, one time home to a Naval facility and frequent locale of weather balloon launches. On Thursday evening June 30, 1950, two family groups would witness something remarkable.
The Rev. Ross Vermellion, age 26, and his wife were two witnesses. Ross was pastor of the Cheney Christian Church. The other witnesses were a druggist, Dwayne Mulnix, and his two daughters from Meade, Kansas.
Newspaper accounts provide two slightly different perspectives on the sighting. One news account from the UP said the sighting was 9 miles west of Kingman just minutes after midnight. The minister’s wife was asleep and he awakened her as the object came closer in the moonlight sky. It came almost 500 feet from the minister and his wife and the light of the night gave them a good view of this strange whirling object. Another version clarifies that a central rim around the object was moving in a counter clockwise rotation.
Vermillion slowed his car to about 20 mph and they practically drove right under the object. The B-17 veteran pilot quickly noted there was no flame, no interference with the radio that was playing, and its lights did not tally with required U.S. aircraft markings or lights. There was a light – a white one – east side of the object and stationary lights on the west that were red and white.
The minister, along with another driver, stopped their cars to better see the odd object. The other driver was Dwayne Mulinex, Meade, Kansas and his two daughters. After observing it briefly, the minister said he decided to turn his car around and see if he could drive back under the object and before he could do so the object took off “in a hurry.” Witnesses noted its terrific rate of acceleration and the ex-pilot noted he had never seen anything like it before.
Other accounts indicate that the object was first noticed as just a very bright vivid red light in the sky near the community of Cunningham just east of Pratt. Then as a bright white light that was apparently moving. Vermillion, a WW2 veteran B-17 pilot, described it as displaying a “rotary movement” on what appeared to be an outer ring. The object was about 250 feet in diameter, about 10 feet thick, and having what appeared to be a small canopy on the top.
Awed and intrigued they stopped the car on a bridge over the Ninnescah River (probably a bridge near the area of Cunningham and Calista on Hwy 54). At that time, the show apparently ended as the craft abruptly shot up at a 45 degree angle and disappeared. Witnesses theorized this was accomplished either by attaining incredible speeds or by dimming its lights making it no longer visible. This was the view the pastor leaned towards as he thought he observed a dimming of the lights conjointly with its intense acceleration.
Since the local Hutchinson paper did not carry this story until its Sunday edition (July 1) some sources have that date for the event. The story clearly notes it was on the previous Thursday (June 30).
This year of 1950 would have numerous such curious reports. Many of them are from the month of June. A b-29 was dispatched at Roswell, New Mexico and reports came in from many locations.
Although this event about the Veteran pilot turned minister who observed a strange object appeared in various UFO publications and even in a graphic booklet in the early years of the decade, it is not a familiar one in many of the more formal topic resources.
The reason it is absent, along with many other reports from the early ears, may be found in a letter that is part of the official file (06-9615158): “As a matter of fact, the details of individual sightings reported during the 1947-1950 period are no longer available since this data has been thoroughly analyzed.” The letter was written by a Wallace W. Elwood, First Lt., Assistant Adjutant USAF, 17 May 1956 to someone in Santa Ana, California. That individual had apparently written for information about confirming one or more reported sightings from those years. The letter also mentions a witness named Ross Vermillion, Cheney, Kansas, 29 June 1950. Thursday was the 29th of June and the sighting in one source was alleged to be minutes after midnight the confusion as to dates becomes clear. Further confusing the issue was the early July newspaper stories that led some to place the sighting in that month.
THE SWALLOW AIRCRAFT EVENT – 1952, WICHITA
In the mid-forties Wichita emerged as a significant manufacturing center for aircraft and all related industries as the war effort heated up. Several important plants in the early days included Swallow Aircraft Company, followed later by Beech, Cessna, Boeing, and similar companies building, testing, or repairing aircraft for the war.
The wide open plains had been long recognized as highly suitable for pilot instruction, paratrooper training, and testing of new designs. Many people – men and women – eagerly headed to Wichita to get one of the better paying jobs with these industries.
