65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_007

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I
irS .. rout ne patrol for ti•~
or:l;),1_
k< ta :-..ar onal Guard, and
ju
;ccd
the t, \\·er at the Fargo .\lunicip:tl Air­
port for de.1rance to Luid when he •,aw
what x-emcd 10 he another plane.-\ tail­
light a thousand _rard, a war. He queried
the 10,,cr, and the men there rep.>ned
that the onh othu ,·rcraft o,·er the fidd
\I.«::, a Pipe/Cuh. G ,rman could :-.ee the
Cui, plainh
utlined below him. Curi­
ou,, he flew toward the light. " It wa::,
ah. ur ,ix to ci:!ht inche, in diameter,
dear,, hire, and complerelr r ,ond, with
a ~rt of fu77 at the edge-.,'' G11rman
later told ill\·e,tigaror,, adding that he
'1W ''no outl:ne ,,f :in} thin~" around
the t.:dge,. " It wa, blinking on and off.
•h I approached, ho\\ e,·er, the light ,ud­
denlJ became ,re:idr and pulled into
a ,harp left hank.... I dh·ed after it
and hrou;!ht my m.1nifold pre ure up
HIGHBOY DESI( in genuine
to ,iMr inche,, bur I couldn't catch up
SOLID mahogany from 1he Sru
with the thing. It ~tarted ~inin~ alti­
Arli•8fo11 Group b>· Kling. A
tude and a.?ain made a left bank. I put
distincti,e addirion ro an,• roorn.
At leading srore~.
•
mJ F-5 I into a ~harp rurn and tried
to cut the li!!ht off in it, turn. Br then,
f°ull ccofor hooU.-t,
, ·our Brei.
,,e were at about ~\·en thou-and feet.
rooe aoJ You·· conuiins h.-lp(ul
1u,tacs,ioo1 on cbc c-are of fur-..
Suddenly it made :i ,harp right turn
a.,.~ anJ brtlroom dttor:atioo
.1nd \\·t· headed '-trai~ht at each other.
coio to Khng fanories, O.Cpc. ) '9,
and •rrancrm.-n, . Sc-nd 2,, ,n
i\lay"lJ.lC', N. Y.
JU::>t when we were~ about to collide,
I ~Ul"::, I Jot scared. I went into a drve
"lJNG ML\.~s ~\~
and the li~ht pa~scd on•r mr canopy at
about fi\"e hundred feet. T hen it made
.; left cirde about a thou'1nd feet abo\"e,
.. nd I :!a ,·e cha:,e again." Gorman fol­
lowed the li;!ht up to fourteen thou::,..1nd
ftet, where, after another near colli,ion,
hi:, :.hip went into a power ,talJ and the
li;;ht di-..1ppeared to the nonhwe:.t.
Gorman noticed no "Jund, or exhau t­
trail odor:,. He had gunned his plane
up to four hundred mile, an hour with­
11ut gaining on tht· liiht. I t ,,·:h able to
maint.1in an l'Xtrcmdy ,teep an,;le of
a~:em, far :?rearer than that of hi, A.ir
F ,rce fi.;hr~r. " \\'hen 1 ~ttempted to
turn \\ ith [the li~htJ, I blacked our
temporarily, due to exce...,.fre ,peed," he
:.aid. " I am in fairly good phJ-ical condi­
tion and I do not bclie,·e there are many,
jf an}, pilot., who could with,tand the
turn and ,peed effected hr th:ir li;ht and
retn.J.in conxiou . "
Projen Saucer ~u,pcctcd th.u G ,r­
m .. n wa::, nlting witl1 a Wt:ith.-r h.;Jlvvn.
For one thing, it learned tliat the f'ar o
6
Weatht.:r !L1tion had relea,-ed a lighted
balloon onlr ten minute,, before Gor­
man':, patrol ,topped being routine.
The ohjeer'!> steadr, practit"allJ , c rtical
climb sugge~tcd the beha\ ior of a bal­
par,t, 71, 72
loon. A technrc1an ,, h1, once ,~orkecl on
Project Saucer t,,!c.f me recently that
chasing a weather balloon with an arr­
plane 1s comparable to dr\ rng to the
bottom of a pool after a hollow rubber