The Kinross Incident
Radar watched an interceptor jet close in on an unknown target over Lake Superior. Then both blips merged and the jet was gone.
What was reported
On the evening of 23 November 1953, radar at Kinross Air Force Base in Michigan picked up an unidentified target over Lake Superior. An F-89 Scorpion jet was sent to intercept it, with the pilot Felix Moncla and the radar operator Robert Wilson on board.
Controllers watched the two blips draw together on the screen until they seemed to merge. Then the jet's return disappeared. No wreckage and no trace of either man was ever found, despite a search of the lake.
Explanations offered
The Air Force said the target had been a Canadian aircraft and that the jet probably crashed into the lake, perhaps after the pilot became disoriented; Canadian officials said none of their planes had been involved. Those who favour an ordinary explanation point to the dangers of night interceptions over water in winter. What the target was has never been settled.
- When
- 23 November 1953
- Where
- Over Lake Superior, Michigan, USA
- Witnesses
- Radar operators at Kinross Air Force Base
- Status
- Never solved
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.