Oak Ridge radar detections - March 1950
Document coverPage 1 of 65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_5 · View original on war.gov
Stuart Adcock reported detecting an unidentified object at approximately 100,000 feet altitude over Oak Ridge, Tennessee using his adapted APN-7 radar equipment on multiple occasions in early March 1950. Military and AEC authorities investigated but found Adcock's equipment reliability questionable and could not verify the detections.
“On the morning of March 4, 1950 at 10:30 A. M. ADCOCK again contacted Special Agent McSWAIN of this office and Special Agent SEAGRAVES, CIC, to advise that he had again received indications of the object at approximately 100,000 feet directly over Oak Ridge and that the intensity of the radar "pip" was stronger than noted at any time previous.”
Verbatim from 65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_5 · View original on war.gov
Case details
- Date
- 1950-03-04
- Precision
- day
- Location
- Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Tennessee
- Branch
- USAF
- Unit
- NEPA Site, Oak Ridge; CIC; OSI; FBI
- Sensors
- radar
- Size
- approximately the same density as would be caused by a DC-4 at that altitude
- Altitude
- 100000 ft
Resolution
No object was detected during evening observation on March 3. Investigators found Adcock technically incorrect on radar theory and had grave doubts about his equipment capabilities. Reliability deemed extremely dubious after he was unavailable for follow-up inspection on March 5. General opinion: actual existence of object at such altitude quite improbable.
Source document
Agency: FBI
File: 65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_5
Case ID: 1950-USAF-3455
View original on war.gov →Extracted via LLM. Verbatim excerpt validated.