Radar shows large, fast, unexplained object
© 2008 The Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas — An enormous aircraft without transponders traveling up to 2,100 mph — at one time zooming toward President Bush's Crawford ranch — is similar to the mysterious object dozens reported seeing, according to radar documents examined by a group that studies unidentified flying objects.
"This shows ample evidence of UFO activity," said Kenneth Cherry, Texas director of the Mutual UFO Network, which has been studying phenomenon earlier this year in Stephenville and Dublin, about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth. "They were turning at angles not possible by military aircraft."
His organization, called MUFON, requested documents from the Federal Aviation Administration, nearby military bases and other agencies under the Freedom of Information Act.
FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said Monday that he had not seen the radar information provided to MUFON and could not comment on it or the group's interpretation of the data.
MUFON requested reports from the night of Jan. 8, when several dozen people in Texas dairy country — including a pilot, county constable, business owners and former air traffic controller — reported seeing a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast.
Some folks reported seeing military jets chasing it, which also was confirmed in the FAA radar documents.
After talking to witnesses, MUFON investigators ended up looking into 300 reported UFO sightings spanning several weeks and said most were probably planets, cloud formations or stars.
But Cherry said the FAA radar data, which was examined by a radar expert and an engineer who works with MUFON, indicates that some reports do not have logical explanations.
"When you look at that, combined with the witness reports — that's as close to evidence of UFOs as I've seen," he said.
The object was between 524 feet and 1,000 feet long, according to a MUFON report released earlier this month. It's unclear if radar picked up the same object at different times or more than one object, Cherry said.
The object was within 10 miles of Bush's ranch about 8 p.m., but the president was not there that night. MUFON only requested information until 8 p.m. that night, so it's unclear where the object went after that.
At times when radar picked up a slow-moving object and fast-moving object, it was at the same time and place as witnesses' accounts, according to the report. At one time, the object accelerated to 532 mph in about 30 seconds and decelerated to 49 mph in 10 seconds, the report stated, based on radar information.
"The authors cannot comment on the source or origin of this object, but it is clear to the authors that the unknown object was real and not imaginary," they said in the MUFON report.
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