Key West, Fla, November 1950November 1950

# Two Sightings Over Key West, November 1950

On the nights of November 14 and 15, 1950, military radar and pilots detected two unidentified aircraft operating in restricted airspace near the U.S. Naval Air Station at Key West, Florida. Both objects appeared on ground radar, and at least one was seen visually by a Navy pilot. The Air Force ultimately concluded the sightings were probably ordinary military aircraft on routine training flights.

The first incident occurred on November 14 at approximately 2000 hours (8 p.m.). Ground radar at Key West picked up a target at 15,000 feet about 30 miles north of the station. The object was tracked intermittently on radar moving at a ground speed of 480 miles per hour on a heading of 180 degrees (due south). It then turned right and disappeared from the radar scope. An F6F-5N Navy fighter jet radar equipped with an airborne radar set acquired the target at a range of one and one-half miles but was unable to close the distance for a visual sighting. At approximately 2015 hours, the pilot of the F6F-5N made a visual sighting of the unidentified aircraft traveling at high speed near Key West. The weather that night was clear with excellent visibility.

The second incident took place on November 15 at 2100 hours (9 p.m.). Ground radar detected a target within three miles of two F6F-5N fighters that were being vectored by Ground Controlled Intercept (a radar guidance system used to direct pilots to targets). The radar target was located at a bearing of 270 degrees and a distance of 42 miles from the Key West station. One experienced Navy night-fighter pilot made visual contact with the object, describing it as having a long silver fuselage and no lights. The unidentified aircraft appeared to follow the two Navy fighters as they maneuvered under Ground Controlled Intercept guidance. The radar echo from the unidentified object was roughly twice the size of the radar return from an F6F-5N fighter. The pilot estimated the unknown aircraft was traveling at more than twice the cruising speed of an F6F-5N, which cruises at 160 knots (roughly 184 miles per hour). The Navy Operations office at Key West checked with the Military Flight Service and found no known aircraft were scheduled to operate in the area.

The case was routed through Air Force intelligence channels for evaluation. Air Materiel Command experts requested additional information about the radar characteristics of both targets, the type of radar equipment used, and technical details about the visual contacts. Investigators wanted to know whether the radar returns resembled conventional aircraft, what the exact weather conditions were, and whether the pilots had made confirmed radar contact on the objects they saw visually.

In their response, the Navy reported that the radar pip, or target echo, on November 14 was slightly smaller than that of a B-29 bomber but had very weak intensity similar to an F-80 jet fighter. No continuous track was available because the echoes were fleeting and only noticeable when the interceptor maneuvered near the target. The Navy attributed this difficulty to the fact that jets are hard to detect on radar while flying straight and level but show up well when maneuering. The ground radar used was a Model SX search radar operating at a frequency of 2,870 megacycles. The airborne radar in the F6F-5N was an AY-APS-6 intercept radar. The Navy reported that the F6F-5N that made visual contact was the blacked-out target for another F6F-5N that obtained radar contact, and momentary airborne radar contact was made on the unidentified aircraft by the interceptor fighter just before the target F6F-5N sighted it visually. The Navy noted there were no surface targets, ships, or land features in the vicinity.

Under a section addressing the second incident, the Navy reported clear conditions with good visibility at 15,000 feet. Momentary contact was made by the airborne radar, but not enough track or pattern was observed to attempt a full intercept. No Ground Controlled Intercept was attempted due to the limitations of radar contact. The radar controller and the pilots involved concluded that the unidentified target was a jet-type aircraft with an approximate configuration similar to a B-45 jet bomber. The only unconventional feature noted was the absence of lights on an aircraft passing through an active warning area.

Headquarters U.S. Air Force reviewed the case in July 1951. The Air Force evaluation stated that information in the basic communication and the Navy's detailed response indicated the unidentified aircraft was most probably a friendly aircraft, as suggested in an earlier Air Force assessment. The Air Force found no substantial evidence that the unidentified aircraft was of an unconventional type. The intelligence office recommended that the case be viewed as a probable sighting of a military aircraft on a training flight. The file contains 20 pages of declassified documents as retained by the National Archives.