In April of 1952, several employees of Swallow reported seeing something moving south-southeast and this was labeled a meteor in the report. A second sighting was described as moving very fast to the southwest and was brilliantly illuminated. Witnesses described it as being an unknown yellow object with something resembling a huge kite with a tail. The date was April 15 and the time of the sighting was 10:45.
TOPEKA – THE RED GLOW AND THE PINK UFO - 1952
Later that same month on the 29th in Topeka was another report. This time the object was oval, pink in color, and it a straight and level path at great speed.
Details are a bit lacking illustrating the value of detail in understanding what has been seen. Although both of these events occurred during the annual Lyrid meteor shower, the lack of clear times, location, altitude, direction, and other details generate problems.
It was easy for such vague sightings to be labeled something natural and normal (which they might well have been) but the one on June 27 at Topeka, at 6:50 p.m. near Forbes Air Force Base was a little harder to explain. The object seen by 2nd Lt. K.P. Kelley and his wife was a pulsating red object that changed shape from circular to vertical oval as it pulsed, as it remained stationary, and as it then moved away.
WICHITA – 1952
A listing for July 29 for Wichita, Kansas is one of many in one file and a typed list of current reported sightings for that window of time. These included sightings for July 29, 1952 from Osceola, Virginia (listed as unidentified with a photo); one from Langley, Virginia; and one from Otis Air Force Base in Massachusetts (source for these was a Dayton, Ohio file for July 1952 in Project Blue Book). Aside from any commonalities as to the actual sighting details which might exist they do share one common feature: all were listed as having their “cards” – those summary cover sheets – missing. In its earliest incarnation the card was an oversized index type card that evolved into a form sheet but still retained the same blanks for information on date, time, location, type of sighting, direction, a summary account and a possible explanation for the event. For some cases that “card” was all there was and so for them to go missing is very interesting.
The summer of 1952 was when the nation’s capital itself saw strange things being reported. Radar screens in several states, aboard planes, and in air control towers reported objects. Some pilots and people on the ground reported seeing “lights.” The Air Force quickly presented the twin explanations of “radar angels” – ghost blimps caused by a) malfunctioning equipment or ill-trained users or b) temperature inversions that reflected objects in such a manner they were read as objects in the sky when they were not.
Those who noted that temperature inversions occurred on other dates with so attending objects seen or reported but nobody was paying much attention by then. The military had found a trendy explanation in the temperature inversion story.
THE UFO AT PITTSBURG, KANSAS – AUGUST 25, 1952
This was a case that Dr. Allen J. Hynek would note later in his career that set him to thinking that more study needed to be conducted on some sightings. It was one that left an impression for years but one that was largely forgotten by many.
A local man William Squyres reported seeing a strange object about 5:30 a.m. on August 25, 1952 outside the community of Pittsburg in southeastern Kansas. He described the object as about 70 feet long, metallic, and most bizarre of all, was his report of seeing at least one occupant in the craft. He assumed it to be some experimental aircraft and thought the “man” was working the controls. He also noted through the slightly opaque window like openings movement as if there might be others inside the object.
A co-worker of the man returned with Squyres to the location about 10:00 a.m. and collected soil samples. Squyres had an artificial leg and could not go out into the field but his friend followed directions and took samples as he was directed.
Squyres, a professional musician who worked for a local radio station providing music for programs, reported it to his bosses. The Air Force only learned of the event when the soil samples arrived at ATIC at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.
Mention of the report was included in a November 1951 ATIC report of over ten pages regarding “CONTRACT AF -19741, PPS-100.” In this contract were several test results of samples collected from various reports. The scope of the contract included analysis of existing sighting reports, analysis of soil and vegetation samples, a consultant on astronomy, interrogation forms and something labeled merely ‘future work.’
Among those soil samples were those from Pittsburgh, Kansas. The tests made included those for beta, gama, and alpha radiation. Results indicated “no difference” between those in the area of the object and the area outside that area. An attached note indicated the “samples of “Kansas” soil and vegetation will be returned to WP-AFB in the near future.” The wording is strange as such samples, once tested, seem unimportant. It can also be noted there was no use of any term indicating the results were normal. If unaffected, why, one wonders, return or keep them?
