1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Hello, it's Richard mccleinsmith here with a quick update before 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: we dive into today's episode. Unexplained is very excited to 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: be a part of Crime Wave at Sea this November, 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: joining forces with some of the eeriest voices in the 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: world of true crime and the paranormal four nights in 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: the Caribbean, with amazing podcasts like Last Podcast on the Left, 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: Scared to Death and many more live shows, meet and greets, 8 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: creepy Stories under the Stars and you can be there too, 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: but don't wait. Rooms are nearly sold out. Head to 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: Crimewave Atsea dot com forward slash Unexplained to grab your 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: fan coat and lock in your cabin. We'd love to 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: see you on board. It was late one evening in 13 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: November nineteen fifty three, and a storm was brewing in 14 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: the skies of a northern Michigan, USA. Brutal winds whistled 15 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 1: across the chilly surfaces of the Great Lakes. But inside 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: the Kinross Air Force Base, just a few miles from 17 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: the Canadian border, all was quiet. With the long Thanksgiving 18 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: weekend just a couple of days away, the base was 19 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: emptier than usual, with some officers already on leave for 20 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: the week. The sound of the radar ping caught everybody 21 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: off guard. In the ground control suite, Second Lieutenant Douglas 22 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: Stuart leaned forward in his chair, squinting hard at the 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: unexpected intruder, an unidentified object in US air space about 24 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,919 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty miles to the northwest of the base. 25 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: It was heading east, but right then Douglas was more 26 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: concerned about its origin than its destination. It seemed to 27 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: be coming from a restricted air space over the Sioux Locks, 28 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 1: consisting of two canals and four parallel locks. The two 29 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: locks are a vital part of America's global trade infrastructure. 30 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: They allow cargo ships to travel from the Great Lakes 31 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: region all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Any threat 32 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: in their vicinity was taken extremely seriously. The ground control 33 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: staff double checked their records, but they already knew what 34 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: they would find. No unscheduled aircraft had permission to fly 35 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: in this area, nor had any new requests come in. 36 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: Whatever this object in the sky was, it was not 37 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: playing by the rules. Since nineteen forty seven and the 38 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: events in Roswell, New Mexico, speculation and conspiracy theories about 39 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: UFOs had gripped the United States. But the people employed 40 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: at Kinross Air Force Base were not prone to such fantasizing. 41 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,399 Speaker 1: Their job was to approach every situation from a rational 42 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: and scientific perspective. This often meant applying the principle of 43 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: Ockham's razor, all else being equal, the simplest explanation is 44 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: likely to be the correct one, and so it was 45 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: with that in mind that Douglas Stewart and his colleagues 46 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: came up with a working theory for what was going on. 47 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: The base was less than thirty miles from the northern border, 48 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: and there was a Canadian Air Force base not far 49 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: away on the other side. Clearly, the object was a 50 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: Royal Canadian Air Force transport plane that had clumsily diverged 51 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 1: from its route. Its intended flight path was probably within Canada, 52 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: from the base near Winnipeg to another in Ontario, but 53 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: thanks to the high winds and poor visibility, it had 54 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: veered off course just enough to veer into US airspace. 55 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: In other words, this was all probably a false alarm. 56 00:03:49,200 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: You're listening to unexplained and I'm Richard McLean Smith. Radar 57 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: can tell you a lot about an aircraft its position 58 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: in the sky, its speed of travel, and its vicinity 59 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: to other aircraft. But it can't provide much of a 60 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: visual and it definitely can't differentiate friend from foe. For 61 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: that back in the nineteen fifties, only human eyes will do. 62 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: Many air force bases have one or two Alert five aircraft, 63 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: that is, fighter jets that are on standby, ready to 64 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: be airborne within five minutes if they are needed. On 65 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: that night of November twenty third, nineteen fifty three, kin 66 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: Ross had two. The unidentified object was first spotted at 67 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: six seventeen p m and by six twenty p m 68 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: a fighter jet was ready to take off. Despite the 69 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 1: likelihood that the situation was a false alarm, it was 70 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: still a daunting mission. Conditions were terrible, with scattered snow 71 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: storms and a thick layer of cloud impacting visibility. The 72 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: US Air Force needed a steady hand, somebody who could 73 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: fly using only their instruments and keeper calm head no 74 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: matter what this thing turned out to be. Twenty seven 75 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: year old First Lieutenant Felix Montcla Junior was the man 76 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: for the job. Although still relatively early in his career, 77 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: Moncla was an experienced pilot who was no stranger to conflict. 