================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1952-12-9170289-MADISON-WISCONSIN.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: 9 December 1952 FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local 9/1745CST / GMT 09/2345Z FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [ ] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [X] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: AF Pilots FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: 10 min FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: four FIELD 9 -- COURSE: [not separately recorded; objects headed 130 degrees SE then turned to 090 degrees E] FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: Four bright lights were sighted at 8000' traveling approximately 400 mph. Observers chased the objects and passed them at 450 mph in a T-33 a/c. The a/c became low on fuel and landed at Truax Field. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: [blank] FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [ ] Other [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [X] Unknown Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) [FLAG: Named military personnel appear unredacted in the Air Intelligence Information Report (AF Form 112): Capt. W.D. Bridges (AC2067460) and 1st Lt. J.E. Johnson (20439A), 433rd FIS, Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin -- listed as observers. Also named without redaction: 2nd Lt. Charles W. Youngson, Intelligence Officer, who signed the response letter. The questionnaire and summary forms redact names; the AI report does not.] Supplemental documents present: - ATIC civilian questionnaire (Form A, 8 pages), completed by one of the pilot-observers. Date completed: 7 January 1953. Observer identified as: Airborne Pilot, USAF, age 27, male; flying at 8,000 feet altitude in T-33 aircraft (TA-51-6912 / TR-516912). Address: Madison, Wisconsin. - Air Intelligence Information Report, AF Form 112-Part I, UNCLASSIFIED. Country: U.S.A. Area: WAC 308 -- Madison to Racine, Wisconsin. Date of Report: 10 December 1952. Date of Information: 9 December 1952. Evaluation: [A-B per document, partially legible]. Source: Capt. W.D. Bridges; 1st Lt. D. Johnson. Preparing officer: Charles W. Youngson, 2/Lt USAF. Approving officer: [signature]. - Local unit analysis document (Madison, Wisconsin, 9 December 1952). Three sections: Description of Incident, Discussion of Incident, Conclusion: Unknown. - ATIC request for additional information (ATIA-5/AGF/VS), undated, addressed to Commanding Officer, 433rd Fighter- Interceptor Squadron, ATTN: Intelligence Officer, Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin. Five follow-up questions posed. 1 enclosure: Tech Info Sheets (2) to be completed by Capt. Bridges and Lt. Johnson. - Response letter from 433rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin. Dated 7 January 1952 [sic; context indicates 1953]. Subject: Unidentified Flying Objects, In reply to AFOIN-ATIAA-5. To: Robert E. Kennedy, Major, USAF, Air Adjutant General, Wright- Patterson AFB, Ohio. Signed: Charles W. Youngson, 2nd Lt. USAF, Intelligence Officer. - Three U.S. Air Force Technical Information Sheets (Summary Data, Form B), all dated 7 January 1953. All three contain substantially identical narratives of the incident. [Note: Three copies may reflect separate submissions by each of the two pilot-observers plus the intelligence officer, or filing redundancy.] ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Madison Wisconsin Truax Field 1952 December military pilots Captain Lieutenant T-33 jet fighter-interceptor 433rd FIS four lights bright white diamond formation 8000 feet 400 mph 450 mph intercept chased passed overtook 1000 feet close approach no silhouette no radar return radar negative 755th AC&W Soapberry Janesville Racine Wisconsin 10 minutes two observers confirmed USAF UNIDENTIFIED unknown corroboration newspaper Wisconsin State Journal civilian farmer WWII pilot multiple independent witnesses no exhaust formation maintained speed rules out balloon aircraft ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- Unknown. The conclusion appears on both the ATIC record card and the local unit's own incident analysis. The 433rd FIS analysis reached this conclusion methodically, working through the available explanations and finding none that fit. The local unit's discussion is unusually rigorous for a field report: it explicitly eliminates weather balloons (speed too high), addresses the aircraft hypothesis, then notes that local radar had no return from the objects -- and concludes that if the objects were aircraft, they would have appeared on the scope. They did not. