On July 17, 1957, a U.S. Air Force RB-47H reconnaissance aircraft, on a training mission over the southern United States, encountered an unidentified object that was simultaneously detected by the aircraft's electronic countermeasures (ECM) gear, visually by the cockpit crew, and by ground radar. This multi-sensor detection makes the RB-47 incident one of the most compelling and scientifically intriguing UFO cases on record.1 The object demonstrated extraordinary maneuverability and speed, pacing the RB-47H for hundreds of miles.2
The Multi-Sensor Detection
The six-man crew of the RB-47H, from the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, was testing ECM equipment when, around 4:00 AM CST, ECM officer Frank McClure detected an airborne signal to the right rear of the aircraft. This signal was similar to ground-based radar but appeared to be airborne and moving.3 Shortly after, the pilot and copilot observed an intense blue light that rapidly changed course and disappeared. Later, near Duncanville, Texas, the pilot spotted a huge, intensely luminous light, and McClure reported two signals, with the pilot and copilot confirming red lights at those locations.4
Unconventional Maneuvers and Official Review
The object was tracked for over 700 miles and for about 1.5 hours, flying from Mississippi, through Louisiana and Texas, and into Oklahoma. The crew attempted to evade the object by changing speed and altitude, but it consistently outmaneuvered the RB-47H with ease.1 At one point, the object appeared to stop suddenly, and when the RB-47 overshot it, it blinked out and simultaneously vanished from McClure's scope and ground radar, only to reappear when the aircraft turned.4 The RB-47 incident was later examined by the University of Colorado UFO study (the Condon Report) in 1968, which conceded it to be unexplained. The case remains officially unresolved, with no conventional explanation fully accounting for the multiple forms of detection and the object's observed behavior.5