Original subtitles

These are unidentified flying objects.

Are they proof that we are being visited by civilizations from other stars?

Or just what are they?

Not much. A flock of geese and a cargo plane making its weekly run.

Well, I'm going off duty. Take over for me, will you?

Sure thing, Lieutenant.

Well, that's the kind of talent you get when

you hire a correspondent school navigator.

Don't blame me.

I'm not his daddy. He's only my nephew.

All right, you guys, knock it off.

Oh, by the way, Uncle Don, don't forget, you owe the beers when we get to Fairbanks.

I believe it's four beers.

Four beers.

Right then. And I always pay my bets.

That's right. Especially when I'm there to help enforce it.

He's a little strange.

Don?

Yeah?

Scope's painting traffic bearing 310 degrees.

Another plane?

Out here?

I make it about 10 miles.

Closing.

Should be dead ahead.

Don't see a thing. Well, we're in a double inversion situation.

Could simply be a phantom radar return. Yeah?

Well, what do you call that?

You see it?

Well, that doesn't hurt, does it?

No, ma'am.

Looks like you ran your arm into a jet engine.

Not exactly.

Fixing your car, then?

No, ma'am. I can't rightly say it was my car.

What did you burn it on?

A lock.

A lock.

A what?

An ancient oriental Chinese cooking implement employing

high temperatures to achieve quick frying.

I was putting it through a test run in my quarters.

Test run?

Yes, ma'am. I'm taking an oriental cooking class, trying my first recipe.

You ever had any shrimp Cantonese?

Shrimp Cantonese?

Can't say I have.

See, what you do is you get yourself a pound and a half of shrimp,

maybe a half a pound of pork finely ground, add one egg,

two tablespoons of soy sauce. Sergeant Fitz. Yes, sir.

I hope you're well enough to travel.

I'm fine, sir. Major, do you anticipate any further

medical difficulties with this patient?

No.

I would keep him out of the kitchen.

I intend to.

We're catching a KC-135 in 28 minutes. Pack a raincoat.

Eielson reports a 60% chance of precip. Eielson?

Alabama?

Close.

Alaska.

Alaska?

Can they send us there?

Unless they seceded.

Well, nothing wrong with that radar antenna.

Zinni, you're sure? If the scope painted something, there was something there.

Well, that helps some, I guess.

Zinni, what I don't understand is this voice recorder breakdown.

These units are self-contained. They're almost foolproof.

Well, Tim, like I said before, on these older

ships, sometimes happens. Equipment wears out.

Anyway, if you were figuring on listening to the audio

of yesterday's flight, forget it. Tape's blank.

Zinni, I appreciate this.

Anytime.

I thought we were having lunch.

I know.

I called from the restaurant. They said you were busy, but would call right back.

Tim, that was a half hour ago.

Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

We started checking the equipment, and I completely forgot about time.

What exactly were you working on all this time?

I had to go over the radar.

Again? Kim, this UFO business is driving me off the wall.

Look, sweetheart, we're going to have an investigation. Now, I've got to be sure.

That you weren't seeing things.

It's not very funny.

Sorry, I didn't mean that.

Look, I'll tell you what.

Why don't we go have dinner at the Pipeliners? How does that sound?

Just don't report any Martians between now and six.

You're a laughing minute today.

What do you want? Cream of sugar?

No, thanks.

Tim's taking that plane apart.

So what?

He's a flight engineer.

Aircraft maintenance, that's his job. This isn't maintenance, and you know it.

He's filed a UFO report. I think maybe you and I had better talk to him about this.

Now.

Worth.

What's this I hear about Jenkins seeing a flying saucer yesterday,

and on company time? Relax, Lou.

The kid got a little excited by a weather balloon.

Yeah? Well, he's not the only one who's a little excited. You know,

the Air Force is sending a couple of guys up here,

all the way from Wright-Patt in Dayton.

Now, he's your nephew.

Talk to him.

We don't want a lot of trouble.

Lou, there won't be any trouble. Yeah, I hope not.

If you guys ain't flying, you don't make money.

And I don't make money.

By the way, Worth, knock off your check flight for this week, huh? Roger.

You know, I gotta do everything around here.

Excuse me, gentlemen.

Aircraft commander wanted you to know that we're running a little late. Problems?

No, sir, no problems. Just a short side trip.

SAC command post has ordered us to refuel a B-52

that's on a mission to the polar region.

Soon as we fill her up, she'll be on her way.

