U.S. Air Force Flying Discs File, 1952

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CBS LABORATORIES

A Division of Columbia Broadcasting
System, Inc.

485 Madison Avenue, New York 22, New York - Plaza 5-2000

August 1, 1952

Major General James A. Samford
Chief of Intelligence
Pentagon Building
Arlington, Virginia

Dear Sir:

In connection with "flying saucer" newspaper accounts of observations on the search radar system at the Washington National Airport, it occurred to me that the described behavior could possibly be accounted for in the following manner:

High power, narrow beam fire control radar systems of the usual type might conceivably, under unusual atmospheric conditions, create enough ionization along points on the beam in the upper atmosphere to allow the return of an appreciable echo to the search radar system from such points. The apparent motion would be quite haphazard, following whatever the fire control radar operator does in directing the beam.

This hypothesis is unattractive for several reasons: Firstly, the power required for such an effect is many times greater than that put out by the usual radar. Secondly, such echoes would presumably come from ionospheric heights and therefore could not appear at ranges of a few miles from the search radar, as was reported. Thirdly, it seems unlikely that a coincident visual effect of any conspicuous magnitude would be produced.

In spite of this, I am offering this suggestion in the belief that if considerable time, money and effort is being devoted to this problem, it might be worthwhile trying the relatively simple experiment of having a powerful fire control radar sweep out certain simple patterns to see if they can be detected on the search radar system, preferably at a time when "flying saucer" echoes are being observed.

JMH/bas

Incl 2

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