March 22, 1957 — Long Beach/Los Angeles, CA
11:55 p.m. A swiftly moving unknown rectangular target is picked up on Civil Aeronautics Administration radar at Los Angeles International Airport, California, at a position 10 miles to the northwest. Tower Operator Norman Johnson says that at a distance of 40 miles it comes to an abrupt halt and reverses course in about 3 seconds. It returns to about 20 miles away, reverses course again, and disappears off the scope. About 5 minutes later, two more objects appear, also traveling at high speed. These also disappear off the scope to the northwest. A minute or so later, a fourth object appears and speeds off the scope at an estimated 3,600 mph. Two F-89 jet fighters are dispatched to the area from Oxnard AFB. Probably coincidentally, the airport radar’s electricity shuts off at 12:07 a.m. [Eberhart]
Blue Book Telex:
Sources:
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 1226, p.242;
“Four Saucers over California at Speeds up to 3600 M.P.H., Revealed in Radar Report Certified by NICAP Board Members,” UFO Investigator 1, no. 1 (July 1957): 1, 3–4, 29–30;
Powell, Linda. Against the Odds: Major Donald E. Keyhoe and His Battle to End UFO Secrecy. Anomalist Press, 2023, pp. 215–216;
NICAP, “Rectangular Targets Tracked on Radar? Maybe Not”;