You'll have to strap your chutes on during refueling. It's routine procedure.

You the boom operator? Right.

Sergeant Billy Hanson at your service.

Well, I've got a customer waiting,

so you're welcome to watch the show over my shoulder if you want.

Rendezvous in five minutes.

Let's go.

Be fun to see it from this end, for a change.

Hello, Bravo 14. This is Petrol 1. Over.

Roger, Petrol 1.

Bravo 14.

Closing.

Roger, Bravo. Just felt your bump.

Standing by for connect.

Roger.

Coming up now.

Reading all lights.

You're right in there, Bravo.

Ease it forward a bit.

There you go.

Probe moving in.

It's a solid contact, ready for transfer. Roger, Petrol. Tell

her up. Bravo 14, Petrol 1 aborting.

Boom up. You've backed off too far, Bravo 14. Roger, Petrol 1.

Sorry about that.

Bravo ready to reestablish.

Roger, Bravo.

Petrol 1 ready here.

Ease it forward.

Just a bit more.

There you go.

Connecting now.

Light is green. Ready to transfer on your call. Roger, Petrol One.

Send it down.

That's it.

Ready to separate. Roger, Bravo 14. Have a good night, sir.

Good hookup.

Boom to pilot. Refueling complete.

Break.

Now.

That was some show.

Routine, Sergeant, just routine. Sergeant, how much fuel did you transfer?

A shade over 60,000 pounds, sir.

That's over 9,000 gallons.

Wow.

Did he have a credit card? No, he's a good customer. We trust him.

We'll bill him at the end of the month.

He would have saved five cents a gallon if he had served himself.

I wonder if we see any moose around. Moose?

Since when have you been interested in moose? Well,

they're not too prevalent back in six miles South Carolina.

They might try Mount McKinley National Park. They got a nice selection.

Personally, I'd be more interested in the chocolate moose at the hotel. Yeah.

Uncle Buddy used to buy some of those around Easter time. Chocolate mousse? Oh,

yeah, chocolate ducks and bunnies. It was super.

Hide them right there in the grass, huh? Oh, no,

I'll be right there in that Easter basket,

right in between those jelly beans and Easter eggs.

You're not sort of miscoloring those Easter eggs.

I bet you do.

Where are we heading, sir? Base operations. Got a long-distance phone call to make.

All right, Lieutenant, we're ready on this end to record your statement.

No sweat, sir. Fire away.

Lieutenant, in your twix,

you stated that the Alaska Air Cargo Company flew

over your station just prior to the sighting.

Could you explain that more fully?

Sure.

You see, that's a regular flight.

They pass over our station once a week.

It was about, oh, 200 hours.

I was coming off duty, stepped outside for some air.

I was just about to turn in.

Lieutenant, there's something strange going on upstairs. Better take a look.

It started a minute ago. We were tracking flight 903.

Suddenly the second target popped onto the screen out of nowhere.

It's been closing with the jet ever since.

You got a height finder reading? Only on the cargo plane. What?

We're painting the jet at 35,000, but the second object doesn't register.

That's odd.

Azimuth Scope does read it, but weak.

This is Alaska Air Cargo Company, Flight 903.

White Pass, do you read? Roger, 903. White Pass here. We have you five square.

White Pass, we have a UFO flying formation with us. Can you confirm that?

Stand by, 903. Catch me if you can. Yes, sir.

Start the radar sequencing camera. Flight 903, this

is Lieutenant Higbee, USAF. Who am I talking to?

Jenkins, Alaska Air.

Jenkins, we confirm the second object. What do you see out there?

It's round.

No, a disk. Very bright.

Gold with something like diamonds all over it. It's off our nose at 11 o'clock.

Can't shake it. It moves in fast on us and then flies away.

Say again?

I said we can't shake it. Wait a minute.

Good Lord, it's gonna hit us!

903, come in. 903, what is your status? 903, come in.

He's off the air.

In a minute, the UFO was gone from our screen.

Later, we regained contact with 903. They landed safely in Fairbanks.

Lieutenant, can you send us a set of your sequencing camera photographs?

Of course.

I'll have prints and dupe negatives to you on our next chopper resupply flight.

You know, I've always laughed at flying saucer stories.

Gentlemen, where do you see the photos?

Okay, you passed the company check flight.

Good. I'll have Perino file this.

Thanks, Mac. You're welcome.

Project Blue Book? Right. Captain Ben Ryan, Foreign Technology Division. Tim Jenkins.

