Marrakech French Morocco, August 1952August 1952

On August 20, 1952, radar operators at Marrakech in French Morocco detected an unidentified object moving at a reported speed of 1,157 miles per hour. The object appeared on an AN/MPQ-2 radar set at around 10:20 a.m. local time, and three radar crew members observed an aircraft through a telescope attached to the radar antenna. The radar showed the object at altitudes above 60,000 feet, which was the maximum recording capability of the radar equipment.

Air Force investigators quickly determined that a U.S. Navy AJ-1 aircraft was over Marrakech at the time of the sighting. The three witnesses who observed the aircraft through the telescope provided sketches of what they saw. According to the official evaluation, these sketches showed "very good agreement" with each other and were "remarkably similar" to the configuration of an AJ-1.

The Air Force concluded that the sighting was indeed the AJ-1 aircraft, but that a malfunction in the radar's plotting equipment had caused it to record wildly inaccurate speed and altitude readings. The investigators suggested that dividing the reported figures by three would yield more realistic numbers: about 385 miles per hour and approximately 20,000 feet. Both figures matched what would be expected for an AJ-1 in normal operation.

The case file contains weather data, radar diagrams, and sketches prepared by three different observers. The full 19-page case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.