The consultant on astronomy may have been Dr. Hynek. This may be what he birthed his later comments about this case being deserving of greater investigation and study. On October 11, 1952, Dr. Hynek presented a paper at the convention of the Optical Society of America in Boston on “Unusual Aerial Phenomena.”
Some researchers have noted that during 1952-1953 Project Stork was focused on addressing the apparent lack of physical evidence. Also noted is that due to the “packing” and “swirling” of the weeds and grasses in the area where the object was seen hovering this could be an early crop circle.
All in all this often overlooked story may have had a lot more in it than was first believed. Another odd tale of things seen in the skies over Kansas.
In May of 1953 a military service member at Marshall Air Force Base near Fort Riley, Kansas observed an object in the sky. On the 25th of the month at 10:45 to 11:45 CST (25/1645 zulu) a bean shaped object was seen moving at a high rate of speed. It was estimated at 600 mph at a low altitude on a 57 degree heading. The report was deemed lacking sufficient data for an investigation. Of course there is the possibility that this “bean shaped object” might have been an experimental craft, balloon or something else. The shape, depending on perspective, could be used to define a delta wing craft or a weather balloon losing its shape while moving through a swift upper air current. The estimated speed was well within the upper test ranges of military craft of the time (in use and in development).
It could, however, have been something else. Calendar year 1952 had been a peak year for radar and electrical interference by apparent UFO’s. As May 1953 arrived it looked to be a continuation of that type of encounter as objects were seen at Goose AFB in Labrador, Canada. A jet plane flown by a USAF pilot, radar and control tower all reported an object. Visually it was one white light that evaded interception during a 30 minute observation.
The sightings in the skies, the fact that there was a lack of agreement about the nature of the things being seen in the skies among military leaders, and the stunning awareness that they were not just a product of United States culture or anxieties was becoming more apparent. As a result, people were watching the skies in greater numbers.
On the night of April 3, 1954, a man was in a car on Market Street in Wichita, Kansas. The car was facing south late night at “37 degrees, 38 degrees North, 16 degrees West.” The witness said he observed the moving objects for about 10-12 seconds. There were 7-9 lights moving in a “V” formation. One of the lights periodically dropped back and then would resume its earlier position.
He estimated the speed of the objects as very fast and said their brightness was that of a 2-3 degree magnitude star. The lights were a bright white. Their size he estimated as being that of the head of pin held at arm’s length. The Air Force conclusion was that the individual had observed a flock of birds. Demonstrating, how global sightings were becoming was the fact that the file also contained a clipping from a NICAP publication about an April 4, 1954 sighting in Scotland. The British Ministry had reported a UFO in Scotland and the noted UFO organization added it to their monthly newsletter of events and reports.
People seeing something they have never seen before will search for similarities to known forms or sounds. As a result there have been some strange terms used when attempting to explain what was seen: upside down washtub, bean shaped, ice cream cone, stick of dynamite, platters, saucers, football with the center squashed down, and other terms. And, one time, a cucumber.
In Comanche County, Kansas near the community of Coldwater a 12-year old John Jacob Swaim (some sources have Swain) reported seeing something very unusual when he was running a tractor in a field toward the end of day in September.
The tale was shared by Wichita Eagle writer Don Pinkston and picked up by several newspapers and UFO group publications. The young man had seen something odd – a small, “gnome-like” wrote one account, being about the size of five year old child. Swaim noted it had what appeared to be a “weird flying machine” and a being with pointed ears and a pointed nose and wore a shiny or light reflective suit or outfit. This creature had what appeared to be tanks on his back and seemed to glide as he moved back to the craft that resembled a “flying saucer” or as one said a “cucumber” with several lights. The craft lighted, rose and hovered and then sped off very fast. Accounts of the size of the object vary by sources: some say it was about 3 feet by 3 feet and others that it was 50 feet in diameter (see the Wichita Eagle, September 8, 1954).
The local law enforcement did report there were small “pear shaped” footprints found in the area where the small being and craft had been sighted. It should be noted that during this year there is an increase in reports of humanoid beings associated with the presence of a UFO.
There were many top secret projects from this time period for which records no longer exist. Was this an early attempt to see if a primate might been able to pilot a small craft, a test of physical endurance in a testing of possible new flight technologies or something similar? Or, was it really another example of an increase in attempts to contact human beings by creatures who were from someplace farther away? Were the authorities correct when in a very Kansas manner remarked the boy had a strong imagination?