Sergeant Harry Fitz, how are you? Nice to meet you, Sergeant. Hey, you guys? Yeah.

We'd like to ask all of you gentlemen a few questions about Mr. Jenkins' UFO report.

And I have about a hundred questions for you.

Why don't we go into the hangar office?

Coming?

Well, I'm still a bit overwhelmed by all this government manpower.

Lieutenant Colonel Worth? Please.

I've been retired from the Air Force five years.

Nobody calls me Colonel around here.

If it's not convenient now.

I'm always willing to cooperate with the Air Force.

But as a matter of fact, Captain, I am busy.

At least two of us.

Paperwork.

I'm sure you two guys know about that.

Yes, sir.

Perhaps this evening will be better.

Well, that's a good idea.

Why don't we meet at my place, say, 7 o'clock? That'll be fine.

That's 1015 Caribou Lane, Sergeant.

See you then.

Well, I'll talk to you, gentlemen. Why don't we go on inside?

See you later. See you then.

Well, you should probably guess there are two

schools of thought regarding this sighting.

We gathered that from the FAA report.

Well, let me give you my sighting. Come on in, gentlemen.

Well, it started out as a routine flight.

We picked up a load of oil pump and equipment in Great Falls, Montana.

It was a five-hour flight ahead of us,

2,000 miles right straight across the middle of nowhere.

It was a relatively clear night. A couple cloud decks well below us.

Earlier in the evening, I remember seeing the moon and the stars now and again.

We were in and out of Cirrus.

There was a usual small talk just to pass the time.

And then, just as we were crossing the Yukon border... Don?

Yeah?

Scope's painting traffic on Northwest.

Oh.

Another plane out here? Why make it ten miles?

Closing fast. Well, that puts the dead ahead. Don't see a thing.

Well, we're in a double inversion situation.

It could simply be a phantom radar return.

Yeah, what do you call that?

What is it?

How the hell do I know?

The thing is turning right with us.

Tim, get on the radio. Call White Pass. They're in range.

This is Alaska Air Cargo Flight 903 calling White Pass. Do you read me?

Roger, 903.

White Pass here. We have you five square.

White Pass, we have a UFO flying formation with us. Can you confirm? 903, stand by.

Stand by? Who's he kidding? Shut up and help me fly this bucket.

I think it's staying right with us.

One more pass and he can ram us.

What do we do now?

Don't ask me.

We can't outfly it.

Look.

Mr. Jenkins, why were you the only one to file a report?

I was the only one to hassle it, I guess.

You see...

When we got back into Fairbanks, we got into a bit of an argument.

What are you so afraid of? It's a very simple problem.

All you do is pick up the phone, call FAA, and they do the rest.

Tim, look at the consequences. Okay, we tell the world we saw a UFO.

Tomorrow morning, it'll be in the funny pages from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

TV reporters will be chuckling about it in prime time.

We wade through red tape and flying saucer nuts for the next month, the next year.

Uncle Don, that's not... Forget it.

I have.

Don.

He was flying planes before you were born.

He knows what he's talking about.

Think it over.

Well, your uncle's attitude isn't that unusual. In some ways, it's very typical.

Typical or not, it just kept bugging me.

I mean, I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep.

My wife was constantly upset.

So I finally turned in to report myself.

At least you got the cockpit voice recorder to back you up.

I'm afraid I don't.

Why?

Where is it?

It's blank.

Blank?

There's not a sound on it.

I guess it's my word against theirs, huh?

Maybe not.

We're expecting radar photographs from White Pass Radar Station.

They should tell us a great deal, one way or the other.

Oh, I hope so.

Here's our phone number at Eielson.

You call us anytime you want to talk.

All right.

Thank you. I will.

Captain, let me ask you a question.

Have you ever seen a UFO?

Once, a long time ago.

Yeah.

Did you ever find out what it was?

No, never did.

Great.

3 p.m., got it.

Sorry for the interruption, gentlemen, but I got a business to run.

Speaking of which, I'm still a little confused about the nature of yours.

Well, it's Project Blue Book's responsibility to investigate

unidentified flying objects wherever they're reported.

Including Alaska? Correct.

Tell me something.

Do you guys really think Jenkins saw a flying saucer? Mr.

Jenkins believes he saw something.

It may or may not have been a so-called flying saucer.

We simply don't know. What we do know is that the sighting

involved NORAD's mid-North American radar line.

