UFOs Outmaneuver F-61
Date: October 15, 1948
Location: Fukuoka, Japan
Just like George Gorman’s case, the following case includes a cat-and-mouse chase between a fighter jet and an unidentified flying object. This time, the UFO was tracked on airborne radar and six interception attempts were made. On one occasion, visual contact was also made with the UFO. This case was one of the very first cases in which the pursued UFO was tracked on radar. As stated in the introduction of this book, when a UFO report includes radar evidence, it makes the case tremendously more credible. Author and former head of Project Blue Book Edward J Ruppelt said of radar and UFO cases: “Then [in 1948] radar came into the picture. For months the anti-saucer factions had been pointing their fingers at the lack of radar reports, saying, “If they exist, why don’t they show up on radarscopes?” When they showed up on radarscopes, the UFO won some converts.” 119
It was October 15,1948 and an F-61 Black Widow fighter was patrolling the skies of Fukuoka, Japan, as part of a usual routine mission. Piloting the F-61 was Lieutenant Oliver Hemphill Jr. with Second Lieutenant Barton Halter as a radio observer. At around 23:05, Halter began picking up an unknown target on his radar, which was five miles straight ahead and slightly below their aircraft. In an attempt to gain visual contact with the object, Hemphill increased the speed to 220 miles per hour, gaining on it. At first, the lieutenants thought that the aircraft must have been a military aircraft from base, but this thought was quickly dissolved.
In a matter of seconds, Halter noticed that the position of the target had changed, and it was now above their aircraft, closing the distance between them. In an instant, the target executed a dive beneath the fighter jet. Pursuing the object, Hemphill followed by mirroring the nose dive.. In a split second, the target performed a second dive and sped away, even though the F-61 had descended 3,500 feet a minute at three hundred miles per hour. How could any terrestrial aircraft outpace and outmaneuver the F-61, disappearing in a split second? The lieutenants knew full well that no human being would have been able to endure the stressors caused by such a maneuver.
Communicating back with their base, the ground control station confirmed that there were no military or commercial aircraft in the sky. With that being said, on board the fighter jet, Halter picked up another target on radar that was moving at such an incredible speed that it had outdistanced their aircraft immediately. After a couple of seconds, Hemphill made the first and only visual sighting with the UFO. To the starboard position, Hemphill noticed a strange object that had a short and stubby body, similar to a rifle bullet. He also noticed how it did not have any wings or an exhaust plume.
Hemphill immediately made a sharp right turn, but by the time the aircraft carried out the turn, the bullet-shaped UFO had already sped away and had traveled at least ten miles, leaving their aircraft behind. Just a second after the object disappeared, another target was picked up on radar and had passed overhead. Within a few seconds, the fifth interception was made when a target appeared nine miles ahead, traveling at two hundred miles per hour. The fighter jet was traveling at 220 miles per hour and as they closed in at twelve thousand feet, the UFO accelerated and covered over ten miles in just twenty seconds, which means that it must have been traveling at at least 1,800 miles per hour.
“I had an excelled silhouette of the target thrown against a very reflective undercast by a full moon,” Hemphill recalled. “I realized at this time that it did not look like any type of aircraft I was familiar with, so I immediately contacted my Ground Control Station and asked for information regarding any aircraft flying in the area. The Ground Control Station informed me there were no other aircraft in the area. I informed them what I had seen and was in contact with them from then on.” 120
The Unidentified Flying Object
Hemphill and Halter made a total of six radar interceptions on the object but just one visual sighting. Although it is assumed that all six interceptions were made of the same UFO, it could have been the case that there were numerous unidentified flying objects in the sky. The visual sighting was made on the third interception, in which Hemphill located an unfamiliar aircraft in the shape of a rifle bullet.
The cat-and-mouse chase lasted for less than ten minutes, in which the speed of the UFO ranged from two hundred miles per hour to over 1,800 miles per hour. Each time the F-61 tried to close down the distance, the UFO would respond by making a rapid acceleration, leaving the aircraft behind. In his witness report, Halter stated they must have been shown “a new type of aircraft by some agency unknown to us.” 121
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, one of the air force’s consultants, stated that the object must have been equipped with some sort of radar warning equipment, as it seemed to have been aware of the F-61’s whereabout at all times, and responded accordingly to the jet’s position in space.
Conclusion
As Ruppelt stated, for many years, skeptics had argued that if extraterrestrials did visit our planet then they would show up on radar. Now that there have been numerous cases that include radar evidence, it is still insufficient to prove to skeptics that extraterrestrials do visit our planet.
Although this case is officially listed as unidentified, the only explanation that suffices is the extraterrestrial hypothesis. The object’s appearance, together with its maneuverability and radar evidence makes this encounter one of the most convincing and compelling cases.