Page 17 of Flying Saucers Magazine - August 1960

AIR FORCE RIGHT ON

KILLIAN "SAUCER"?

The Killian affair concerns the sighting of three unidentified flying objects by several commercial airline crews and passengers while flying over Pennsylvania and Ohio on the night of February 25, 1959.

This particular UFO case has probably become the most publicized UFO case of last year. It is my belief that this was not a genuine UFO sighting. I will attempt to show what really caused this sighting.

On the night of the sighting, February 25, 1959, I received a telephone call at 9:25 P. M. We had been experimenting with a telephone net to be alerted in the event of a UFO sighting in the area. As soon as one person saw a UFO he would make several telephone calls, and it was hoped that others would be able to go outside in time to see the unidentified objects too. My caller informed me of the presence of UFO in the area and also of a call he had received from the United Flight Operations desk at Akron-Canton Airport. A United flight had just landed there and reported having witnessed three UFO. As the evening went on and in the telephone calls that followed, a more complete story emerged.

An American Airlines DC-6 piloted by Capt. Peter Killian had witnessed three UFO for over 45 minutes while flying from Newark to Detroit. In addition to Capt. Killian's flight, two other American Airlines' flights and three United Airlines' flights, including the one that landed at Akron-Canton Airport, also reported having witnessed the three UFO. There were also reports from witnesses on the ground in the Akron area that reported seeing three UFO.

Of all the aircraft involved, the most detailed account of the sighting came from Capt. Killian's flight. Capt. Killian had first sighted three bright whitish lights in a single horizontal line to the south and above him at 8:45 P. M. He was flying at 8500 feet altitude and was between Philipsburg and Bradford, Pennsylvania on route to Detroit. Capt. Killian first pointed out the objects to his co-pilot, John Dee, and then he informed the 35 passengers of their presence. For the next 45 minutes they all watched the three lights. During this time the lights changed color from yellow to bluish white and their intensity varied from extreme brilliance to temporary fadeouts. The lights did not change formation, however, they did vary in position relative to each other. The lights were described as being "round-like and every now and then one would glow brighter than the others as if it had moved nearer to the plane." Capt. Killian said, "Occasionally the rear fellow would lag behind. He would be almost double the distance between the other two." At one time Capt. Killian estimated that the lights were 20 to 25 miles distant. The three lights were finally lost in the lower-altitude haze as the plane began to descend for its landing.

Commenting as to what the objects might have been, Capt. Killian had first thought they were the three stars in the belt of Orion, but he disproved this by noticing that he could see both the UFO and the belt of Orion at the same time.

Capt. Killian also thought that he might have witnessed a high altitude jet refueling operation, but the varying intensity of the lights and the changing positions of the objects led him to believe that it was not a refueling operation.

Immediately this case became a red hot UFO sighting. Most newspapers carried accounts of it. This case is still the subject of conversation of many a believer in the UFO.

But was this a real, genuine UFO sighting or is there some valid, natural explanation for the whole thing?

All the UFO people have hopped on the UFO bandwagon, which is only natural, claiming that this is another good UFO case. The only other explanations suggested were the stars in the belt of Orion and the aerial refueling operation. The belt of Orion explanation is obviously wrong so let us look at the aerial refueling operation explanation in more detail.

To my knowledge the following are all the reasons that have been suggested to disprove the aerial refueling explanation. Capt. Killian said that the varying intensity of the lights and their changing position "made me toss out that theory." Capt. Killian also said that he was going too slow for jets to stay off his left wing for that long a time. Also. his copilot, John Dee, made a check to find if there had been a jet refueling operation and had come up with nothing. It also has been brought up that the alleged jets did not show up on Killian's radar screen.

The question was also asked,

"Why did the Air Force wait nearly a full month before offering a third explanation after having already said that the sightings were due to the pilots seeing the belt of Orion, and that drunks, deluded people or liars were responsible for many sightings?"

At this point it seems that civilian UFO research stuck its head in the sand. They were so sure that this was a genuine UFO sighting that nobody bothered to do any checking.

However, I did do some checking and received the following letter from the Air Force:

19 March 1959

Dear Mr. Kirsch:

This is to acknowledge your letter of 6 March 1959 concerning the American Airlines pilot's sighting of 24 February near Bradford, Pennsylvania. In addition, two United Airlines pilots saw unidentified flying objects in the same general geographical area.

The geographical area concerned is bordered on the north along the New York-Pennsylvania border (near Bradford, Pennsylvania and Olean, New York) on the route of American Airlines Flight No. 139 departing Newark, New Jersey, at 7:10 p. m. and arriving Detroit, Michigan, at 10:52 p. m. On the south, this geographical area is bordered by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - AkronYoungstown, Ohio, locale over-flown by the United Airlines flights reporting this sighting.