When you consider this area's proximity to Soviet airspace,

You can understand the importance of a thorough investigation. Oh,

I guess Jenkins just got a bit carried away.

Both Worth and McClain told me all they saw was a weather balloon.

And with their experience, they ought to know.

Let me put it this way.

If it's between them and the kid, I gotta believe them.

Don, how are things?

Well, things are... Well, you know, Carol.

Hey, this is nice.

We're always glad to have you.

Being with you folks helps a lot.

Have you heard from Michelle lately?

A letter? Last week?

Must be hard, being alone after all these years.

Sure is.

What can you do?

Just wasn't working out.

Look out!

Doug! Hey, feel like a game?

Uh... Come on, come on.

If I can do this, you can too. Well, you think I should?

Go! I'd better go before I'm decapitated or something. All right.

I guess we'll have to show you how it's done.

It's all yours, pal.

Thank you, Mac. All right, let's have it, Doug.

Maybe you need glasses.

Hello.

Evening.

Well, you're just in time. It's a shame you came all this distance for nothing.

Are you the flying saucer guys?

You might say that.

Captain Ryan, Sergeant Fitz, may I present my wife,

Carol. Carol. And my son, Doug. How are you?

I think we can talk right over here, if you mind. Fine.

Would you two care for some cold iced tea?

Oh, it's been a long day, thank you. Much obliged, ma'am.

Well, I'll leave you to it.

If the tape recorder bothers you, sir. No, no, it doesn't bother me.

Mr. Worth, I can assure you these tapes are strictly for Blue Book use.

I'm sure you're very conscientious, Captain.

Well, you came to ask some questions about the other night.

Please ask. As you know, we talked to Mr. Jenkins this afternoon.

He gave us his description of the UFO sighting.

We'd appreciate your version of the incident.

Don, would you like the honors?

All right.

But there isn't really much to tell. We were on our weekly flight to the lower 48.

Weather conditions were pretty fair. Visibility slightly impaired by cirrus.

50 knot quartering headwind.

We'd been in the air about two and a half hours when

Richard noticed a faint target on the weather scope.

Frankly, I was skeptical.

I know we had a temperature inversion situation.

We're in and out of layered cirrus.

You know how it is with those ice crystal formations.

We look for the target. At first,

all I could see were stars overhead once in a while.

When Tim spotted it.

Look.

What is it?

I don't know. Whatever it is, it's hardly moving.

Why don't you get on the radio, call NORAD, see if they're penning it.

I have to admit, we were all curious.

I put the ship into a turn.

As we moved toward it, We were excited, especially Tim.

By the time he made radio contact with White Pass, he was pretty worked up,

and I guess you'd have to say he exaggerated things,

because when we closed with the object, it became

obvious what it was. A weather balloon.

We circled around the thing.

I took a good look to be sure.

Then we returned to our original heading.

After we landed, I got into quite an argument with Tim.

I guess we saw things differently.

Much differently.

According to his story, you were actually chased by an

object that was maneuvering in a controlled manner.

Thank you. Let's fly.

Gentlemen, I've had 35 years of flying experience, 29 of them in the U.S. Air Force.

I have yet to see a weather balloon maneuver in a controlled manner.

Mr. McClain, do you agree with Mr. Wirth's version of the incident?

Yes, I do.

Which is why neither one of us filed a UFO report.

Look, Tim is a nice guy, but he's a little green.

I can understand how he might sincerely believe that he saw, well, something.

But believe me, what we saw was a garden-variety weather balloon.

That's all.

I see.

What about the NORAD radar return? Any thoughts about that? Well,

don't forget we had a severe double inversion,

severe enough to distort NORAD's radar image of the balloon and our plane.

Quite possible.

Captain, I think you're wasting your time on this one.

Mr. Worth, if I thought it were a waste of time, we wouldn't be here.

Harry, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I sure think I am, sir.

We know there weren't any weather balloons within 500 miles. Well,

even if there had been, observation time of a balloon practically motionless,

give or take 50 knots, why they wouldn't have had

that thing in sight for more than a second or two?

That's all, sir? They were flying at Mach .75. That's about 800 feet per second.

They'd have been lucky to even recognize a balloon at that speed.

Maximum diameter of a balloon at that altitude is no more than 10 feet.

Single white light for a theodolite tracker.

Then why would two experienced pilots concoct a story like that?

Wouldn't they realize it wouldn't hold up?

Why?

You got me.

Unless they had something to hide.