OVER KANSAS SKIES: 18 JULY 1956
On the night of July 18, and early morning of the 19th, people were seeing things in the skies near Arkansas City (known locally as Ark City), Hutchinson, El Dorado, Wichita and Wellington. All located primarily in central and southeast Kansas.
Near Arkansas City observers viewed for some forty minutes an object drifting to the southeast. It was described as an orange light bulb with green points of light at about 500-600 feet altitude and 80 degrees azimuth. Authorities from several locales indicated the movement of this object concurred with the winds aloft at this time.
The suggestion was that this was “probably a balloon” released from Dodge City in southwest Kansas or Wichita in south central Kansas. Some have argued that the winds aloft direction referred to would seem to indicate that a Dodge City balloon should have angled more on a south east trajectory leading to Oklahoma. This object was observed by several witnesses as moving to the north just before midnight.
The light had what appeared to be prongs or rays of light, very bright, that sprayed downward to the ground. This object was described as “teardrop” shape. Its size – seen at a distance – was considered to be big and appeared as bright as a 200 watt bulb held at arm’s length.
In Arkansas City, the object was viewed by three police officers and two civilians for some five hours from various points over their community. The descriptions included seeing “dangling tentacles.” Witnesses in Wichita (northwest of Arkansas City), Hutchinson (west of Arkansas City), El Dorado (northeast of Arkansas City) and Wellington (west of Arkansas City) also reported seeing what appeared to be a large light bulb “dancing in the sky.”
One state patrolman reported seeing “objects” moving eastward from Hutchinson at a high altitude and a fast rate of speed. These were, according to reports, also caught on area radar screens there as well.
At some point, McConnell AFB sent up a B-29 bomber out of Wichita and the Smokey Hills AFB, Salina sent out two jets. At the time, Smokey Hills (later Schilling AFB) was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) facility. Forbes AFB in Topeka may have also sent up planes or contributed in some manner according to records.
One of these pilots fly over the oil fields near El Dorado and saw one of the burn-off pipes with its blue-green head and yellow flare and declared an answer to what everyone was seeing.
Considering the distances involved, however, and the time span, coupled with other descriptions of size, direction and colors it becomes clear that there were at least two different objects being sighted in these reports.
The high flying, fast paced objects heading due east reported by the state police and caught on radar constitute one event.
The large light bulb shaped object with slow pace and dangling parts seen “drifting” southeast and observed for hours from Hutchinson to Wellington and Arkansas City as it moved into northeastern Oklahoma appears to be a second event. This sighting was first noticed before midnight “in the north” but moving on a southeast trajectory. This appears to match the object reported northeast of Wellington and northeast over parts of Arkansas City.
The El Dorado burn off explanation is an odd explanation. It is, if visible, far north of Arkansas City and stationary. In addition, it would not be an abnormal or unusual occurrence unfamiliar to area residents and police. Although El Dorado sits on an elevation of 1312 feet and Arkansas City sits at 1125 feet and in 1956 the line of sight might have been obscured.
Making it fit all descriptions becomes problematic. A size of a 200 watt bulb held at arm’s length would not have consistently been reported by witnesses from different locations and distances. The “teardrop” shape had dangling tentacles but an oil field burn off flare would not reveal “dangling” but instead bursts of flame upwards – opposite to the description. The light bulb was further seen to have moved both vertically and horizontally by witnesses.
Donald H. Menzel in his 1963 work The World of Flying Saucers mentioned a case of “radar angels” or “ghosts” at Schilling AFB in Salina, Kansas September 10, 1956. A photograph of the radar screen is included in the book, co-authored with Boyd, and is part of an effort on the part of Menzel to debunk many ‘flying suacer’ cases. Interestingly enough, the event falls between two Project Blue Book “unknowns” (September 4 in Dallas, TX and September 14 in Highland, NC).