78 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: He'd served in the military during World War II, then 79 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: re enlisted in the Air Force when the American Korean 80 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: War began in nineteen fifty. He'd clocked more than eight 81 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: hundred flying hours. At six twenty two, Moncla climbed into 82 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: the cockpit of an F eighty nine C fighter jet. 83 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: Behind him was his navigator, Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson, who 84 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: was in charge of radar observation, while montlor piloted the jet. 85 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: Designed by famed aircraft industrialist Jack Northrop, the F eighty 86 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: nine C was one of the best and fastest aircrafts 87 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: the Air Force had at its disposal. Its nickname the Scorpion, 88 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: referred to its distinctive lifted tail, but also to its 89 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: deadly capabilities. It was specifically designed to chase and intercept 90 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: hostile enemy aircraft. For the purposes of this mission, the 91 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: Scorpion was given the equally dramatic call sign Avenger. Red. 92 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: Monkler and Wilson ran through their usual pre flight checks, 93 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: making sure that the Scorpion systems were all functioning correctly, 94 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: and then First Lieutenant Moncla taxied the plane over to 95 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: its assigned runway at the base as thick flakes of 96 00:06:49,800 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: snow drifted down onto the cockpit window. Clare and Wilson 97 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: rattled about inside the cockpit as the jet eased upwards 98 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: through a thick blanket of low hanging cloud. Moments later 99 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: and they'd burst through and leveled off under the soft 100 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: blue light of a bright, waning gibbus. Beneath them was 101 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: only cloud, while above twinkled all the stars of the 102 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: known universe. Moncla flicked on the radio and reported his 103 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: position back to base, but every time he tried, the 104 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: signal kept cutting out due to the tumultuous weather below 105 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: behind him. Second Lieutenant Wilson was also struggling to track 106 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: their position on radar. He stared at the green blip 107 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: of the unidentified object on the screen with frustration. Just 108 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: as he seemed to have its trajectory locked in, the 109 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: mysterious aircraft suddenly changed direction. It was as though it 110 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: knew it was being chased, but whatever it was, it 111 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: was no match for the scorpion. After a few more 112 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: minutes of flying, Montless radio settled down, and with Wilson 113 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: finally getting a handle on the object's location, he deftly 114 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: began to direct Moncla to the necessary position, with Avenger 115 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: red zipping through the sky at five hundred miles per hour. 116 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: Twenty minutes later they'd caught up with it. It was 117 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: six fifty p m when they began closing in. At 118 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: Wilson's instruction, Moncla angled the nose of the scorpion downwards 119 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: toward the heavy cloud below and prepared to intercept the 120 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: unidentified object at around seven thousand feet. Back at ground control, 121 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: at six fifty two p m, Second Lieutenant Douglas Stuart 122 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,679 Speaker 1: radioed Moncla to confirm they were ten miles out from 123 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: their target, which was roughly towards eleven o'clock from their position. 124 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: A burst of static came back, followed by Montler's voice 125 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: copy that he said a moment later. Stuart told Montcla 126 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: to be aware that the target would be coming up 127 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: on his left side but moving across to his right. 128 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: If he didn't see it on the first try, they 129 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: would redirect him to attempt a second pass. But this 130 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: time they heard nothing back from the cockpit. Second Lieutenant 131 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: Douglas Stewart wasn't too concerned about Monkler's lack of response. 132 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: The reception had been a problem all night, and it 133 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: was most likely that Moncla simply hadn't received his last message, 134 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: and even if they had, they were at a critical 135 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: moment in their flight, probably absorbed in other tasks. So 136 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: Stuart and his colleagues turned their attention to the radar 137 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: screens and watched in silent as the two green blips 138 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: moved closer and closer to each other. It was six 139 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: fifty five PM when the Scorpion's radar icon converged with 140 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: the unidentified object. For that brief moment, they became a 141 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: single blip, flashing together in unison on the screen. Typically, 142 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: this indicates that one aircraft has pulled in directly alongside 143 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: the other and the two are flying in formation. This 144 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: is standard procedure for an air Force intercept. Nonetheless, Stuart 145 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: and the rest of the team held their breath as 146 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: they continued to stare at the merged dots, waiting for 147 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: them to separate. It was strange. It seemed to be 148 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: taking longer than it should, until finally one of the 149 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: blips began to move again, but the other had completely 150 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,599 Speaker 1: disappeared from the radar screen. Stewart and his team scrambled 151 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: to get a hold on the situation. They hurriedly radioed 152 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: the cockpit, but again they had trouble reaching the pilot. 