El Toro, CaliforniaNovember 1956

On the night of November 11 and into the morning of November 12, 1956, radar operators and pilots at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in California tracked a series of unidentified blips moving across their radar scopes at inexplicable speeds. A rescue helicopter and two F-86 fighter jets from nearby George Air Force Base attempted to intercept the objects, but the pilots saw little to nothing despite being vectored directly toward the radar targets. The Air Force's official evaluation, filed as unidentified, ultimately blamed the sighting on anomalous propagation (atmospheric conditions that distort radar signals), compounded by the excitement and confusion of those involved.

Radar operators Sergeant William Word and Master Sergeant Philip Karnowski were on duty when they first spotted a bright red light orbiting north of the station around 9:30 p.m. They activated the GCA (ground-controlled approach) radar set and found a large target on the scope moving erratically at speeds they estimated between 50 and over 2,000 knots. Within minutes, smaller objects joined the larger one, and the entire group began darting around the scope in what Word called a "very haphazard manner." The objects would merge together, split apart, stop abruptly, and reverse course with no apparent pattern or destination.

Captain M.H. Schumaker, the Assistant Operations Officer, took off in a helicopter around 9:35 p.m. to investigate. Ground radar kept calling out headings and distances, but Schumaker saw nothing. Around 10:30 p.m., he did spot a red flashing light and gave chase, but it climbed away at high speed and vanished. He returned to refuel, took off again, and around 2:30 a.m. on November 12, spotted a steady red light approaching from the north on what he believed was a collision course. Just before it reached him, the light went out. Schumaker then made out a dark, shapeless object passing close to his right side, which he described only as a dark "glob." Two F-86 interceptors from George Air Force Base arrived around 4:00 a.m. and also attempted multiple intercepts without success. As dawn broke and three genuine commercial airliners (two DC-7s and a Constellation) appeared on the scope and were positively identified, the radar blips vanished and never returned. The search ended around 6:35 a.m.

Photographs of the radar scope were taken at four-second intervals around 11:30 p.m., capturing several frames of the mysterious returns. The radar sets in use were Navy CP-NA models operating at 2,800 megacycles. No maintenance problems had been reported, and a second radar set brought online during the event revealed the same targets, which seemed to rule out equipment malfunction. The radar operators stated they had never seen anything like the fantastic speeds and maneuvers on the scopes. Operator Word noted that at a ten-degree antenna tilt, he was tracking F-86 fighters at 13,000 feet, making it unlikely the targets were ground clutter or birds. However, the visual sightings by Schumaker and tower personnel were vague and few, and they never saw the extreme speeds and evasive movements recorded on radar.

Investigators contacted every radar and aircraft warning site in the Los Angeles area, including anti-aircraft and air control and warning units. All reported negative radar contacts. Astronomical observatories, the Ground Observer Filter Center, and the Flight Service Center were also canvassed. Weather conditions were clear with ten-mile visibility, though a mild inversion layer existed between 660 and 2,560 feet. Wind patterns were documented at various altitudes. All known military and civilian aircraft in the area during the period were tracked and accounted for via Flight Service records, and none matched the radar targets. Tower operator Corporal Diane Leverman and Sergeant Edwin McCurdy both reported seeing red lights and estimating speeds around 130 to 180 knots and altitudes of 5,000 to 6,000 feet before the objects vanished.

The preparing officer concluded that some local phenomenon affecting the El Toro radar installation was the likely cause, but offered no definite explanation. The approving officer, however, attributed the sighting to anomalous propagation compounded by excitement. He noted that other radar installations in the area could have caused interference, and emphasized that observers had not visually witnessed the fantastic speeds and maneuvers seen on the radar scope, suggesting the visual sightings and radar returns may not have been related to the same objects. He also observed that in the history of the UFO investigation program, observers have sometimes noticed a normal phenomenon and then picked up an unrelated object on radar. Radar scope photographs were forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center for further analysis.

The full case file, consisting of 81 pages held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.