As the decade was winding down, things in space and politics were gaining momentum. Early in the fall of 1957 would spark the attention or the imagination of people all over the globe. On October 4, Russia shot the first man-made craft, Sputnik 1, into orbit around the Earth. As a result, fear and anxiety increased for many as they realized the potential of such technology coupled with missiles and atom bombs. October through December would see people having watch parties and local newspapers would print schedules of when to go out and view the mighty achievement from the front yard.
Looking into events of the year reveals, however, that people were seeing things in the sky long before Sputnik launched.
In Kansas in January was a report from Russell, Kansas of a “V” shaped lights similar to lights reported in similar places. In March a sighting from Herrington, in May one from Kansas City, and then in July one from Forbes AFB, Topeka, Kansas. Apparent weather balloons resulted in August reports from Wichita. Mid-October a reported sighting of three objects in Haviland, and one object on Halloween from Kanapolis – all deemed to be clusters of weather balloons. In November reports from Hill City and Salina will be blamed on misidentifications of the planet Venus.
THE RB-47 AND AMERICAN AIRLINES #655 CASE - 1957
A 56 page report from July 17, 1957 for Forbes AFB at Topeka will encompass several states and generate ongoing interest from several agencies and scientists. Inside the file is a photocopy of an article added later from a July 1971 issue of Astronautics and Aeronautics, “Sample Case Submitted by the UFO Subcommittee.” The piece was co-authored by Dr. James E. McDonald, an American physicist and vocal advocate of studying the UFO phenomena.
Home to the RB-47h aircraft, with its array of counter measure equipment, was Forbes Air Force Base, Topeka, Kansas. Their mission that July was to fly over a preselected area of ground stations so that both the aircraft equipment and the ground equipment could demonstrate “their stuff.” Their course was to fly south across Kansas, into Oklahoma, and down toward the Dallas area, turn east over Louisiana, then toward Jackson and Meridian in Mississippi and then south once more to Gulfport on the coast. Once out in the Gulf the aircraft turned back west and headed toward the Texas gulf coastline before turning back and retracing their previous route.
That was when the trip got really interesting.
The aircraft was crewed by pilot Lewis D. Chase; copilot James H. McCoid; T.H. Henley, navigator; and operating the special onboard equipment was J.T. Provenzano, monitor #1; Frank B. McClure, operating monitor #2; Walter A. Tuchscherer, operating monitor #3.
Coming home the “first contact” with airborne unknown was equipment based over Gulfport in southern Mississippi on their return leg.
This was followed by a visual sighting by crew over eastern Louisiana, southeast of Jackson, Mississippi. At 1010z (5:10 a.m.) the aircraft commander (Chase) observed a very intense white light with a blue tint. It was at an 11 o’clock position and cross in front of the plane at about a 2:30 o’clock position.
Then, at 1039z (5:39 a.m.) the aircraft commander sighted a huge light estimated to be 5000 feet below their aircraft at about a 2 o’clock position. The crew members clearly remembered a red hued light emanating from the top of this object. These air born visuals were being confirmed by ground based units.
Monitor operator # 2 at 1040z (5:40 a.m.) reported tracking two signals (2 objects) at 40 and 70 degrees. At this time the aircraft commander and co-pilot saw two objects with red color. At this time they were approaching the Dallas area (possibly around Tyler) and received permission to ignore their flight plan and pursue the mystery objects. One crew member recalled seeing the strange objects moving abruptly from starboard to port and back again.
Although some of the more sophisticated ground tracking equipment had been on (code name for one was “UTAH”) they were not able, at first, to track the objects being seen. That came later. After the objects had turned northward and was tracked visually and by equipment. The “unknown” turned north between the area of Dallas and Ft. Worth.
While the RB-47h was in that general area pilot Chase received permission to go after the object from the FAA and to aid that they ordered all jets to get out of the way. The plane went toward Mineral Wells (to the west of Ft. Worth) before making a turn back toward the Ft. Worth-Dallas corridor.
At 1042z (5:42 a.m.) the crew of RB-47h reported the object 10 nautical miles northwest of Ft. Worth and the ADC’s ‘Utah” station confirmed it on their own ground scopes.
The second monitor operator regained the object on the aircraft at 1058z (5:58 a.m.) at 20 nautical miles northwest of Ft. Worth at an estimated 20,000 feet altitude and at a 2 o’clock position relative to the RB-47h.
