Somewhere in the Skies - Bite-Sized UFOs | Pintail 40 and the UFO

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

We examine the case of a F-94 Starfire crew who encountered a strange light near Goose Bay in May 1953, one which left them standing as it rapidly avoided their attempts to intercept it. Another - possibly the same object - was observed some hours later by the crew of a Maritime Central Airways airliner 130 miles south-west of Goose Bay. Subscribe to Bite-Sized UFOs on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bitesizedufos 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/ 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

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. For this episode, we're traveling to northeast Labrador and the vicinity of Goose Bay Air Base. Goose Bay was completed in November 1941 and became part of a network of airfields to help ferry bombers and transport aircraft from America across to Britain during the Second World War. During the Cold War, Goose Bay became an important airfield in the air defence network covering the northern approaches to the North American continent. The two units that feature in this episode were both based at Goose Bay, namely the 107th Aircraft and Control Squadron and the 59th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The times used in the following reports are given as Zulu, i.e. Greenwich Mean Time, or Known. nowadays as coordinated universal time.

Information about a UFO sighting near Goose Bay on the night of 1st May 1953 and early hours of the following morning was sent by a teletype in a message from Paparal Air Force Base Newfoundland to Air Defence Command at Ent Air Force Base Colorado Springs. The information was then forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence

Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, home to Project Blue Book, the third official United States Air Force UFO investigation program. The following report came from second lieutenant K.R. Meath, Senior Director at the 107th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, based at Goose Bay. I was on duty the night of the 1st of May 53. Pintail 40 called our station and wanted to know if there had been other F-94 aircraft airborne at that time. 020320 Zulu. I gave a negative answer and the pilot of Pintail 40 contacted the tower and they gave a negative answer. The controller and the Goose Tower also told me that he saw the object and asked if I saw it. I gave negative to his question. When Pintail 40 called this

station, he was 10 miles due south Goose Air Base. Aircraft was in a port orbit which was about six miles in diameter. Pintail 40 was not recorded by this station because it was in our ground clutter and only could be seen with the signal off. At 0200, Zulu I was relieved by second lieutenant H. L. Brown, whom I briefed on the current situation. The following report was made by Captain Robert Lee Embry, the pilot of Pintail 40, an F94 Starfire belonging to the 59th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Goose Bay. of 1 May 153, I was the pilot of Pintail 40, an F-94 aircraft. I have 2,300 hours flying time of which 838 hours are in jet aircraft. I first saw the object at 0.20-035 Zulu and had visual

contact for about 30 minutes. The siting took place 1.5 miles southwest of the base. The time of the first sighting I was at 24,000 feet and the object showed definite maneuverability and I attempted to make contact, but was unsuccessful because the object employed evasive action. My radar operator never did get radar contact with the object. There was no evidence of jet or rocket exhaust. The weather at the time was sealing and visibility unlimited and there were no high altitude winds. I was unable to get pictures of the object and did not notice any change in color of the light. The final report about this sighting came from 2nd Lieutenant H. L. Brown, another senior director with the 107th aircraft control and warning

squadron at Goose Bay. When I called Captain Embry to get a statement for the 15-7 report that I was preparing, Captain Embury's report to me checked with the above, and also included the statements mentioned as follows. The Pintail 40 aircraft was heading south when he observed an object heading north in a port orbit. The pilot tried to cut it off, but objects seemed to notice him. Captain Embry said the object orbited around him keeping 10 to 15 miles out of his range. Pilot said object was moving at a speed much in excess of his own and estimated it at 6,000 knots. It was too dark for any identification, but pilot said there was a white light coming from the object that looked like an F94 with Afterburner. Pilot further said that he was unable to get radar contact with object. Established

ground control interception also did not have radar contact. When I check the goose tower, Flight Officer Blake said that Flight Officer Carni ran leading aircraftsman Clayton were on duty. Flight Officer Blake said they told him the object gave off a purple light and was moving very fast. At 02, 0825 Zulu the tower gave me the following information by landline telephone. Pilot Warden of Maritime Central Airways 64 sited a luminous object, size unknown. Object was sited 500 feet off the starboard wing. Object stayed alongside aircraft. three or four seconds, then picked up speed rapidly and left the aircraft. Another moon-shaped object, both objects were moon-shaped, was sited directly in front of the first object.

