The Kinross Incident

On November 23, 1953, one of the strangest UFO incidents on record took place when an F-89C Scorpion all-weather interceptor was dispatched at Kinross AFB after radar scanned a UFO over the Soo Locks.

Aboard the jet were two crewmembers; pilot Lt. Felix Moncla and Lt. R.R Wilson, the radar observer. Guided by Ground Control Intercept radar station, Moncla pursued the object which was moving at 500 miles per hour out over Lake Superior. The first report from Moncla indicated “No Joy” (No contact). On the scope, he was closing in on the bogey.

As he got closer he announced (slight static) “I have an eyeball on the target, and am going in for a closer look.” (More static). Each time he transmitted the static became stronger, his transmissions increasingly unintelligible.

Minutes into the pursuit one of the Ground Control Intercept observers was alarmed to note that the F-89 Scorpion and the UFO had seemingly come into contact, observed on the radar scope as becoming a single blip. As the aircraft converged with the target, there came steadier and louder static each time the pilot transmitted until they merged.

Then all was silent. Moments later, the blip vanished from the radar screen altogether.

The belief was that Moncla and Wilson had met their demise and that their F-89 Scorpion interceptor had collided with “object unknown” and crashed into the torrential icy waters of Lake Superior.

Search and rescue was immediately dispatched. Low-flying U.S. and Canadian planes searched the vicinity of the supposed crash area using flares. By morning a score of boats scoured the area as overhead pilots crisscrossed the lake for 100 miles, all to no avail. An exhaustive search effort turned up no wreckage, no life jackets, and no oil slick. Nothing was ever found.

See complete report at <A HREF="https://www.ufocasebook.com/2011/kinrossincident.html">Kincross Incident</a>.