All right, I'm coming.

Come on. Tim, mind if I talk to you?

No, no, come on in, sit down.

I'm sorry to bother you at this hour.

Don't worry about it. What you want to talk about? Well, I think you know. Yeah.

Timothy, Richard and I both told those Air Force guys...

That what we saw was a weather balloon.

A weather balloon?

That was no balloon. You know that. Yes, I know it.

I don't get it. Why the phony story?

Why not the plain, simple truth? The hell with the truth.

Don, you're scared.

It ain't because of the red tape. No, what is it? What are you hiding? Don't ask.

Please, just do me one favor. What, change my story?

Tell them I saw a weather balloon, too?

Please.

No.

No.

All right.

Have you forgotten who got you your job?

Don.

Why?

Why?

It's simple. I can't see anymore. I'm half blind. My depth perception is shot.

I mean, so what if I can't catch a ball?

So what if I drop dimes into thin air?

I know how to fly a plane.

My safety record is perfect.

15,000 hours in the air, and now some jerk air regulation

says I gotta quit. Well, I'm not going to.

Flying is all I know.

It's the only thing I have.

Timothy, you've gotta help me.

Those Blue Book guys are asking a lot of questions.

They are bound to find out about me.

So that's why the cockpit recording was blank.

You erased it, didn't you? Because I had to! Uncle Don, why didn't you trust me?

I mean, why didn't you come to me in the very beginning?

I never dreamed it would get this far.

Now the whole ball of wax is on the line.

Timothy, I'm desperate. No!

I... I mean... All right.

Decade.

I'll do what you want me to do.

Mr. Jenkins, may we come in?

Yeah, come on in.

I was just trying to call you.

Oh?

Gentlemen, I've had a chance to think over

my UFO report since the initial excitement.

I'm sorry, I think I've created a lot of unnecessary problems. How so?

Well, I guess I exaggerated a heck of a lot.

Oh.

Now, you see, I haven't been flying for that long, and I guess I, well,

I guess I have a lot to learn.

You seem to know what you're doing.

Thank you.

I guess maybe I was just tired that night.

Wanted to see something that wasn't really there.

Whatever, I... What I did see was a weather balloon.

I'm sure of that now.

A balloon? Yes, sir.

You see, I've had a chance to think it over and... On your own?

Yes, Captain. On my own.

Without any assistance from anybody.

Mr. Jenkins, we try to accept witnesses' statements at face value.

However, there's one problem with your weather balloon story.

What's that?

There weren't any research of weather balloons over the Yukon or British Columbia

or the Alaskan panhandle at the time of your sighting.

That was the first thing we checked out, sir.

Well, you're mistaken.

Might have been Japanese, Russian, I don't know.

But I do know I saw a weather balloon, and that gentleman is the bottom line.

I'm afraid it's not the bottom line.

We just got these radar photographs from White Pass about an hour ago.

As you can see, two objects appear to be flying in formation,

and neither target is a balloon.

It just doesn't track. No, Harry, it doesn't.

I got a mighty powerful feeling that Werther McClain had a little talk with Jenkins.

It's beginning to look that way. Which brings us back to the $64 question.

Well, let's get some answers.

Now, I'm cleared with the FAA to release certain medical information to Blue Book.

In my capacity as the local aviation medical examiner, I must repeat once again,

the information has to be kept strictly confidential.

Dr. Jacobs, you can be assured we will protect a man's privacy.

Okay.

Now as to the annual FAA medical reports...

Jenkins had a physical six months ago when he started with Perino.

Passed with flying colors.

McLean had his checkup eight months ago.

Clean bill of health.

And Mr. Worth, Doctor.

Worth.

Worth is in good shape, slightly nearsighted, but well within the test requirements.

No other problems.

Well, his right ear is slightly less than 100%.

His depth perception is a bit off from last year,

but that's not unusual for a man his age.

Doctor, when was the last time Mr. Worth had an eye examination?

Well, that would be 11 months ago.

He had no vision tests since then.

No, it's not required.

I'm sorry, nothing dramatic.

Is that all I can do for you?

McLean, may we talk to you for a minute? Sure. But you better make it fast.

We're taking off for Seattle in a half hour.

This won't take long.

Well?

We understand that you're Alaska Air Cargo's check pilot. Yeah, I've been for years.

Have you checked on Worth's flight proficiency lately?

Yeah, earlier this week, as a matter of fact.

What did you find, sir?

He checked out fine.

