Somewhere in the Skies - Bite-Sized UFOs | Nuclear Bomber Followed by a UFO

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

In 1959, a 325th Bomb Squadron B-52, one carrying live thermonuclear bombs, was followed across Canada by a UFO. The object was tracked on radar and sighted visually. An interceptor was scrambled from a USAF base in Montana but despite closing to 4 miles, its crew failed to identify what the UFO was, as the latter quickly outran and out-climbed it. Air Defense Command were concerned about a potentially new threat to the safety of the Continental United States, as shown via messages sent at the time. Subscribe to Bite Sized UFOs on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bitesizedufos Please take a moment to rate and review us on Spotify and Apple. Book Ryan on CAMEO at: https://bit.ly/3kwz3DO Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/somewhereskies ByMeACoffee: http://www.buymeacoffee.com/UFxzyzHOaQ PayPal: [e-mail] Discord: https://discord.gg/NTkmuwyB4F Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ryansprague.bsky.social Twitter: https://twitter.com/SomewhereSkies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somewhereskiespod/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryansprague51 Order Ryan’s new book: https://a.co/d/4KNQnM4 Order Ryan’s older book: https://amzn.to/3PmydYC Store: http://tee.pub/lic/ULZAy7IY12U Read Ryan’s articles at: https://medium.com/@ryan-sprague51 Opening Theme Song by Septembryo Copyright © 2025 Ryan Sprague. All rights reserved Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Plus, unlimited plans started $35. months. Now that's a deal that doesn't stay. Explore GoogleFi Wireless plans today. Plus taxes and government fees. GoogleFi Wireless is not subject to data traffic deprioritization during times of high network usage. Welcome to bite-sized UFOs, a show where we break down lesser-known UFO cases in 20 minutes or less. And now here's your host, Graham Rendell. With Cold War tensions rising, the United States Air Force's strategic air command was on a high alert 24 hours a day to respond to any attack from the Soviet Union. As part of its readiness plan, SAC carried out a series of flights known as Head Start 2, where a number of its B-52 bombers were sent out on practice missions armed with thermonuclear weapons. If need be, these aircraft could be refueled in mid-air and sent out over Russia, reducing

the time needed to respond to a developing threat. The crews practice scrambles and air-to-air refueling to hone their skills. On the evening of 25th March, 1959, a B-52 from Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington State, was followed by a UFO, an object that was reported visually and picked up on radar. The aircraft concerned was a 92-b-2b-call-signed Outcome 1-5, and its crew were listed as follows. Captain John W. Jackson, Aircraft Commander. Captain Ray H. Beck, co-pilot. Major Waldo M. Page, navigator.

Captain Robert J. Ferrien, radar operator. First Lieutenant Robert J. Millard, Electronic Warfare Officer. Technical Sergeant Joe Cobbs. tail gunner. The crew belonged to the 92nd wing's 325th bomb squadron. Captain Beck and Major Page had served during World War II. A member of the 98th bomb group, Waldo Page had been shot down over Germany and held prisoner war at Stalag 7A. During this particular Head Start 2 flight, Outcome 1-5 took off from Fairchild Air Force Base and headed for a turning point at 56 degrees 20 minutes north, 104 degrees 20 minutes west, located near the southwestern end of

reindeer lake, Saskatchewan. From there, the bomber turned south, its crew making regular position reports to Saskatoon Radio. The UFO was first spotted at 51 degrees north, 108 degrees west, and an account of the events that subsequently occurred can be found in an air intelligence information report compiled by Detachment 5 of the 1,0006. Air Security Service Squadron, base at Geiger Field Spokane, Washington State, on 2 April 1959. The following information was prepared by Captain Urban A. Fero of the 106th AISS. At 0236 Zulu, Outcome 15 was flying at 32,000 feet, position 51 degrees north, 108 degrees west, under visual flight rules conditions.

An object, trailing intermittently, leaving thin and non-persistent contrails, and believed to be an aircraft, was cited in the 2 o'clock position flying in a northerly direction. In contrast, outcome 1-5 was laying readily visible and persistent contrails even though it appeared that the object was at a higher altitude. The contrail patterns left by the object gave no clue to the number of engines. The path of the object was in the afterglow of the sunset and no lights were discernible. The tail gunner observed that the object continued in a northerly direction with slight variations in its flight path until it was in a direct rear-line flight, and then the object disappeared. At 0241 Zulu, the tail gunner made the first electronic contact with an object on the scope of an MB9. At this time, Outcome 1-5 was flying at a true air. air speed of 375 knots and the object was following at 8,000 yards.

