23857122-0457-180273-0379

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UCR LP PARTIAL Engineering Division Memorandum Report Nose MCREXD=69]-18D & April 19L9 persons at Fort Knox and other towns in Kentucky a few hours earlicr. All saw it in the southwest and many thought it was only a few miles away. The Commanding Officer at Goodman Field observed it for 1 1/2 hours, (beginning at 15). During this time it seemingly remained stationary. It was “chased” by four National Guard pilots, one of whan crashed after having been up to 20,000 feet. It was also reported by persons in Lexington, Madisonville, and Elizabethtown. The significant fact that emerres from these reports again is the inability to estimate distance. It appears possible that persons over parts of Kentucly and Ohio may have been seeing the same astronanical phenanena which was a great many miles away. Nevortheless each believed it to be relatively near his own location. € Ineident No, 172. A National Guard Pilot returning to Pargo, North Dakota, ina Fe5l a at approximately 2100 hours saw a small lirht in the air below hin, He was then in the traffie pattern, He dived on the light. The light gained altitude, The pilot "chased" it up to 14,000 feet, making various passes at it and attempts to ram it as he olimbed. He finally stalled out. Several inferences oan be drawn from the several reports about this incident. In the first place, when it is night, and a pilot is turning so steeply, and going such violent acrobatics, that he sometimes blacks out, as Was the oase here, it would be very diffimilt if not impossible to judge at the same time what another object was doing. In the seoond place, if the pilot kept his eyes intently on the object, as © also was the case here, he would have great diffioulty in knowing and reporting later what he himself was doing. The situation is very conducive to lose of orientation. In other words, it is impossible to infer ‘* ae ~ ee a s «6 s 4 five poe, Satin a ae a, ae i ON Declassification Authority: NND 57565