October 7, 1956 — Castle AFB, CA
10:45 p.m. UFO reports by police and civilians around Merced, California, reach Castle AFB [now Castle Airport Aviation and Development Center] and a lighted elliptical object about 100–120 feet in diameter is seen by the tower. Two interceptors are scrambled. The object ducks under and above a narrow cloud bank. The pilots can see it from various angles and as close as a few hundred yards. It appears to be a flattened circular shape. The pilots decide to fly one above and one below the overcast. Ground radar picks up the planes but not the UFO. One pilot breaks off to return but sees that the UFO is now chasing his buddy’s plane. Several officers arrive from another base to debrief the pilots and they appear very knowledgeable about UFOs. They seek “confirmation, not information” and tell the pilots not to discuss the sighting at all. Citizen witnesses are told the pilots were chasing ducks or geese. [Eberhart]
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Sources:
Richard H. Hall, Uninvited Guests, Aurora, 1988, pp. 242–244;
Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1956 November–December, The Author, 1994, pp. 52, 59;
Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1956 September–October, Supplemental Notes, The Author, 2003, pp. 36-42;
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 1207, p. 239;
James McDonald file, 8MERCED; [Missing second page]
