- Update
- F-16s Pursue Unknown Craft Over Region
-
- By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
7-27-2
-
- For Renny Rogers, it was strange enough that military
jets were flying low over his home in Waldorf in the middle of the night.
It was what he thinks he saw when he headed outside to look early yesterday
that floored him.
-
- "It was this object, this light-blue object, traveling
at a phenomenal rate of speed," Rogers said. "This Air Force
jet was right behind it, chasing it, but the object was just leaving him
in the dust. I told my neighbor, 'I think those jets are chasing a UFO.'
"
-
- Military officials confirm that two F-16 jets from Andrews
Air Force Base were scrambled early yesterday after radar detected an unknown
aircraft in area airspace. But they scoff at the idea that the jets were
chasing a strange and speedy, blue unidentified flying object.
-
- "We had a track of interest, so we sent up some
aircraft," said Maj. Douglas Martin, a spokesman for the North American
Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, which has responsibility for defending
U.S. airspace. "Everything was fine in the sky, so they returned home."
-
- At the same time, military officials say they do not
know just what the jets were chasing, because whatever it was disappeared.
"There are any number of scenarios, but we don't know what it was,"
said Maj. Barry Venable, another spokesman for NORAD.
-
- Radar detected a low, slow-flying aircraft about 1 a.m.
yesterday, according to a military official. Controllers were unable to
establish radio communication with the unidentified aircraft, and NORAD
was notified. When the F-16s carrying air-to-air missiles were launched
from Andrews, the unidentified aircraft's track faded from the radar, the
military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
-
- Pilots with the D.C. Air National Guard's 113th Air Wing,
which flew the F-16s from Andrews, reported nothing out of the ordinary,
NORAD officials said.
-
- "It was a routine launch," said Lt. Col. Steve
Chase, a senior officer with the wing, which keeps pilots and armed jets
on 24-hour alert at Andrews to respond to incidents as part of an air defense
system protecting Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
-
- Rogers remains convinced that what he saw was not routine.
"It looked like a shooting star with no trailing mist," he said.
"I've never seen anything like it."
-
- © 2002 The Washington Post Company
- ---
-
-
- What was that bright light in Maryland's sky???
-
- WTOP has learned that residents near Andrews Air Force
base were shaken from their beds early Friday morning by some strange activity
in the air.
-
- "Incredible. Absolutely incredible" is what
Renny Rogers of Waldorf calls it. Just before two in the morning, Rogers
says he saw a large blue ball of light streaking across the sky. But it
was the military jets that really startled him.
-
- "(The jets) were right on its tail. As the thing
would move, a jet was right behind it," Rogers recalls.
-
- He is not the only one who saw it. Several people called
WTOP Radio reporting seeing a bright blue or orange ball moving very fast,
being chased by jets.
-
- Rogers says there was no smoke coming from the object,
no flashing lights, and says it was smooth, and eerily silent.
-
- The Air National Guard confirms they scrambled the 113th
squadron. Spokesman Sheldon Smith says they are investigating and in contact
with NORAD.
-
-
- WTOP Radio, 2002
-
- http://devtoolkit.wtop.com/news/newsdetail.cfm?newsID=584517
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Rex
- 7-27-2
-
- I see that 113th will scramble Jets for UFOs but not
for the Pentagon on 911. Maybe they thought bin Laden
was in that UFO? Well, it is good too see our boys
up and ready anyway. :)
-
- Rex
-
-
- Comment
Alton Raines
7-27-02
Once again we see the classic obfuscation required of AF and Gov't officials
on the UFO issue.
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Walumu
- 7-27-2
-
- It's about damn time... It was a UFO. I tend not to jump
to conclusions but based on the evidence it was, without a doubt, a UFO.
The government cannot deny this one and say it's some sort of secret military
aircraft because they wouldn't chase their own. And if it was a test chase
they would not do it over such a heavily populated area as DC.
-
- They cannot hide this one at all. I'm sure as you well
know this is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to the UFO Phenomena
and the subsequent 50+ year govenment coverup. We must not let these stories
go unheard. It's our job, the people of this country, the people of this
planet, to bring attention to these events. There's no better time than
now to start. I ask you to tell everyone you know and do your best to get
this article out there. For the sake of freedom.
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- Darryl Barker
Barker@wulaw.wustl.edu
7-30-2
-
- Jeff,
-
- Don't know if anyone realizes this, but the UFO sighting
over Maryland this past Friday, July 26, 2002, where Andrews AFB jets were
scambled, is EXACTLY 50 years to the day from a similar event over Washington
DC in 1952, where Andrews AFB had UFOs on their radar. Jets were scambled
from Langley AFB. In 1952 it was the second night of UFO activity over
DC, infamously known as the Washington National Sightings.
-
- Could someone be trying to tell us something?
-
- - Darryl Barker
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