What happened
From about 9:30 pm on 13 August 1956, USAF radar operators at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk tracked targets crossing their scopes at thousands of miles an hour, including a group of a dozen or more that appeared to merge into one large return. Just before 11 pm a fast target coincided with a bright light seen from the tower and by a C-47 pilot overhead. Later, radars at Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath picked up an object sitting stationary, then darting off at 400 to 600 mph and stopping again, without any build-up of speed. The RAF scrambled a Venom night fighter. According to the USAF report and RAF controller F. H. C. Wimbledon at Neatishead, the pilot got airborne radar lock, then the target swung round behind him and stayed there despite his manoeuvres. A second Venom was sent, and the object left. The 1969 Condon study called it the most puzzling and unusual case in its radar-visual files.
The original account
In conclusion, although conventional or natural explanations certainly cannot be ruled out, the probability of such seems low in this case and the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved appears to be fairly high.
Condon Report (Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, 1969), Case 2, a US Air Force-funded study (public domain)
The official explanation
Conventional explanations focus on anomalous radar propagation in clear, stable weather, together with misidentified stars and meteors (the Perseids were active), and possible confusion between radar operators and pilots. The Condon radar analyst Gordon Thayer noted that the target's brief disappearance as it seemed to overfly a GCA radar, and the timing of cloud arrival when targets vanished, are suggestive of propagation effects. Skeptics such as Philip Klass later argued that faulty equipment and confusion explained the intercept.
The anomalous case
Multiple independent radars, at two USAF bases and an RAF control centre, tracked targets that sometimes coincided with lights seen from the ground and the air, and an RAF fighter reported airborne radar lock-on before the target got behind it. The Condon Committee, generally skeptical, concluded that although conventional explanations could not be ruled out, their probability seemed low and the probability of at least one genuine UFO was fairly high. Its radar specialist Gordon Thayer judged anomalous propagation unlikely, noting the continuous, consistent tracks and a target that stopped and took a new path after following the fighter, behaviour false echoes do not show. J. Allen Hynek, the Air Force consultant, rejected the Perseid meteor explanation because observers said meteors were numerous and clearly distinguishable. RAF controller Wimbledon said at least nine RAF ground personnel and two aircrew saw a solid radar return.
The strongest argument that this was something genuinely unknown or classified, with each claim attributed to the person who made it.
Documents
- Condon Report, Case 2: USAF/RAF Radar Sighting report, files.ncas.org
- Project BLUE BOOK records (National Archives, microfilm T-1206) official, archives.gov
Sources
- Condon Report (1969), Case 2: USAF/RAF Radar Sighting (Lakenheath) National Capital Area Skeptics (online edition of the Condon Report)
- Condon Report (1969), Section III Chapter 5: Optical and Radar Analyses of Field Cases (Gordon D. Thayer) National Capital Area Skeptics (online edition of the Condon Report)
- Bentwaters/Lakenheath, August 13-14, 1956 (case file with USAF and RAF accounts) Patrick Gross, UFOs at close sight
Witness reports elsewhere
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