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- At 1745 CST on 9 December 1952, two officers of the 433rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin -- Capt. W.D. Bridges and 1st Lt. J.E. Johnson -- were conducting an instrument approach practice flight south of Madison in a T-33 jet trainer at approximately 8,000 feet when they observed four bright white lights in a diamond formation. The lights were estimated to be approximately 200 feet apart. The pilots did not simply observe and report. They pursued. Accelerating to 450 mph, they overtook the objects (initially traveling at an estimated 400 mph), maneuvered around them, and achieved a closest approach of approximately 1,000 feet. The T-33 passed the lights on the right side, crossed to the left side flying level alongside, went below to pass in front, and crossed back behind. Total observation: 10 minutes. The lights maintained their diamond formation throughout all of these maneuvers. At no point during the close intercept was a silhouette visible -- not against the open night sky, and not against the lights of Milwaukee, which were visible in the background. The pilots saw four bright white lights and nothing else: no fuselage, no wings, no structure of any kind. The objects held a heading of approximately 130 degrees (southeast) until they turned to approximately 090 degrees (east), a coordinated turn maintained in formation. At approximately 10 miles northeast of Janesville (17:50 CST), the T-33 passed the objects. Capt. Bridges contacted the 755th AC&W Squadron (callsign Soapberry). The pilots continued to follow until low on fuel, broke away at approximately 10 miles west of Racine, and landed at Truax Field at 18:00 CST. After the T-33 broke contact, the 755th AC&W Squadron continued attempting to pick up the objects by radar for twenty minutes. Negative results. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The radar evidence is the diagnostic core of this case. The 755th AC&W Squadron had both radio and radar contact with the T-33 throughout the intercept -- the T-33 appeared clearly on their radar scope. The four objects did not. The 755th explicitly reported they could paint the T-33 but could not paint the objects. This is not ambiguous. Radar echoes from aircraft at 8,000 feet, at a speed of 400 mph, in a clear atmosphere with 25,000-foot ceiling and practically unlimited visibility, should not be difficult to obtain. The T-33 was painted clearly. The local unit's own analysis draws the correct implication: "If the unknown was an aircraft it would have been evident on the scope." The speed rules out weather balloons entirely. The local analysis states this flatly: "The objects were traveling at a very high speed, excessive for weather balloons." At 400 mph, we are in the speed range of 1952 jet aircraft -- but jet aircraft appear on radar, and these did not. The analysts note there is no record of local or transient jet aircraft in the area. Civilian corroboration is documented in the case file. The intelligence response letter notes that the Wisconsin State Journal published an article on the morning of December 10, reporting that a farmer and a WWII pilot in the same general area and at approximately the same time had observed four bright lights in the sky. Two trained military aviators in an aircraft plus at least two civilians on the ground, independently, same night, same region, same description. The close approach at 1,000 feet is analytically critical. At that distance, in clear visibility, with Milwaukee's ambient light in the background, no silhouette was visible. If these were four aircraft flying in tight diamond formation, their fuselages, wings, and exhaust would be detectable at 1,000 feet against a lit sky. Nothing was seen. Just lights. The formation behavior is also notable. The lights maintained consistent 200-foot diamond spacing through the T-33's entire intercept sequence -- passing on both sides, going below, returning behind -- and coordinated their heading change from 130° to 090° as a unit. This is either four aircraft flying in immaculate night formation with no detectable exhausts and no radar signature, or something else. Lt. Johnson's independent account, obtained by interrogation on December 10, was identical to Capt. Bridges' account. Two pilot-observers, separately questioned, told the same story. BOTTOM LINE ----------- This is one of the more compelling UNIDENTIFIED cases in the archive. The source quality is exceptional -- two trained military aviators in a jet aircraft -- and the investigation actually happened. ATIC asked follow-up questions. The unit responded with specific information. The radar operator's records were checked. All conventional explanations were examined and found inadequate. The radar non-return is the hardest evidence in the file. Weather balloons are eliminated by speed. Conventional aircraft are eliminated by the radar absence and the lack of any silhouette at 1,000 feet in good visibility. No astronomical explanation applies to four lights in a coordinated formation at 400 mph. The civilian corroboration in the newspaper the next morning adds weight without changing the basic analysis. The military intercept is what makes this case distinct -- the pilots had direct aeronautical contact with the objects, not merely a distant observation. They flew alongside, below, ahead of, and behind the lights. They got within 1,000 feet. And they still could not explain what they were. The Unknown classification is well-earned and well-supported. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================