Don is a very good pilot.

One of the best.

Ask anyone.

Yeah, we have.

Well, you ready for a pre-flight check?

As soon as the plane gets here.

Timothy.

Thank you for this morning.

Forget it.

You saved a drowning man.

No, Uncle Don, I have a feeling you're still in deep water. Good afternoon. Hi.

Captain Ryan. This aircraft is scheduled to depart in 30 minutes.

Whatever you came to say, you'll have to wait.

Mr. Jenkins, you filed a UFO report presumably

because you wanted some honest answers.

You wanted to understand what it was you encountered over the Yukon.

You wanted us to get at the truth.

Avenger, that's for you to decide.

We can't prove you did not see a weather balloon that night.

If you want to maintain that you did, then we'll leave it at that.

What we can prove is that this case involves a serious matter of air safety.

Captain, if you've got an accusation to make, make it.

Mr. Worth, it's our opinion that you're not qualified to pilot this aircraft.

I don't have to take this garbage from you, too.

What gives you the right to pry into civilian affairs? Absolutely nothing,

unless someone specifically requests it.

Mr. Jenkins did request an investigation. Now,

we can't turn that off just because we uncover something you don't like.

What's that supposed to mean?

I think you know.

We can't force you to have your eyes examined. It's out of our jurisdiction.

But I'd bet a month's pay you've got depth perception problems.

Problems serious enough to jeopardize the lives of your entire crew. Well,

you're entitled to your opinion.

Mr. Worth, I'm truly sorry.

Haven't you figured we ever really know what those folks saw that night?

Not until they get their story straight, and I don't think that's about to happen.

I know one thing.

One of these days, Don Worth's gonna drive his landing gear

through the wings or flare for a landing 200 feet too high.

Being grounded after a lifetime of flying, it's gonna be tough to live with.

Comes with the territory.

Question is, can Worth accept it?

You know, all this makes me wonder how I'll feel when it's my turn to quit.

Will I ever do what Worth's doing?

I believe this is government property.

Thank you.

Least I could do after the ugly scene yesterday.

Well, please accept my apology.

It's accepted, Mr. Wood. Before you leave, I'd like to set the record straight.

You two were both right about a lot of things.

There was no weather balloon that night.

I pressured Tim into changing his story.

You see, I was desperate.

Somehow I'd hoped that the inevitable could be postponed.

It can't.

John, I think part of the blank... Oh, no!

Tim, you did the right thing filing that report.

And Rich, I want to thank you for putting your

neck out to keep a washed-up pilot in the air.

I'd do it again.

And I thank you for that, Richard.

But the truth, the truth will come out soon enough.

I guess you can't fool aviation doctors forever.

What really did happen that night?

Just the way Tim told you, down to the last detail.

I'll never forget it.

We may have some answers for you.

Mr. Jenkins said he'd observed the moon earlier in the flight.

Sergeant Fitz and I did some checking.

We discovered that meteorological conditions were exactly

right for the formation of a parasoline or moon dog.

Isn't that some kind of mirage?

Yes, sir, a mirage of the moon formed by reflections on ice crystals.

Such crystals were present in the Cirrus clouds at 35,000 feet,

your altitude at the time.

See, each cloud acted as a giant mirror reflecting

an image of the moon into your cockpit.

When you turned, the mirage appeared to turn with you.

The density of each layer of cirrus was different,

so the apparent position of the object changed.

When a cloud increased in size, the object appeared to move closer,

but really stayed at the same distance from the

aircraft and in the same relative position.

The illusion would have been especially convincing

because you all experienced autochinesis,

quite common under these circumstances.

The moon would have been just out of sight of the cockpit.

All right, say we did see a moon dog. How do you explain the radar?

Anomalous propagation.

Freak radar return.

It's true a NORAD station did paint two radar

images at the same time on their asthma scope.

However, the station observed only one object on its height finder, your plane.

Remember, you're flying in a temperature inversion situation.

Even a flock of geese at a much lower altitude could

have been transformed into an electronic UFO.

And NORAD tells us that subsequent photo studies indicate

the two targets were several miles apart,

not several hundred feet.

Wow.

It all sounds very impressive.

Makes sense.

But I know what I saw, and I didn't see a mirage. Shot down by a flying saucer.

What a way to end a career.

I think maybe you were lucky.

Yes, sir.

Can you do me a favor? Sure. Let me have one of those photos.

Souvenir.

Yeah.

Thank you.