The American Airline pilot said "sometimes the interval of the three lights were identical to the Belt in the constellation Orion." This was initially mentioned as a possible solution by the Air Force with the qualifying statement that the report as submitted had not yet been analyzed and that the findings of ATIC would be based upon a complete analysis and evaluation of the written report to be submitted. The pilot's report also suggested the possibility that he had witnessed a night aerial refueling operation.

Upon analysis and evaluation, this sighting turned out to be B-47 type aircraft accomplishing night refueling from KC-97 tankers. The American Airlines pilot's report of the sighting confirmed this and Air Force records show that three B-47 type aircraft were in the geographical area mentioned above on a night refueling operation. The tanker has several groups of lights which at a distance would appear to be one or more lights. The time duration of a refueling operation varies, can last well over an hour, depending on the type of operation. The KC-97 refueling a B-47 will fly at an altitude of approximately 17,000 feet at around 230 knots true air speed (ground speed 210 knots). This would account for the lights being approximately 30 degrees above the American Airlines pilot's horizon and his seeing them for 40 minutes. This coincides with the pilot's report of low speed and configuration of objects.

Your letter also supports this conclusion. The tankers had a ground speed of approximately 210 knots and the United Airlines pilots' reported sighting it at 8:45 p. m., 50 miles east of Youngstown, Ohio, approximately 120 miles from Akron, Ohio. This would account for the tanker aircrafts lights being sighted over Akron at 9:15 p. m. by ground observers.

These findings were made available to all media representatives through the Department of Defense press desk in Washington, D. C., on 16 March 1959. The Air Force is well aware of its obligation to keep the public adequately informed on this subject and press releases are made periodically through the Department of Defense.

Sincerely,

LAWRENCE J. TALKER

Major, USAF

Executive Officer

Public Information Division

Office of Information Services

This letter was quite interesting, however it still left several questions unanswered. I wrote to the Air Force again and received the following letter:

2 September 1959

Dear Mr. Kirsch:

This is to acknowledge your letter of 9 August 1959 concerning the American Air Line sighting of 24 February 1959 near Bradford, Pennsylvania.

The Air Force did not release an incorrect explanation for this sighting. However, since the American Air Lines pilot stated that the intervals of the three lights were identical to the belt in the constellation Orion, this was merely initially mentioned as a possibility with the statement that the final conclusion would be based upon a complete evaluation by the Air Technical Intelligence Center.

It did not take months for the Air Force to identify its own planes. The Air Technical Intelligence Center identified this fact quickly in the course of their investigation and the findings, after a complete analysis, were released to all newspapers through the Department of Defense press desk in Washington, D. C., on 16 March 1959, only twenty days after the sighting.

I cannot answer your query concerning the radar equipment aboard airlines planes. I would suggest you ask this question of the airline involved. Most radar in commercial aircraft are located in the nose and only scan directly in front of the aircraft. Possibly this could be the answer.

Sincerely,

LAWRENCE J. TACKER

As suggested in this last letter I wrote to American Airlines inquiring about the radar equipment aboard Capt. Killian's aircraft. I received the following letter:

November 9, 1959

Dear Mr. Kirsch:

The radar that we carry on our DC-6's as well as the DC-7's, 707's and the Electra's is a C-Band weather radar with iso-echo circuitry and is used entirely for the avoidance of turbulence and hail. It is able, under certain conditions, to detect the presence of other aircraft but its value in this regard is negligible. I have used it myself to detect other aircraft in flight when I could see the other aircraft and have found that in most collision situations it was difficult to establish the presence of the `blip' even when the position of the traffic was known. I do not believe, from practical observation, that this equipment has any real utility in collision warning even if it were to be manned continuously by a special radar operator due to its limits on range and revolving power.

Yours very truly,

Franklin W. Kolk

Director, Equipment Research

American Airlines, Inc.

I won't make a long analysis of these letters but will let them stand by themselves. In view of this information it is my opinion that this sighting was actually caused by an aerial refueling operation, that the Air Force explanation for this case is correct, and that civilian UFO research is guilty of failing to look far enough to find the truth.

The first letter from the Air Force proves that Capt. Killian was wrong about the three objects being too slow to be jets.

The letter from American Airlines explains why the objects did not show up on Capt. Killian's radar set.

It is clear that whomever co-pilot John Dee checked with simply did not know of the refueling operation.

As for the varying intensity and position of the lights, an aerial refueling operation can also account for this. The lights would change relative position as the jet aircraft involved would move closer or further away from each other. Their intensity could vary because of haze or the angle of observation.