Outcome 15 called Canadian Club Control Center, Mounstrom Air Force Base, Montana, at 0245 Zulu, and reported that an object was trailing them. Canadian Club stated that they would launch an interceptor if the object was still with them when they penetrated the Northern Air Defense Identification Zone to the United States. As Outcome One-Five 5 passed the Swift Current Radio, Southern Saskatchewan, the latter was queried whether or not a fighter was in the area. The reply was affirmative, however, the fighter was east of swift current. The electronic warfare officer detected the object on the ANAPR-54 nose tail warning system soon after notification by the tail gunner, and at 0306 Zulu, detected the object on the ANAPR-9. The object was determined to have

radar operating on 9-1-3-5 megacycles. The object's radar never locked onto outcome 1-5, but just kept sweeping with approximately one-second sweep frequency. The frequency tended to oscillate from one sweep to the next, but still maintained the 9-1-3-5 megacles. The EWO maintained contact with the object for approximately 20 minutes. The EWO then dialed to search other bands and when he returned. to 9135 megacycles, the object was gone. Near Havert, Montana, outcome 1-5 changed course from a southerly heading to a westerly heading. The air speed was increased from 375 knots to 420 knots and the altitude decreased from 32,000 feet to 31,000 feet in order to facilitate

a refueling near Cutbank, Montana. At this time, the tail gunner observed on the MB9 that the object had fallen back to 15,000 yards. The object then pulled up to 10,000 yards, paused momentarily, then closed to 8,000 yards. Outcome 15 passed cutbank at 036 Zulu, and began final closure with the tanker for a rendezvous at approximately 0337 Zulu. At 0336 Zulu the EWO again made contact with the object, but on 91330 megacicles. Contact was maintained for a period of about five minutes, then it was permanently lost. The object's pulse reoccurrence frequency was estimated to be 2-5-00. It was during this period of time, as outcome 1-5 was closing with the tanker, that the tail gunner observed the F-89 approaching the object on the scope. The F-89 was at 6,000 yards and the object was at 8,000 yards, when the object

turned to the rear and disappeared. It was difficult for the tail gunner to follow the activity from this point on, as outcome 1-5 was turning on to the tanker. Up until this point, the tail gunner had maintained continuous contact with the object. The tail gunner believed the object created a larger return on the scope of the MB9 than was normal for a fighter. During the period of time that both the object and the F-89 were painted on the MB9, the object was a number was giving a larger return than the F-89. Throughout the encounter with the object, outcome one-five was squawking mode 1 on its identification, friend or foe. The object was suspected to be an aircraft, but the local radar service had no record of one operating

in the area of the B-52. It appeared to be using radar of its own to acquire the bomber, although it never did so. According to the intelligence report, the radar never locked on to the B-52. However the object was, it had presented as a larger radar return than an approaching F-89 Scorpion all-weather interceptor on the Electronic Warfare Officer's scope, and it turned away and disappeared when the latter got too close. Bight-sized UFOs is all about the facts. Use the facts and you can't go far wrong. The Air Intelligence Information Report for this encounter also provides details of the Scorpion Jet Scramble and what its crew saw during their attempted intercourse. of the mysterious object. According to the same report, the F-89 was a J model from the 29th Fighter Interceptor Squadron

based at Malmstrom Air Force Base. On board the jet with a pilot, First Lieutenant Austin R. Bond and his radar observer, First Lieutenant Charles C. Abanathy, Jr. Also interviewed to obtain information about this encounter was First Lieutenant Ronald S. Murray, the Ground Control Intercept Director, at the radar facility known as Canadian Club, which was also based at Malmstrom.

Canadian club was a call sign used by the 801st aircraft control and warning squadron. In the following report, Zulu time is used. This was seven hours ahead of local time. So 0300 hours on the morning of the 26th translates as 8 o'clock in the evening of the 25th. In the intelligence report, the F-89j Scorpion is referred to by its call sign, border pipe 2, Board Pipe 2-7 was participating in a scramble in an effort to identify an object, apparently trailing AB-52 into the Northern Air Defense Identification Zone. This scramble was directed by Canadian Club on July 26, 1959, Zulu time, with the following events occurring in chronological order.

