Posts Tagged ‘Commanding General’

This is a transcription of General Nathan Twinning’s letter as Commander Air Material Command, 1947-09-23).

SUBJECT: AMC Opinion Concerning “Flying Discs”

To: Commanding General Army Air Force

Washington 25, D.C.

ATTENTION: Brig. General George Schulgen

AC/AS-2′

1. As requested by AC/AS-2 there is presented below the considered opinion of this command concerning the so-called “Flying Discs.” This opinion is based on interrogation report data furnished by AC/AS-2 and preliminary studies by personnel of T-2 and Aircraft Laboratory, Engineering Division T-3. This opinion was arrived at in a conference between personnel from the Air Institute of Technology, Intelligence T-2, Office, Chief of Engineering Division, and the Aircraft, Power Plant and Propeller Laboratories of Engineering Division T-3.

2. It is the opinion that:

a. The phenomenon is something real and not visionary or fictitious.
b. There are objects probably approximating the shape of a disc, of such appreciable size as to appear to be as large as man-made aircraft.
c. There is a possibility that some of the incidents may be caused by natural phenomena, such as meteors.
d. The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and motion which must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly aircraft and radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled either manually, automatically or remotely.
e. The apparent common description is as follows-

1. Metallic or light reflecting surface.  
2. Absence of trail, except in a few instances where the object apparently was operating under high performance conditions.
   
3. Circular or elliptical in shape, flat on bottom and domed on top. 
4. Several reports of well kept formation flights varying from three to nine objects. 
5. Normally no associated sound, except in three instances a substantial rumbling roar was noted. 
6. Level flight speeds normally above 300 knots are estimated.

f. It is possible within the present U.S. knowledge — provided extensive detailed development is undertaken — to construct a piloted aircraft which has the general description of the object in sub- paragraph (e) above which would be capable of an approximate range of 7000 miles at subsonic speeds.

g. Any development in this country along the lines indicated would be extremely expensive, time consuming and at the considerable expense of current projects and therefore, if directed, should be set up independently of existing projects.

h. Due consideration must be given the following:-

1. The possibility that these objects are of domestic origin – the product of some high security project not known to AC/AS-2 or this Command.
2. The lack of physical evidence in the shape of crash recovered exhibits which would undeniably prove the existence of these subjects.
3. The possibility that some foreign nation has a form of propulsion possibly nuclear, which is outside of our domestic knowledge.

3. It is recommended that:- Headquarters, Army Air Forces issue a directive assigning a priority, security classification and Code name for a detailed study of this matter to include the preparation of complete sets of all available and pertinent data which will then be made available to the Army, Navy, Atomic Energy Commission, JRDB, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Group, NACA, and the RAND and NEPA projects for comments and recommendations, with a preliminary report to be forwarded within 15 days of receipt of the data and a detailed report thereafter every 30 days as the investigation develops. A complete interchange of data should be affected.

Thanks to the Filer Files 

KEN PFEIFER MUFON NEW JERSEY

WWW.WORLDUFOPHOTOS.ORG

We Have Lost Many Men and Planes Trying to
Intercept UFOs” General Benjamin Chidlaw

Timothy Good writes, “The destruction or disappearance of military aircraft during interceptions of UFOs continued apace.” As General Benjamin Chidlaw, former commanding general of the Air Defense Command told Robert C. Gardener (ex USAF) in 1953: “We have stack of reports of flying saucers. We take them seriously, when you consider we have lost many men and planes trying to intercept them.” Leonard Stringfield, the former Air Force intelligence officer was told by a reliable source in the 1950s that the “Air Force was losing about a plane a day to the UFOs. According to US Defense Department figures, from 1952 until the end of October 1956, there were 18,662 major accidents of military aircraft, broken down as follows:

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Year – Air Force – Navy – Total Accidents

1. 1952   2,274   2,086  = 4360
2. 1953   2,075   2,325  = 4400
3. 1954   1,873   1,911  = 3784
4. 1955   1,664   1,566  = 3230
5. 1956   1,530   1,358  = 2888

Of this astonishing four year total of 14,302 US aircraft losses, most involved fast new jets (such as those scrambled in UFO interceptions), of which 56.2 per cent were found to be caused by pilot error; 8.1 per cent by ground-crew or other personnel failure; 23.4 per cent by failure of parts and equipment in the aircraft; 2.8 per cent by various ‘unsafe conditions’, and –9.5 per cent (1,773) were due to ‘unknown factors’. Thanks to Timothy Good’ new book, “Need to Know” P.172

Comments: When I chased a UFO we exceeded the red lined aircraft air speed by 20 knots. In the excitement of the chase it is easy to exceed aircraft capabilities and often some part of the aircraft may fail. Many stories are told of firing missiles and making direct hits on the UFOs that were unharmed only to have them return the fire and destroy the interceptor.

