October 15, 1948 — 50Mi NW of Fukuoka, Japan
11:05 p.m. On night patrol, 1st Lt. Oliver “Bud” Hemphill Jr. of the 68th Fighter Squadron is flying a Northrup F-61 Black Widow some 50 miles northwest of Fukuoka, Japan, when the crew picks up an object on radar going 200 mph. As he closes to intercept, the object speeds up to 1,200 mph then slows down again. The plane tries closing in six times, but each time the object speeds away. On one pass the crew sees the object’s silhouette, which looks like a “rifle bullet” 20–30 feet long. The object “seems cognizant of the whereabouts of the F-61 at all times.” Radar operator Barton Halter thinks it is a “new type of aircraft.” [Eberhart]
Blue Book Sketch:
Info Sheet:
Summary:
Hemphill Statement:
Sources:
James E. McDonald, “Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects,” in Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects, Hearings, US House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 90th Cong., 2nd Sess., July 29, 1968, pp. 69–70;
J. Allen Hynek, The Hynek UFO Report, pp. 134–137;
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 123, p. 40;
Martin Shough, “Radar Catalogue: A Review of Twenty One Ground and Airborne Radar UAP Contact Reports Generally Related to Aviation Safety for the Period October 15, 1948 to September 19, 1976,” NARCAP Technical Report No. 6, 2002, pp. 3-4;
NICAP, “F-61 ‘Black Widow’ Radar Case”;
Thomas Tulien, “Fukuoka (Kyushu) Japan, 15 October 1948: The Original ‘Tic-Tac’ UFO,” Sign Oral History Project, 2024;