O-258 Zulu Canadian Club received a call from AB-52, call sign out of outcome 1-5, stating that an object had been behind him for the past 15 minutes without any identification. Outcome 1-5 was advised to call Canadian Club if object continued to follow him into the Northern Air Defense Identification Zone. 0304 Zulu Outcome 15 informed Canadian Club that the object had followed him through the Northern Air Defense Identification Zone. Object was at 32,000 feet with an estimated speed of 410.

Nuts. 0305 Zulu. Canadian Club was unable to locate this object on radar. A scramble of board pipe 2.7 to 32,000 feet with a heading of 360 degrees was ordered. 0.310 Zulu. Board pipe 27 airborne. 0.311 Zulu. Canadian Club called Jesse Ground Control Intercept at Haver Air Force Station, Montana, in regards to aircraft in the area.

Jesse, operating an FPS 8-type radar, with one scope in operation, reported negative aircraft. 0.3.13 Zulu Radar observer on Board Pipe 27, during climbout, picked up an aircraft landing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, on his scope. 0.315 Zulu Board Pipe 27 reported at 30,000 feet, had been. Heading 360 degrees, at a speed of .78 Mach, Canadian Club advised Board Pipe 2.7 to change heading to 350 degrees for a 60-degree beam attack. 019 Zulu

Radar Observer on Board Pipe 2.7, using ground range, made radar contact with outcome 1-5 and a refueling tanker at approximately 55 miles. As the object was to the rear of the B-52, the radar observer changed. changed to normal radar range in an attempt to locate the object. 0.321 Zulu Outcome 15 reported to Canadian Club that Board Pipe 2-7 was at 60 degrees a stern of tail. 0.325 Zulu. Canadian Club relayed to Board Pipe 2-7 that he and the object were merging on the scope of Outcome 15. 0-326 Zulu.

Pilot of Board Pipe 27 reported visual contact with the object with the object were merging on the scope of outcome. object, noting the following. A, object was 40 degrees right at approximately 20 miles. B, red and green blinking running lights. These lights were estimated to be 30 to 40 feet apart. C, a steady white light, assumed to be the tail light, was seen between the red and green running lights. This light appeared to be slightly to the rear of the red and green running lights. D, arrangement of the observed lights indicated to the pilot of Board Pipe 2-7 that the object was delta or swept wing type. 036 Zulu Canadian Club gave Board Pipe 2-7 permission to make his identification run.

Canadian Club also reported negative radar contact with the object. Board Pipe 27 reduced speed to avoid overrunning the object. At this time, Board Pipe 2-7. was traveling at .78 Mach, heading of 310 degrees, and at an altitude of 30,500 feet, had running lights displayed and was estimated at 48 degrees 20 minutes north, 112 degrees 40 minutes west, near Vailier, Montana. 0.328 Zulu The pilot of Board Pipe 2.7 estimated he had closed to four miles of the object.

It is assumed that the object observed Board Pipe 2.7 as the object was a lot of the object. object changed heading of 270 degrees to 350 degrees and increased speed and began to climb. Board pipe 2.7 changed heading to 350 degrees and increased to maximum speed. O329 Zulu Radar observer of board pipe 2.7 observed a white pink glow, believed to be the tailpipe of an afterburner of a jet. From the position of the radar observer, no sighting of the running lights was made. 0.3.30 Zulu. The pilot of board pipe 2.7, heading at 350 degrees, estimated object to be 5 degrees in elevation, at a range of approximate 30 miles on a heading of 350 degrees.

032 Zulu. Pilot of board pipe 2.7 gave chase to the limits of the F-89J, 43,500 feet at a speed of .84 Mach, with the object steadily pulling away. O-342 Zulu. Canadian Club advised Board Pipe 2-7 to break off pursuit as the object had disappeared from sight. Position of Board Pipe 2-7 was 49 degrees 50 minutes north, 113 degrees west, near Lethbridge, Alberta. 0352 Zulu. Board Pipe 27 overheard the following Garbled message from Calgary Radio. Calgary, Garbled, advises garbled numbers, to change to channel, Garbled. 0402 Zulu

Board Pipe 2-27 overheard the following message transmitted in the blind. Calgary Radio and all facilities going off the air until further notice. 0417 Zulu Board Pipe 27 landed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, without making radar contact with object. So was this, as suggested by the F-89 cruise observations, nothing more than an unidentified aircraft? If so, it was something that could outrun an interceptor with ease, and presumably had the fuel to run north into Canada away from any potential American bases? Was it Canadian? Did the garbled radio messages have anything to do with a mysterious object? If it was from a friendly country, why didn't its pilot identify himself?