One well known example of aircraft loses to a UFO was the F-89 with tail number 51-5853A, piloted by 1st Lt. Felix Moncla, Jr, with Second Lt. Robert L. Wilson as the Radar Intercept Officer. I spoke with a radar operator who worked in the Air Defense Command radar site on November 23, 1953. During the evening, radar picked up an unidentified target over Lake Superior and alerted the 433rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Truax Field, in Wisconsin. Lt. Moncla in his F-89 C all-weather interceptor was scrambled and instructed to intercept the target. The F-89 diving steeply down intercepted the target at 8,000 feet, and radar operators watched as the “blips” of the UFO and the F-89 merged on their scopes, in an apparent collision, and disappeared. No trace of the plane was ever found. You can visit Lt. Moncla’s memorial headstone at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Moreauville, Louisiana, which reads:

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Photo Courtesy of NUFORC

During the summer of 1952, Americans reported a record amount of UFO sightings to Project Blue Book, the Air Force group responsible for investigating unidentified flying objects. Author/Illustrator Frank C. Feschino, Jr. has written an exciting book that encompasses the summer of 1952 and America’s overwhelming UFO problem during that time. The author documents the numerous aerial encounters and confrontations that occurred between United States fighter planes and UFOs over America.

I spoke with Frank who spent 18 years searching for data to put in his excellent book. He told me that in July of 1952, an Air Force information officer revealed, “The jet pilots are, and have been under orders to investigate unidentified objects and to shoot them down if they can’t talk them down.” Feschino writes about the overwhelming amount of mysterious fighter plane accidents and vanished jets that occurred during the 1950s. I congratulate Frank Feschino for finding the story of our missing airmen in his many years of research into the UFO phenomena. “Shoot Them Down” is an important historical record of the deaths of brave men who were ordered to engage UFOs. Not only to hunt them down, but as Lt. Col. Moncel Monts is quoted in the book; “The jet pilots are, and have been under orders to investigate unidentified objects and to shoot them down if they can’t talk them down”.

Frank proceeds to lay his documented cases of pilot disappearances’ as a result of actual aerial dogfights with documented sightings of UFO’s. President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at the Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day, perhaps those who sacrificed their lives chasing Unknowns has a new meaning. Those who died intercepting UFOs has been ignored. Most of the men who died in our wars have been honored for their sacrifice, now it is time to honor those who died for their country fighting UFOs. http://www.amazon.com/Shoot-Them-Down-Flying-Saucer/dp/0615155537
Marine Major Donald Keyhoe, states .

“In 1949 the Air Force told me they had been ordered to ‘get’ a flying saucer by any possible means. This was admitted by an intelligence officer at the Pentagon … Major Jere Boggs. In front of General Sory Smith, Boggs told me that one Air Force pilot had fired at a saucer over New Jersey.”

“In the late 1950s, as a number of futile US chases mounted, some pilots were convinced that the UFOs were immune to gunfire and rockets. Several Intelligence analysts believed the aliens might be using some negative force linked with gravity control to repel or deflect bullets and missiles. But the top control group disagreed. In a special evaluation of US and foreign reports they found evidence that UFOs were not invulnerable. Some had been temporarily crippled, apparently from power or control failures, and a few others had been completely destroyed by strange explosions. In one or two cases, it appeared that missiles or rocket fire could have been the cause.” http://www.flatwoodsmonster.com/

Many cases involved the disappearance of aircraft and aircrews that are still missing.

The Fullerton News-Tribune, CA July 26, 1956…

“The United States Navy will not publicly admit that it believes in flying saucers, but it has officially ordered combat-ready pilots to ‘shoot to kill’ if saucers are encountered, OCNS [Orange County News Service] has learned. The information was first learned when Navy pilots navigating trans-Pacific routes from the United States to Hawaii were ordered in a briefing session to engage and identify ‘ any unidentified flying objects.’ If the UFOs (saucers) appeared hostile the briefing officer told the pilots of Los Alamitos Naval Air Station reserve squadron VP 771, they are to be engaged in combat… It was found that the orders are not unusual.”
May 5, 1953,  Off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, the USN reported, “3 Navy fliers missing” that were aboard a “Douglas Sky Raider, a night attack bomber.” The Navy reported, “A search by twenty-seven aircraft from daybreak to sundown, failed to find any trace of the men or plane.”

Stanton T. Friedman states, “I have personally heard of seven instances in which military planes chasing flying saucers were never heard from again. The chasing isn’t surprising, in view of the official USAF 1952 orders to shoot them down if they don’t land when instructed to do so.”

“If I have heard of seven such events, then surely there have been more. (More details are given in SHOOT THEM DOWN by Frank Feschino, Jr.).  One can perhaps understand the reluctance of the government to admit that such losses have occurred (even though Major General Roger Ramey admitted in 1952 that more than 300 interceptors have been scrambled).” “Impotence in the face of intruders is not something that governments want to admit.”

Excerpt from, Flying Saucers and Science – A Scientist  www.amazon.co.uk/Flying-Saucers-Science-Scientist

The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted … lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled … –General Nathan Twining, Head of Air Material Command (AMC), 1947.

Major General Robert B. Landry writes, “I was called one afternoon [in 1948] to come to the Oval Office – the President wanted to see me…. I was directed to report quarterly to the President after consulting with Central Intelligence people, as to whether or not any UFO incidents received by them could be considered as having any strategic threatening implications .”.
Major General Robert B. Landry, Air Force Aide to President Harry S. Truman getting another star.

It is sad to know that many governments kept a lid on these engagements. The deaths of many airmen were attributed to pilot error or engine failure when in reality they had died in air combat with craft not of this world. It is time to honor these men who died in aerial battles with UFO’s after being scrambled to hunt them down.

“For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6