Gorman dogfight
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 6
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Gorman incident |
The Gorman dogfight was a widely publicised encounter on 1 October 1948 in which George F. Gorman, a North Dakota Air National Guard pilot, chased a light around the sky over Fargo, North Dakota, in an F-51 Mustang. Edward Ruppelt, later head of Project Blue Book, called it one of three "classic" 1948 cases that convinced Air Force intelligence specialists UFOs were real. The Air Force later attributed it to a lighted weather balloon.[1][2]
The pilot
Gorman, 25, was a Second World War fighter pilot who managed a construction company and served as a second lieutenant in the National Guard. Returning from a cross-country flight with other Guard pilots, he stayed aloft over Fargo for night-flying practice while the others landed at Hector Airport.[1][2]
The chase
At about 9 p.m. Gorman saw a light pass him that looked like an aircraft's taillight, but with no outline of wings or fuselage. The tower told him the only other traffic was a Piper Cub flown by Dr. A. D. Cannon, whose passenger was Einar Neilson; both saw a light to the west. Gorman closed to within about 1,000 yards and judged the light to be six to eight inches across, sharply outlined and blinking. When it apparently speeded up, it became steady and brighter. Over the next 20 minutes, Gorman said, it out-turned and out-climbed him, twice came at him head-on so that he had to dive away, and climbed steeply until his fighter stalled. It was last seen at 9:27 p.m., and he returned to land.[1][2]
Gorman's statement
In a sworn statement on 23 October 1948, Gorman said he was convinced there was definite thought behind the object's manoeuvres, that it followed the laws of inertia, and that it could out-turn, out-speed and out-climb his aircraft. Ruppelt quoted him as having the distinct impression its moves were controlled by thought or reason. Air traffic controller L. D. Jensen watched the light through binoculars but saw no shape around it, and two CAA employees saw a light move over the field once.[1][2]
Investigation
Project Sign investigators reached Fargo within hours, grounded the plane, and checked it with a Geiger counter, finding it more radioactive than a similar aircraft that had not flown for several days. Their first conclusion was that something remarkable had happened. Further work undermined this: aircraft at altitude receive more cosmic radiation, and the Air Weather Service had released a lighted weather balloon from Fargo at 8:50 p.m. Investigators concluded the object's apparent manoeuvres were an illusion caused by Gorman's own turns, and that he may later have chased the planet Jupiter. By 1949 the case was officially explained as a balloon.[1][2]
Reception
Researchers such as James McDonald and Donald Keyhoe disputed the balloon explanation, but historian Jerome Clark found it plausible and called the case perhaps the most overrated early UFO report after the Mantell incident. The 2019 History Channel series Project Blue Book loosely based its first episode on the case.[1][3]
References
- Gorman dogfight — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Edward J. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (1956), Project Gutenberg · gutenberg.org · archived copy
- "Dogfight with UFO recounted by new TV show", Bismarck Tribune · bismarcktribune.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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