Several weeks ago I came across an article in the local news paper which caught my eye and I'm sure It will interest you also. Above (and right) is a graphic off the front page of the paper.

 

As you can see the Cessna delivery plane hit something in mid-air and the NTSB still cannot determine what it was.This article in the paper is quite long so I'm only going into the major details.The story came from the Mobile Register dated Wednesday, April 14,2004.

 

The story states that at first the NTSB thought a FedEx DC-10 might have been involved but investigators examined the plane the next morning and found it unscathed.

 

 

Experienced Pilot

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Preziose was a veteran pilot for the New York Police department and had been an instructor on the Cessna 208 for the Pan Am Flight Academy in Memphis according to the report.He had worked for Mid-Atlantic freight for several months and had flown the same route numerous times. An autopsy revealed no drugs or alcohol were found in his system.The plane had passed a routine FAA inspection a few days earlier,the report states, disappeared from radar about 15 minutes after taking off from Mobile Downtown Airport at Brookley Field around 7:30 pm.

 

 

DC-10 AHEAD

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After taking off Preziose climbed to a altitude of 3000 ft.The Mobile Regional controller alerted him to the presence of the DC-10 which was seven miles ahead at 4000 ft coming towards him and Preziose acknowledged it. A minute later, the controller told Preziose the DC-10 ,now just two miles from the Cessna, had crossed the smaller planes path and remained at 4000ft. "ROGER, I got him above me right now", Perziose replied, apparently confirming he saw the FedEx plane. But seconds later, the report states, he came back on the air: "I need to deviate, I need to deviate, I need to deviate, I need --" That was the last heard form him. Alabama Marine Police and the Coast Guard found the wreckage around midnight, resting in shallow water, about 1.5 miles north of Mobile Bay Causeway. The wings were shattered, and most of the front of the plane was little more than fragments. The impact of the collision disintegrated that airplane before it hit the water.

 

Engine Split in Half

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The Pratt&Whitney engine block was "Split in Two " the report states. The airplane could fall out of the sky and hit concrete and its unlikely it would've broken the engine in half like that.The NTSB detailed the agency's attempts to find the source of the red marks on the Cessna. Fragments were sent to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for testing.The marks were compared to other materials from the plane including red paint and a red cargo bay.

Test also examined paint from an unmanned aerial vehicle, apparently to determine whether the Cessna had struck a military drone.Similar test were performed by the U.S. Aircraft Insurance Group---which took custody of the wreckage in February, with similar results, the report states. "The main results is that the material in the red streaks on the skin of the accident plane was significantly different from the other materials that were examined for comparison", the report states. Additionally, investigators were unable to identify the source of "a small piece of what appeared to be black anodized aluminum, which was found embedded in the left wing" near the fuselage, the report states. Based on the limited radar data information they could find, investigators concluded the Cessna never crossed paths with the DC-10.

Funny, they never talk about the fact that a Ufo might have hit this thing.But would you expect them too. Also, sending it to "Wright Patterson Air Force base for testing" sticks out like a sore thumb. We all know what has gone on there for the last 50 years. Anyone who wishes to see the full story could contact the Mobile Register and obtain a copy I'm sure. The last thing stated in the article is this.....NTSB investigators should issue their final analysis on the accident within a few months. on the web, NTSB Aviation Accident Synopses:

HTTP://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/month.asp

Red UFOs - Of Interest....

March, 1957 - 3 Pilots Witness Fatal AF Jet & Flying Saucer Collision

(From "This Month In UFO History")

 

In early March, 1957 four single-seat F-86D Sabre jet fighters were returning from a practice bombing mission on le Shima island off Okinawa in the East China Sea. The jets, in a trail 1/2 mile apart, were flying under a low cloud ceiling at 1,500 feet as they made their landing approach to Okinawa. Without warning, a huge flying saucer with a red-glowing dome dropped directly into the path of the lead jet. The plane slammed into the canopy at the leading edge of the saucer and exploded. Fiery debris rained into the sea below. The saucer, apparently undamaged, hovered momentarily, then lifted up into the clouds and disappeared. The three surviving pilots gave their reports of the deadly collision and drew pictures of the UFO for Major Rudy Pestalozzi, intelligence officer for the Far Eastern Air Force (FEAF). Pestalozzi included the plots' accounts and drawings in a report to his superiors. This report, however, may have had any references to flying saucers deleted by General William Hipps, Command General of FEAF, who believed that the air force was wasting its time investigating UFOs. The true content of the report may never be known, as the US Government claims to have no records of this tragic incident, in spite of the testimony to the contrary by both Major Rudy Pestalozzi and the three pilots.

(Source: 'Saucer People'- Kitchen Sink Productions. Artwork - James Neff)

 

 

 

Thanks to Mike Sparks for providing this scan from a book called The Science of UFOs by William Alschuller, Ph.D. and St. Martin's Press.