| ID | #1530373774 |
| Added | Sat, 30/06/2018 |
| Author | July N. |
| Sources | Ruppelt, Edward J. The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. (1956) pp. 30–31.
Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
|
| Phenomena | |
| Status | Investigation
|
Initial data
George Gorman was a fighter pilot and a veteran of the Second world war. After the war he became Manager of a construction company, and served as second Lieutenant of the National guard of North Dakota.
October 1, 1948, he participated in cross-country flights along with other pilots of the National guard. He was flying the Mustang P-51. At approximately 20:30, they flew over the city of Fargo. The other pilots decided to land at the airport Fargo, Hector, but it was a clear and cloudless weather, and Gorman decided to stay in the air to fly a few hours at night. At about 21:00 he flew over the football stadium, where at that time there was a game between teams from the middle school. Gorman noticed a small plane a Piper Cub, flying about 500 feet below it; otherwise the sky was clear.
Shortly thereafter, Gorman saw another object in the West. Unlike the Piper Cub, the form of which was highly visible, this object was not a clear outline of the wings and fuselage. The object was a shimmering blur of light. 20:07 Gorman contacted the control tower at the airport "Hector" and asked if there was any aircraft in the area other than his P-51 and the Piper Cub. Dispatch replied in the negative, whereupon Gorman contacted the pilot of the Piper Cub, Dr. A. D. cannon. He replied that he and his passenger also see a glowing object in the West.
Gorman gave the tower that he was going to chase the object to identify it. He drove his Mustang up to the maximum speed (350 to 400 mph), but soon realized that the object is moving too fast, so he could catch up to him in this way. Then he moved across the path. Gorman turned to the right and flew towards the object at an altitude of 5000 feet. The object flew over his plane at a distance of about 500 feet. Gorman described the object as a "glowing Orb" with a diameter of six to eight inches. Later, he also noted that when an object is accelerated, it stopped flashing and became brighter.
After this convergence Gorman lost the object from sight. When he saw him again, he appears to have made a 180-degree turn and again moved towards him. Then the object suddenly began to move up and down vertically. Gorman followed the object. At the height of 14,000 feet his P-51 stalled; the object was still 2,000 feet higher. Gorman made two unsuccessful attempts to approach the object. At this point, the object moved over the Fargo airport. Located in the tower Manager L. D. Jensen saw a glowing object through binoculars but could make out its shape. The observation was joined by Dr. cannon and his passenger as they landed and went to the control tower, to better see the object.
Gorman continued to follow the object until he was about 25 miles southwest of Fargo. At a height of 14 000 feet he saw a light under them at the height of 11,000 ft. He dove to the object, but he again made a vertical ascent. Gorman tried to follow him, but the object left the area of observation. At this point (it was at 21:27) he interrupted the chase and flew back to the airport of Fargo.
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
Original news
Although he was only 25 years old when the incident occurred, George Gorman was a veteran fighter pilot of the Second World War. After the war he became the manager of a construction company; he also served as a second lieutenant in the North Dakota National Guard. On October 1, 1948, he was participating in a cross-country flight with other National Guard pilots; he was flying a P-51 Mustang. His flight arrived over Fargo at approximately 8:30 PM. Although the other pilots decided to land at Fargo's Hector Airport, because of the clear, cloudless conditions, Gorman decided to get in some night-flying time and stayed aloft. Around 9:00 PM he flew over a football stadium where a high-school football game was being held. He noticed a small Piper Cub plane flying some 500 feet below him; otherwise the skies appeared clear.
Shortly after he noticed the Piper Cub, Gorman saw another object to his west. When he looked for the outline of a wing or fuselage he could see none; this contrasted with the Piper Cub, whose outline was clearly visible. The object appeared to be a blinking light. At 9:07 PM Gorman contacted the control tower at Fargo's Hector Airport and asked if it had any air traffic in the area other than his P-51 and the Piper Cub. The tower answered that it did not, and it contacted the Piper Cub pilot, Dr. A.D. Cannon. Cannon and his passenger answered that they could also see a lighted object to the west.
Gorman told the tower that he was going to pursue the object to determine its identity. He moved his Mustang to full power (350 to 400 MPH), but soon realized that the object was going too fast for him to catch it in a straight run. Instead, he tried cutting the object off by turns. He made a right turn and approached the object head-on at 5,000 feet; the object flew over his plane at a distance of about 500 feet. Gorman described the object as a simple "ball of light" about six to eight inches in diameter. He also noted later that when the object increased its speed, it stopped blinking and grew brighter.
After his near-collision, Gorman lost sight of the object; when he saw it again it appeared to have made a 180-degree turn and was coming at him again. The object then made a sudden vertical climb; Gorman followed the object in his own steep climb. At 14,000 feet his P-51 stalled; the object was still 2,000 feet above him. Gorman made two further attempts to get closer to the object, with no success. It seemed to make another head-on pass, but broke off before coming close to his fighter. By this point the object had moved over the Fargo Airport, in the control tower the air traffic controller, L.D. Jensen, viewed the object through binoculars but could see no form or shape around the light. He was joined by Dr. Cannon and his passenger from the Piper Cub; they had landed and walked to the control tower to get a better view of the object.
Gorman continued to follow the object until he was approximately 25 miles southwest of Fargo. At 14,000 feet he observed the light at 11,000 feet; he then dived on the object at full power. However, the object made a vertical climb. Gorman tried to pursue but watched as the object passed out of visual range. At this point he broke off the chase; it was 9:27 PM. He flew back to Fargo's Hector Airport.
The scheme of movement of the pilot.
The picture refers to the Project Blue Book Archive (in particular the website http://www.bluebookarchive.org which is not working).
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
Hypotheses
Investigation
In 1949 the US air force reported on the investigation, the results of which it was determined that a witness watched a lighted balloon (weather balloon or similar).
Patrick gross, in his article States that:
Captain Edward J. Smith. Ruppelt, who headed project Blue book, the air force in the early 1950-ies, suggested that Gorman had chased a lighted balloon (a plane quickly overtook the balloon, creating the illusion of counter-omissions), however, reported that high speeds away from the F-51 created a problem with this option.
Dr. James E. McDonald, a physicist from Arizona, working in the field of atmospheric science, said in 1970:
"Despite the fact that the balloon became the official explanation in the file "Blue book" there are a number of explicit statements that completely ignore this hypothesis."
Dr. Donald H. Menzel, an astronomer at Harvard University, acknowledging some of the problems of the hypothesis of the balloon, decided that the pilot saw two objects responsible for "illusion": a balloon and the planet Jupiter, i.e., Gorman occasionally seen lighted balloon, and sometimes "very probably a Mirage of the planet Jupiter."
However, he indicates that both versions are not consistent:
It is obvious that no "glowing balloons" not a night maneuver over the airfield, and there is no such thing as "a Mirage of the planet Jupiter."
About the first to disagree. The presence in this time of weather balloons in the area at this time, it is possible (as well as those that collect weather data for an aerodrome, specialized, for example from project Skyhook or Mogul, which at the time could escape).
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
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