Manassas, Va/Roanoke VA (NE Of), June 1959June 1959

In June 1959, radar operators at the 649th Radar Squadron near Manassas, Virginia, detected an unknown number of objects traveling in formation on their radar scope. The operators tracked the targets for fifteen minutes as they moved in a straight line across the radar display, eventually moving out of range.

The radar operators who made the sighting were considered reliable by their supervisors. The objects were tracked at various altitudes ranging from about 6,000 to 69,000 feet. Wind conditions at those altitudes ruled out the possibility that the targets were balloons. The radar operators noted that the targets moved too slowly to be jet aircraft, yet too fast to be conventional propeller-driven aircraft.

Air Force analysts considered several explanations. They noted that radar "angels," which are false signals caused by unusual atmospheric conditions, can sometimes appear on radar scopes and might account for the tracks. However, they acknowledged that experienced operators should be able to distinguish between these false signals and genuine radar returns, especially after tracking them for so long. Three separate targets flying in formation could have been jet aircraft under unusual radar propagation conditions, though this explanation seemed unlikely given the reported speeds.

The senior director at the radar station believed the targets were experimental high-altitude jet aircraft. The Air Technical Intelligence Center concluded that without target speeds and exact track information, proper evaluation was not possible. They stated that the senior director's assessment of experimental jet aircraft was "plausible and cannot be disproved," but the file does not indicate a final determination of what the objects were.

This case file, consisting of ten pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.