And why couldn't the F-89 Scorpions onboard radar pick it up despite initially closing to just four miles? We'll come back to this in a bit. Let's examine the comments made by the intelligence officer who interviewed the air crew and the radar operator on the ground. The MG12 fire control system on the F89J did not have any radar contacts after 019 Zulu, March 26, 1959. An attempt by Canadian Club to check the MG-12 radar on the return flight proved fruitless as no other aircraft were in the area. The day following the sighting, the MG-12 radar was checked and found to be out of calibration. The communications and electronics officer at the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, stated that during this particular time of the year, with certain weather conditions, the FPS.

20-ground control intercept radar has been known to give false or no information on the scope. The Duty Ground Control Intercept Director of Canadian Club stated that he contacted the Edmonton Canada Movements and Identification Center concerning traffic airborne from 015 Zulu to 0415 Zulu, March 26th, 1959. The Movements and Identification Center reported no aircraft in the area at that time. It is the belief of the interviewing official that this was an aircraft of some type, based on the report by the pilot and radar operator of the F-89J. Dodgy radar and a mystery aircraft. One might have believed that that was the end of the case, but no, there was a further development to come. Bite-sized UFOs, where the facts tell the story.

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outcome of the investigation by the 106 AISS on behalf of Project Blue Book, the United States Air Force's third official UFO program, as per their 20th April 1959 letter to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Subject Analysis of UFO Report. Your attention is invited to secret message from 801st aircraft control and warning squadron dated 23rd March 19, 59. Site number OPS 1314. The analysis, comments and questions raised by various staff agencies at this headquarters are forwarded for your information and review. A theory held by personnel of this directorate is that the UFO could have been an aircraft with radar-absorbent paint. Due to the aircraft's position in relation to the B-52, jet engines could have given the radar return which was picked up by the B-50.

This was an Air Defense Command Intelligence Comet. Consideration should be given to Canadian CF-100 or USU-2. Either aircraft should have reflected well on the FPS 20 at SM-147, unless the power output was well below normal. This was an Air Defense Command operations comet. The development of radar-absorbent materials has been going on for a number of years, with only limited success, As of 1957, a honeycomb material showed the greatest promise. This material can be used as a coating, or in some cases, as part of the structure to be camouflaged. However, it is only effective from 2,500 to 13,000 megacycles, and at the lower frequency,

the required thickness 1 inch becomes prohibitive. To go down to 1,300 megacles, the thickness must be increased by a factor of 2.2. The thicker material is ill adapted to complex shapes and cannot be flown at high mock or through weather. Since the UFO demonstrated a high performance and was painted by a high frequency radar, some doubt is cast on the credibility of the radar-absorbent theory. There is, however, the possibility that a major breakthrough has been made in the field of radar-absorbent materials since 1957. The returns to the high-frequency radar could then have been due to frequency-sensitive materials having been used or merely returns from uncoated portions of the aircraft, such as the inside of the engine nacelles. Reference Basic Message

Answers to these additional questions would be most helpful to a complete analysis. Did the FPS 20 skin paint the F-89 during the identification interception? Did the ground radar site attempt to paint the UFO by means of their FPS 6 height finder? Results? Did the F-89 paint the UFO on its fire control radar? Were other FPS 20 radars in the area contacted for possible track information. In view of the fact that this siting suggests a possibility of a different type of threat to the continental United States, request this headquarters be advised of your final analysis regarding.

the sighting. Air Defense Command was informed that the 106th AIS was still investigating the sighting. Internal ATIC messages during May 1959 played down any suggestion that a UFO was involved. Subject UFO appears to have attributes of a normal aircraft, both in speed and maneuverability. There is no information in the report which would indicate any other type of airborne vehicle, such as a balloon. Neither does the information indicate anomalous propagation, whether phenomena or equipment malfunction. Hence, no satisfactory explanation can be offered from a radar equipment standpoint. In a message dated 26 May 1959, AITIC accepted that this was indeed a radar visual case, although one with a mundane origin.