About that same time, the aircraft was running low on fuel and the crew grew concerned about being able to make it back to home base at Forbes AFB in Topeka. So, at 1120z (6:20 a.m.) the aircraft took up a heading for its home station, but they tracked the object into southern Oklahoma in the process. Some other reports indicate that the object may have been seen by witnesses in southern Oklahoma including the Ardmore and Oklahoma City environs.
This case, involving as it did possibly classified counter measure EMC equipment, did not even reach the desk of Project Blue Book until November of 1957. In October, the Russians launched Sputnik into orbit and so there may have been concerns about leaking information about USAF capabilities to locate, track the locations of craft or their abilities to obscure their own presence. There may, given the number of highly intriguing UFO cases from that year, also have been something the higher ups wanted to cover up – even from their own investigative arm charged with explaining just such events as the July 17, 1957 flight of the RB-47b out of Forbes AFB when an “unknown” paced the plane and its crew for some 700 nautical miles.
In 1971, Dr. James MacDonald, a rare outspoken proponent of the serious investigations of the possibilities the UFO Phenomena presented, led a subcommittee of the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) in publishing a case study of the RB-47h case.
He and his colleagues on the committee noted it had been one studied by the recent Condon Report and in their research they had uncovered that a) the case was misfiled due to a wrong date being assigned the case (September 19 instead of July 17), b) as a result, the weather and radar analyzes had been conducted for the wrong date and the Condon report had been working with September 19 information rather than the correct date.
MacDonald, horribly ridiculed by the press, the military, his peers and professional debunkers such as Philip Klass and Dr. Menzel led the effort to correct the record so that date reflected actual events, replaced or created new witness reports (he had found that some reports were never generated and some “lost”) by re-interviewing crew members and others. Most importantly he allowed a scientific voice – from some heavy hitters in their fields – minimized through the efforts of the Condon Report to be heard.
Despite the odd explanation offered by Project Blue Book that the entire incident had been determined to have been caused by a near collision with an American Airlines Flight # 655, the Wing Reconnaissance Director of Intelligence had stated that he had no question that the electronic signals verified over the Tyler area and another near Granbury (D and F positions on the MacDonald article map) had been generated by the “object.”
So, where does that American Airlines Flight 655 fit into things – or does it?
American Airlines Flight # 655 – July 17, 1957
Fifty miles east of El Paso, Hudspeth County, Texas (far southwest Texas) over what is now a ghost town called Salt Flat a DC-6 with 80 passengers and 5 crew members had a hair raising experience in the early morning hours of July 17, 1957.
Captain T. “Ed” Bachner, a 15 year veteran pilot, was heading west on a flight that was variously described as a “nonstop from New York to Los Angeles” and a plane “enroute from Dallas to Los Angeles” (both terms appear in news and other reports).
At that approximate 50 mile point just east of El Paso the Captain saw a green light that abruptly appeared just ahead of him. Thinking he was seeing the safety light on the tip of the left wing of an oncoming aircraft (as standard aircraft regulations required placement of such lights in that manner), the Captain turned the plane to the right and dove the airliner down (by most accounts 14,000 feet). The passengers, most not strapped in, were immediately tossed about the cabin creating several injuries. This necessitated the pilot making an unplanned, emergency landing at the El Paso International Airport. Some twenty or so passengers suffered mild injuries and two passengers going home to California were hospitalized for neck dislocations. Reports vary as to how far he dropped the plane with some saying he was flying at 14,000 and others saying that was the altitude he dropped the airliner to avoid collision.
There may have been passengers who also observed whatever the object was that nearly collided with Flight 655. There were comments later from the injured that they believed the Captain’s skills had prevented a tragedy.
Early newspaper accounts favor the time of “about 3:00 a.m.” or “about 3:30 a.m.” for the time of this incident in far west Texas on July 17, 1957. Some accounts include a quote of an “airline spokesperson” as saying the incident occurred at 4:30 “Texas time” over Salt Flats “about 50 miles east of El Paso.” One source does say it was only “30 miles.” A UP story hit the wires of “Passenger Tells of Panic as Plane Suddenly Dives” that says the event occurred about 3 a.m. This, according to signals tracked by the Salt Flat and Waco towers (beacons) of the airliners passage.
