He was a colonel and experienced US Air Force pilot now flying in the Air National Guard. Flying the F-102 Delta Dart a variant of the F-106, probably the most advanced manned nuclear delivery platform ever designed and flown. He and his partner flying a routine formation known as the Loose Duce to maximize visibility picked up a cluster of bogies just out of visual range. The F-102 was a stop gap measure partially interceptor, partially a dog fighter, it was part of the Century series mid 1950’s jet aircraft designs that spawned the F-100 Super Sabre, F-8 Crusader, the F-101 Voodoo, and the F-4 Phantom 2. The F-106 was retired from service in 1983. In its final incarnation as the F-106 Delta Dagger it was only outlasted by the venerable F-4 Phantom that served in Operation “Desert Storm” as its last hurrah as an active US warplane.

In pursuit

At 900 miles per hour the two F-102 pilots attempted to identify the gaggle of unknown aerial objects. In the words of the colonel at those kinds of closing speeds features of an enemy or friendly aircraft would pop up such as wings, control surfaces, or the tail on the end of the fuselage, but with these “Bogeys” would have none of that. They appeared silvery in color and were shaped like disks. It was not uncommon for the Air National Guard to participate in joint training missions with other branches of the armed services, perhaps even be subjected to an unexpected confrontation just to test their combat readiness, but this was unprecedented.

Outclassed

However, the colonel was stunned! He was not observing conventional aircraft of either the US or any other foreign power. These were completely unorthodox craft. He and his wingman attempted to box them in, a typical offensive maneuver that tended to put the enemy on the defensive, but at more than 900 mph. they simply outclassed his aircraft and quickly out distanced both pilots leaving them astonished in the aftermath. The colonel radios into to the radar station to verify course and heading of the unknowns, but they were apparently untrackable.

Between a rock and a hard spot

Upon landing both pilots had a choice and in the era of UFO deniability one’s career could be made or broken under the controversy of a reported sighting. Intelligence would be debriefing both Air National Guard pilots. The technical capability of all things in the air space over the US was a priority in explanation as it concerned “National Security” if it could outfly an advanced military jet. So, there was no way that such an air to air incident such as this would escape normal channels of intelligence evaluation.

High ranking officer’s assessment

The colonel in gauging his experience concluded that it was his opinion the earth was under some kind of intelligent global surveillance that was more advanced than mankind. The question in his mind was it for the purpose of establishing the defensive capability of the human race as a prelude to invasion or was it simply scientific curiosity? Being a military man, he feared that our technical capacity was being tested. Such were many aerial encounters by US and foreign military pilots in the years after Project Blue Book had been rendered into a public relations agency rather than a serious investigative unit of the US Air Force. The question then as it is now was “Who are they?”