153 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: For whatever reason, it looked as though First Lieutenant Monkla 154 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: had been forced to shoot the unidentified object out of 155 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: the sky. They radioed the cockpit again, but still there 156 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: was no answer. Then they noticed something. It wasn't the 157 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: unidentified object that had vanished. It was the scorpion. Stewart 158 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,319 Speaker 1: watched on with amusement as the unidentified object continued along 159 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: its original east to west flight path as though nothing 160 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: had happened, and then after a few more seconds that 161 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:55,680 Speaker 1: blip disappeared from the screen to It had to be 162 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: some kind of malfunction, a fault either in the plains, mechanics, 163 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: or something on the ground. Stuart grabbed the nearest headset 164 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: and made an urgent radio transmission to Avenge of Red, 165 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: Trying to keep his voice calm and steady. He ordered 166 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: Montla and Wilson to respond and confirmed their location, but 167 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: there was nothing but static. As he tried again and again, 168 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: an uneasy silence settled over the ground control room. As 169 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: the minutes ticked past, the knot of dread in his 170 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: stomach began to tighten as the unthinkable truth sank in. 171 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: A US Air Force Fighter jet had just dropped off 172 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: the face of the earth, possibly downed. After several frantic 173 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: moments of unanswered calls to the cockpit, Second Lieutenant Stuart 174 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: requested reinforcements. Although the base had a second fighter jet 175 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: ready to be scrambled at short notice, it was currently 176 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: out on a patrol flight. Stuart radioed its pilot, firstly 177 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: Lieutenant William Mingenback. Keeping his words as simple and dispassionate 178 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: as he could, he tried to explain what had happened. 179 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: Then he directed mingen Back to fly towards Avenger Red's 180 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: last known location. Stuart and his colleagues still held out 181 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: hope that there could be a rational explanation for it all. 182 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: Patchy radio reception wasn't unusual, and it was highly possible 183 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,439 Speaker 1: that the bad weather had simply damaged some element of 184 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: the aircraft, leading to a total loss of radar and 185 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: radio contact with the ground. If another aircraft could get 186 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: physically close enough to the lost jet, they might be 187 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: able to get through to it. After thirty minutes of flying, 188 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: the Lieutenant Mingenback's jet approached the last known location of 189 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: Avenger Red. A crackling sound squawked out at the radio. 190 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: Through the chaos of white noise, he heard a short transmission. 191 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: The words were impossible to make out. It was like 192 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: snatches of a conversation somebody for ever in the middle 193 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: of a sentence, but the voice was unmistakable to Mingenbach 194 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: and his navigator. It was Felix Montler Junior. Then a 195 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: few seconds later the transmission cut out. Utterly convinced of 196 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: what they'd heard, Mingenbach frantically tried to re establish contact 197 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: with a Venger Red, but after five more failed attempts, 198 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: they gave up. A disappointed Lieutenant Mingenbach contacted ground control 199 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: to give them the update. They agreed to move to 200 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: Plan B, conducting a visual search of the area to 201 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: look for any signs of the lost aircraft. This was 202 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: easier said than done given the weather conditions. Asign from 203 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: the scattered snow storms, the cloud was unusually thick and 204 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: low in the sky, meaning the only way to conduct 205 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: a visual search was to fly at a low altitude, which, 206 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: in turn but the jet at high risk of icing up. 207 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: So a third plane was sent up to assist, one 208 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: that was better equipped to fly in low icy conditions 209 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: For close to an hour, the two jets circled the area, 210 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: searching for any visual signs of Avenger Red, while making 211 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: periodic attempts to reach the aircraft via radio. But by 212 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: eight thirty p m. The whole thing was beginning to 213 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: feel like a doomed mission. Even based on the most 214 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: conservative calculations, Monkler's jet would be out of fuel by now, 215 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,119 Speaker 1: and as the snow grew heavier and the conditions more treacherous, 216 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: the search crews were stood down. For the rest of 217 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: the night. US Air Force staff and their Canadian counterparts 218 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: worked tirelessly to locate the missing plane. Crews on the 219 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 1: ground searched for debris, while numerous aircraft continued to patrol 220 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: from above as much as weather permitted, but by the 221 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: morning they'd found nothing. There was no debris, no signs 222 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: of a crash, and no trace of either the plane 223 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: nor its two occupants. Air Force officers are trained to 224 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: be ready for anything, but nobody was prepared for this scenario. 225 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: There was no protocol for a disappearing plane, and certainly 226 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 1: no rule book on how to explain it to the public. 