El Paso and nearby Salt Flats are sandwiched between Mexico to the south and New Mexico to the north. El Paso is as far west as Albuquerque, New Mexico. As such the area falls under Mountain Time Zone (MST) and all the rest of Texas are under Central Time Zone (CTZ). So the encounter with American Airlines Flight # 655, according to the airline spokesperson and other accounts occurred about 3:00 to 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 17, 1957.
Now, let us go back to that Forbes AFB RB-47h coming back from its test jaunt over the Gulf of Mexico. The testimony of the crew and supporting evidence from the ground units indicate they first encountered something in the area of Gulfport, Mississippi at about 5:00 a.m. and another encounter going into Louisiana and then as they approached the Dallas area. The objects that paced that aircraft then turned NORTHWEST heading into Oklahoma.
Now the Project Blue Book report card form states the location was “Forbes AFB, Kansas/Oklahoma City/Ft. Worth, Texas” and it occurred at “Local time of 0350 AM” or “GMT 17/1050z” and it was summarized as “a blue light was seen in sky that stayed with a/c for 420 NM. Object was picked up by B-47 radar but could not be seen by ground radar.” In the comments section it states “Identified as American Airlines Flight 655” and a handwritten notation says “See article by Dr. James MacDonald – Astronautics and Aeronautics, summer of 1971”.
The military craft only went as far west as Mineral Wests, just west of Ft. Worth before it looped back around and then swung north toward home base in northern Kansas. The American Airlines Flight # 655 encountered the mysterious craft some 500 air miles away from the course of the RB-47h. It appears both time and miles preclude the airliner from having encountered the RB-47h in flight.
Something else to think about is that there is no story of the repercussions of another aircraft flying “out of nowhere” that close to the airliner necessitating such drastic evasive maneuvers by Captain Bachner.
Oddly, a similar incident occurred later in that same month. On July 22, in the Texas panhandle, a TWA (Trans-World Airlines) Flight #21, a four engine Constellation flying non-stop from Chicago to Tuscan and piloted by a Captain Schamel or Schemel was flying over Amarillo at 10 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. when “unexpectedly” running lights from another craft were just ahead of him.
He did not have even time to flash the seatbelt warning sign for the 36 passengers before he dropped 500 feet to avoid certain collision. He would later say he thought the craft was an Air Force plane but not a jet and later records would suggest he had encountered an USAF KC-97 but with no supporting evidence.
Again several of the 34 passengers were tossed about but only one passenger, a 68 year of Massachusetts woman and a “hostess”, Dorothy Rekow, suffered significant injuries. The plane landed at Amarillo so that injuries could be treated and then proceeded onto Tuscan.
Unsupported accounts suggest the pilot described the lights of the sudden craft as “bluish-white with a reddish tint” and that its speed was fast. It disappeared as if the lights were simply switched off and similar terms. Attempts were made to blame all of these type of accounts on faulty radar equipment. The year was a bad one for airplane collisions (nearly a thousand) so there were some problems being worked out.
It was also an interesting year for UFO related events across the nation: Carswell AFB (Ft. Worth) and Knoxville, Tennessee in January, Great Falls, Montana and Malstrom AFB in June, White Sands Proving Grounds in July, and in November Levelland, Texas, Amarillo, Texas and Kirtland AFB in New Mexico. Most of which are considered some of the stronger and most interesting of cases related to the studies of the UFO phenomena.
As the RB-47h made its way home to Topeka that day, after being paced by an “unknown”, for some 700 nautical miles, one wonders just where their thoughts journeyed.
Fall of 1957 would spark a great deal of excitement across the globe. On October 4, Russia launched Sputnik I into orbit around the earth. It was a major flare up during an icy Cold War generating a great deal of dear and anxiety. Looking into that year, however, it was clear there were things in the sky before Sputnik.
