Carson Sink — two colonels in a B-25 meet three deltas
On July 24, 1952, two Air Force colonels flying a B-25 from Hamilton AFB to Colorado Springs crossed the Sierra Nevada and were heading east at 11,000 ft on the airway “Green 3” towards Salt Lake City. At 3:40 p.m., over the Carson Sink, one of them saw three objects ahead and to the right that looked like F-86s in a tight V. Within seconds they were close enough to see clearly: bright silver deltas with no tails and no canopies, only a ridge running from nose to tail. The three made a slight left bank and passed the bomber within 400 to 800 yards at what the pilots put at three times the speed of an F-86. Both were command pilots with thousands of hours, whose work would have shown them anything the United States had flying; both had been sceptics. They reported it on landing, and Blue Book’s checks found no aircraft, no delta and no balloon to account for it. Ruppelt used it in his book as an example of a report that ends simply “Unknown”.
Explanation
Blue Book checked Flight Service records (no aircraft near), the Navy and Air Force delta-wing aircraft (none there; the Air Force’s only delta was grounded) and every weather and research balloon flight (none), and carried the case as unknown. Ruppelt’s own speculations, F-86s flying where they should not, missing records or a misjudged distance, were offered only as possibilities.
What was seen
Shape: Three bright silver delta-wing craft with no tails or canopies, a ridge from nose to tail
Witnesses: Two Air Force colonels, both command pilots stationed at the Pentagon
Duration: Seconds
Sources
Browse
- United States
- 1950s
- Unresolved
- Aviation encounters
- Official government documents
- Military witnesses
- Pilot and aircrew witnesses
- Triangles and V shapes