From the information given in the attached UFO reports, it appears that the tracks of could have been caused by an unidentified aircraft. There seems to be a definite correlation between visual and radar observations, which discounts the idea of false targets. On 23 June 1959, the same ATIC officer referenced Air Defense Command's questions in a message to Major Robert Friend, the Director of Project Blue Book. Reference is made to the additional data included in the Air Defense Command letter of 20th April 1959. Some of the comments made with respect to radar reflection from jet engines and the

properties of radar absorbing materials are true. However, there is not sufficient factual data to justify changing the original estimate that from the data available, the target had all the appearances of being a normal aircraft target. Project Blue Book had already dealt with numerous potential radar visual UFO cases, but most were dismissed as being coincidental incidental involving anomalous propagation or equipment malfunction. Yet there was an acceptance that this incident did see the object being tracked on radar and sighted visually, but presumably this acceptance only came as a result of the object being trekked as just an aircraft, albeit an unidentified one. Air Defence Command finally received answers from ATIC at the end of July 1959.

Once again the information came from the same officer, Colonel Gordon Hoffman. The following is the analysis made by the electronics branch, ATIC. Subject UFO appears to have attributes of a normal aircraft, both in speed and maneuverability. There is no information in the report that would indicate any other type of airborne vehicle, such as a balloon. Neither does the information indicate anomalous propagation, whether phenomena or equipment malfunction. From the information given in the report, it appears that the radar tracks observed could have been caused by an unidentified aircraft.

There seems to be a definite correlation between visual and radar observations, which discounts the idea of false targets. Some of the comments in your letter of 20 April, 1959, concerning radar reflections from jet engines and the properties of radar-absorbing materials are true. However, there is not sufficient factual data to indicate that the target observed was anything other than a normal aircraft target. It seemingly took two months to inform air defense command about what had already been agreed within ATIC. If the UFO was an aircraft as analyzed by ATIC and endorsed by Project Blue Book, then what of the suggestions made for its identity? The Lockheed you to spy

plane had first flown in August 1955. Overflights of Eastern Europe began in June 1956 and then Russia the following month. However the U-2 was not a fighter aircraft. Instead it was totally optimized towards ultra-high flight. At lower altitudes it became difficult to fly without complete attention from the pilot and physical strength was needed to operate the controls effectively. In terms of its operational ceiling the U-2 had no equal back in 1950 but it could never outrun an F-89 scorpion at 32,000 feet. To suggest a spy plane such as this had tailed a B-52

and then easily evaded an interceptor was for the birds. Given that the reported UFO encounter began over Saskatchewan, there was a possibility that a Royal Canadian Air Force interceptor was involved. Thus the suggestion that a CF-100 might have been to blame. Yet the Avro-Canada CF-100 Canuck did not have the speed, to outrun a United States Air Force Scorpion. In fact, the two types were somewhat similar in terms of performance, although the F-89 was faster and had a higher operational ceiling.

Therefore, Lieutenant's Bond and Abanathy Jr. should have been able to keep up with, and potentially even catch, a CF-100 pilot, who decided to trail the B-52. There was one other potential Canadian aircraft type that did have the performance capability to outrun a scorpion in March 1959, although once again any suggestion that one might have been involved in the B-52 encounter was practically a complete non-starter. The Avro-Canada CF-105 Arrow Supersonic Interceptor had been cancelled the previous month by the Canadian government due to political pressure regarding the spiraling costs of the project.

By April 1959, orders had gone out to destroy all of the handful of completed prototypes, plus all plans, jigs and production line facilities. Had one of these aircraft, already under a death sentence in terms of his continued existence, flown over Saskatchewan on a March evening? Did its pilot think it was a good idea to follow a nuclear armed B-52 bomber, only to have an interceptor scrambled from across the border in Montana, one which forced him to turn away and flee the scene? Project Blue Book, acting upon A-Tick's evaluation, summarised the incident as a probable aircraft. Yet suggesting this was the case without providing a realistic culprit seemed to be a dereliction of duty.

The preferred candidates for the mysterious aircraft did not fit the data, and one that did, even if reality ruled it out, was ignored completely. For once, the Air Force UFO investigators agreed that this was a radar visual sighting. No radar anomaly had been involved, nor had equipment failure seemingly been a factor, even though the scorpion set was apparently out of calibration when it was struck. checked the following day. The identity of the mysterious stalker was never uncovered, or if it was, then this was kept secret.

That some new Russian aircraft had managed to evade North American air defences and penetrate deep into Canadian airspace during peacetime was beyond rational belief. Yet whatever had trailed the B-52 had air defence command worried, or at least concerned. Was the UFO a friendly or potentially hostile aircraft? Or was it something much more exhaustive? 65 years later, we are no closer to finding out the truth. This has been bite-sized UFOs with your host, Graham Rendell. Be sure to rate and review wherever you get your podcasts.

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