Mach 3 radar target alert (1957)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 24 September 1957 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Military encounters (topic), Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| People | Herbert Scoville, Brad Sparks, Christopher Mellon |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 59 |
| Year | 1957 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1957 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
On the afternoon of 20 September 1957, air-defence radars in the northeastern United States tracked one or two extremely fast, high-flying targets heading inland from the Atlantic, setting off a national air-defence alert two weeks before the launch of Sputnik. The case reached the President and the top level of the intelligence community; the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) later blamed equipment malfunction or interference, a conclusion researchers have since disputed.[1][2]
The tracks
Shortly after 3:05 p.m., the Montauk Point radar station on Long Island detected a target about 242 miles out, at estimated speeds of 4,000 to 7,000 mph and an altitude around 50,000 feet; its IFF (identification friend or foe) interrogation received a reply. Montauk predicted where the target should reach the next radar, and the Benton station in Pennsylvania picked up an object near that point, then a second one about 150 miles behind it. The tracks crossed two states into Canada and ended at about 3:34 p.m. over Ontario.[1][2]
The response
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NORAD triggered an alert that reached the White House. Two F-102 interceptors were sent from Kinross Air Force Base in Michigan and two more from Truax in Wisconsin, without making contact. Brigadier General Andrew Goodpaster was briefed that night and informed President Eisenhower. On 21 September the CIA's scientific intelligence chief, Herbert Scoville Jr., raised the possibility of a manoeuvrable Soviet cruise missile, and the Intelligence Advisory Committee's Watch Committee, which looked for warning signs of Soviet attack, discussed the incident; an FBI memo of 24 September records the briefings. The committee met again in executive session on 24 September.[1][3][4]
NORAD's evaluation
A 31-page NORAD "Evaluation of Air Defense Incident of 20 September 1957", dated 25 September, found no unequivocal explanation but ranked equipment malfunction and interference as most probable; it acknowledged that there had been no temperature inversion, an explanation that had been put to the President.[1]
Later analysis
Researcher Brad Sparks, in an analysis republished by former Pentagon official Christopher Mellon, argues that the IFF replies on different frequencies, the detections by radars on different frequencies and the accurate prediction of the target's arrival at Benton point to a real object, and calls NORAD's report contradictory and misleading. He calculates altitudes of 100,000 feet or more and peak speeds far above those of any 1957 aircraft. The case is listed as an unknown in Sparks's catalogue of Blue Book cases.[1][2]
People and topics
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Montauk Project — Montauk Project
- Federal Bureau of Investigation — The U.S. federal police agency, which helped check flying disc reports from 1947 to 1950.
- Central Intelligence Agency — The U.S. foreign intelligence agency, which has followed UFO reports since the 1940s.
- Herbert Scoville — CIA scientific intelligence director who commented on the 1957 Mach 3 radar target.
- Brad Sparks — UFO analyst known for his catalogue of Blue Book unknowns and work on the CIA lawsuit.
- Christopher Mellon — Former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence who helped release the Navy UAP videos.
- NORAD — The U.S.–Canadian air defence command.
On the Timeline
- NICAP fed a fake crash story (1957) (May 1957) — Civilian group NICAP is fed a fake UAP crash story by a source with NSA ties.
- Pantex nuclear plant sightings (1957) (7 November 1957) — Guards at the Pantex nuclear plant in Texas report three flashing objects landing nearby.
See every 1957 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Brad Sparks, "NORAD national air defense UFO alert, Sept. 20, 1957", republished by Christopher Mellon · christophermellon.net · archived copy
- "September 20, 1957 — Montauk, NY — multiple radars track 4,500 mph target", UAP Discovery · uapdiscovery.discourse.group · archived copy
- "Unidentified flying object reported on 20 September 1957", CIA document via UFO Scans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- FBI UFO file, part 2 (memo of 24 Sep 1957), Internet Archive · archive.org · archived copy
- CIA memo on the 20 Sept 1957 radar object — CIA reading room · cia.gov · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 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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