The co-pilot of Maritime Central Airways confirms Pilot Warden's statement. At the time of the report the visibility was unlimited. The siting took place 130 miles southwest of Goose Air Base. Our radar station, ANCPS5, did not have radar contact with the object or aircraft at that time. The number of witnesses in this case was growing. First, the pilot and radar operator of an F-94 Starfire interceptor, then two airmen on the ground at Guse Bay, and finally, the crew of a DC-4 airliner.

What was their story? Confirmation of the Maritime Central Airways airliner crews sighting came in a strategic air command intelligence summary. The second observation was also from the air when the pilot and co-pilot of a commercial airliner reported sighting two luminous objects approximately 500 feet off the right wing of their aircraft. The plane was located 130 miles southeast of Goose Bay at the time of sighting. There was something wrong here.

The intelligence summary said that the airliner was southeast of Goose Bay, whereas the teletype said southwest, so which one was correct? To answer that question, we have to turn to the Air Intelligence Information Report for this incident. These summaries were often generated as part of UFO sightings and usually contained a lot of detailed information. Unfortunately, in the case of the Maritime Central Airways DC-4 sighting, this wasn't the case. The pilot of Maritime Central Airways 64 observed an unidentified object 130 miles southwest of Goose Air Base May 2, 1953 at 0825 Zulu. That the object was southwest of Gooseph,

Bay was also confirmed on the Project Blue Book index card. Each index card had a short summary of the sighting plus an evaluation. Air Visual, 130 miles south-west of Goose Air Force Base Labrador. Luminous object of unknown size. Object 500 feet off left wing of observers aircraft stayed alongside aircraft for three to four seconds and departed rapidly, picking up speed. Another moon-shaped object sighted directly in front of first object. At time of sighting visibility was unlimited. No radar contact. Insufficient data for evaluation. Reported an association with case from Goose Bay Air Force Base on 1 May 1953.

However, even the index card information could be wrong. This particular one mentions that the object was seen off the left wing or port wing of the DC4, where the teletype and the intelligence summary from Strategic Air Command mentioned the right or starboard wing. And what about the index card for the F-94 Starfire sighting? Well, that's in the archives as well. Ground and Air Visual, Goose Air Force Base Labrador. Pilot and radar observer of F-94 aircraft were traveling in a southerly direction at 24,000 feet when they observed a round white light approximately 10,000 feet below,

traveling at a high rate of speed, estimated 600 miles per hour, in a northerly direction. Attempts to intercept and contact on radar were made with negative results. Object was making an orbiting maneuver at a higher rate of speed. Unidentified, checks for aircraft were made, and no known aircraft were in the area. Preparing officer states his belief of the objects being caused by meteorological phenomena. After considerable study of all surrounding data, a definite conclusion cannot be reached. To examine the preparing officer's conclusion, we have to go back to the air intelligence Information Report. The report was put together by Captain Nathan J. Mayerson, the intelligence

officer at the 107th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Goose Bay. The document survives in the archives, but it is incredibly difficult to read. However, the preparing officer's statement at the end of the report is fairly legible. Comments of preparing officer, one, a check of flight plans throughout the controlled area reveal that only one aircraft other than the F-94 was in the area. A military air transport service C-54, number 7-486, arrived at Goose Air Base at 0.2-0348 Zulu. 2. The excessive speed of the object, 600 knots, precludes the possibility of it being a reciprocating engine aircraft, as well as doubting the probability of a jet aircraft. 3. Since the pilot only saw a dull red color and tower personnel at Goose Air Base state they saw a purple light, it appears that this incident represents an aerial object caused by meteorological phenomena. Lack of any radar contact tends to support this belief.

However, there was obviously frustration on the part of some individuals who were tasked with carrying out the investigation into this sighting as an internal air technical intelligence center memo demonstrates. Why no radar contact? Similarity with Gorman sighting. Moon in the eastern sky. Worth a form A. A much fuller report needed. Why didn't we get a? this sooner. The Gorman sighting referred to an incident in October 1948, where an F-51

Mustang pilot had a dogfight with a white light. But that's a case for another day. The sightings by the interceptor and airliner crews remain unidentified to this day. This has been bite-sized UFOs with your host, Graham Rendell. Be sure to rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. For a full video version of this episode, subscribe to the bite-sized UFO's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.