In Kansas alone, there was a report in January of “V” shaped lights. In Herrington in March something was seen and in Kansas City in May. In July from Forbes AFB came a report that is explained as an aircraft (which must have been hard to handle given that Forbes was an Air Force Base and should be expert at identifying aircraft overhead). In August is a sighting in Wichita labeled a weather balloon. In Haviland on October 22, three objects seen in the sky will join an object reported from Halloween in Kanapolis under the umbrella of a sighting of weather balloons. November will bring reports from Hill City and Salina were a misidentification of the planet Venus will carry the day.
As 1958 arrived the world had moved into a new realm of realizing that space travel was not just the stuff of science fiction, Those satellites orbiting around the earth, the United States’ efforts to launch their satellites, and a new focus on the importance of having science based education in schools and colleges.
The reports of things odd and out of the ordinary in the skies continued. May 15, 1958 in Coffeeville, Kansas in southeast Kansas (just northeast of Parsons) came a report. The object seen was cigar shaped, there were small creatures associated with the craft and the witness reported to a UFO investigative site that there was a sensation of “time freezing” which may be a way of expressing the concept of “lost time.”
A few days later on May 18 in Greenburg, Kansas in Kiowa County in west central section of the state another report emerged. The object moved from northwest to southwest, it was ball shaped with a bubbly looking surface that looked hot and was orange to red in color. The witness said it looked like a quarter moon too low in the sky and was about tree top level. The object stopped in the sky and descended vertically to the ground for about 3-4 minutes. Then the object rose vertically in a northwest direction and then turned to the southwest again. It then disappeared from view.
The possible explanation offered was the witness had seen “static electricity.”
A witness had stopped their car on HWY 57 and the UFO had stopped some 25 feet in front of the car, 4 miles west of Greenbrush. They described the object as ball shaped and it moved across the road ditch-to-ditch (covering a 2 lane and 30 foot wide space). That night they reported there was clear ground visibility, winds were North Northeast at 6 mph. Chanute and distant towns to the northeast reported “occasional lightening.”
In July observers in Wichita reported on July 12th an shiny, metallic object that was moving very fast.
As summer was winding down on August 21 in Kansas City witnesses were “Sputnik watching” when they saw something else moving from the northeast to the southwest “very fast.” They observed flashes of light, at 8:45 p.m., a few seconds apart, that spanned the entire sky in six flashes (under a minute and estimated 45 seconds observation). There was a slight arc to its travel across the sky.
They thought it was the rocket of Sputnik going over but then a neighbor who had observed the satellite before this called them a few minutes later to observe that object. The object looked the size of a half dollar. The explanation the Air Force offered was a B-47 from Salina was in the area and may have flown by and its wings tilted to provide the “flashes” seen.
The B-47 had a top speed of 587 mph and the fast clip of the object reported seems to rule it out as the source.
As 1959 arrived there were more reports with one of the most significant in January from Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas. It was a report that reflected a future trend in many UFO reports and that was the emergence of the young, intelligent and often college educated witness.
A saucer shaped object, the size of basketball held at arm’s length, was observed circling the community of Dodge City about 8:45 p.m. It appeared to have giant sparks shooting out all around the object.
In the comments section of the Project Blue Book report form had been written “probably aircraft” and “several inconsistencies between original letter and FORM 164 later submitted.” In all the report was 12 pages long and inside the object was described as being at tree top level, rising, looping up and at an angle.
The object was observed through a windshield by an engineering student from the college at Manhattan, Kansas and was 26 years old. The object was reported as moving south southwest over his stopped car. The object gave off sparks in a circular pin-wheel like movement. It increased and decreased in brightness in 6-7 cycles.
As he was observing all of this he could hear the dogs in the community barking. It appeared in the southern sky and moved to the east.
The differences between the two accounts of the letter and the later FORM 164 appear minor and have little significance to the event. The “first report” was an informal letter. The second, a multi-page report that demanded a deeper level of detail and thought, he has moved into full “student mode” as he answers in formal, academic, scientific and factual manner. In one instance he reported the object “blew” overhead and rotated emitting sparks in a circular manner, then it moved due east and circled Dodge City before disappearing into the south.
The sketch inside the report showed a circular object with a domed shape, pinpointing bands of light and dark on it, and where the sparks were on the object. He concluded, when form asked for a guess: “no sensible guess…ruled out airplane, helicopter and balloon because object moved too fast.”
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