227 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: The search continued for the best part of a week, 228 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: but was called off on November twenty eighth. Then two 229 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: days later, a glimmer of hope was offered by a 230 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 1: group of railway workers stationed about a hundred miles north 231 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: of the Kinross Air Force Base. They claimed to have 232 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: heard what sounded like a strange, loud crash on land 233 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: on the night in question. The search resumed for a 234 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: short time, only for rescuers to come up empty handed 235 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: once more. An initial report was filed on the night 236 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: of November twenty third, offering a brief and barebones version 237 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: of events. That report was summarized in an official news release, 238 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: which stated that the missing jet was followed by radar 239 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: until it merged with an object and then vanished. The 240 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: Chicago Tribune published a front page story under the headline 241 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: jet to aboard vanishes over Lake Superior. Within hours, the 242 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:53,880 Speaker 1: story was making news nationwide. It's possible that the US 243 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: Air Force had simply underestimated the growing fascination with UFOs. 244 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: Either way. Seemingly stunned by the fevered attention surrounding the 245 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: disappearance of one of their planes, they quickly tried to backtrack. 246 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: They attracted their initial news statement and instead released a 247 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: new one, offering a more complete and pointedly more rational 248 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: version of events. First Lieutenant Felix Montler Junior and Second 249 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:28,199 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Robert Wilson had been assigned to intercept an unidentified aircraft. 250 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: The mission had been a success, and the aircraft had 251 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: been intercepted and identified as a Royal Canadian air Force plane. 252 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: Radar contact had been lost shortly after the jet turned 253 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: round to head back to base, and soon after that 254 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 1: the plane had presumably crashed into Lake Superior. As to 255 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: why a capable pilot would have lost control of his aircraft, 256 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: the statement suggested that Montla had likely been overcome by 257 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,360 Speaker 1: sudden vertigo, a rare but dangerous condition where a pilot 258 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: become spatially disorientated, potentially resulting in fatal mistakes. The plane 259 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: disappearing from radar was blamed on unusual atmospheric conditions in 260 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: the area, and the lack of wreckage was no surprise. 261 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world 262 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: in terms of surface area, with an average depth of 263 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: thirteen hundred feet. An object that landed inside it could 264 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: quite easily disappear and remain unfound to this day. On 265 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: the face of it, it all seemed plausible enough, but 266 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: the holes in the narrative were obvious to anyone who 267 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,640 Speaker 1: was paying attention, and it didn't help that the authorities 268 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: couldn't seem to agree with each other about what had happened. 269 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: For a start, Canadian officials publicly refuted the US Air 270 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: Force's account. According to them, all of their aircraft were 271 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: accounted for and there had been no flights in the 272 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: area in question. On the night of November twenty third, 273 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,400 Speaker 1: one Canadian Air Force plane had been flying near the border, 274 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: but they denied that it had ever crossed over into 275 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,920 Speaker 1: US airspace. Whatever the unidentified object had been, it did 276 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: not come from Canada, at least according to the Canadians, 277 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: which left the tricky unanswered question where had it come from. 278 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: It didn't take long for conspiracy theories to take hold. 279 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: During the nineteen fifties, roughly a quarter of the American 280 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 1: population believed in what's known as the extraterrestrial hypothesis, the 281 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: idea that many unidentified flying objects are in fact alien 282 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 1: spacecraft from other planets. So once word got out that 283 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: two U US Air Force pilots and their jet had 284 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,160 Speaker 1: vanished mysteriously without a trace at the very moment they'd 285 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: crossed paths with the UFO, many people jumped to what 286 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,680 Speaker 1: they saw as the obvious conclusion it was an alien abduction. 287 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: At the time, there were a number of civilian groups 288 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: conducting research into UFOs. The largest and most well resourced 289 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: was the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, or NICAP. 290 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: In the years following the incident at Kinross Air Force Base, 291 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: they repeatedly tried to obtain more information about what exactly 292 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: had happened. Then, one day, some investigators from NICAP made 293 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: the unsettling discovery that the event was completely missing from 294 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: official Air Force records. There was no mention at all 295 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: of an intercept mission from the night of November twenty third, 296 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three. Despite their best efforts to uncover the truth, 297 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: the case went cold for more than a decade. It 298 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: was in late October nineteen sixty eight when two prospectors 299 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: were digging about near an area known as Cousin's Cove, 300 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: roughly seventy miles north of Kinross along the coast of 301 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: Lake Superior. Wandering around the bush near the shoreline, the 302 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: pair spotted some unusual metallic debris. On closer inspection, it 303 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: was quite clearly the remnants of an aircraft. After a 304 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,199 Speaker 1: careful inspection from the Ontario Provincial Police, the type of 305 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: metal was found to be far heavier than would be 306 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: used in a commercial aircraft, suggesting it was very likely 307 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,200 Speaker 1: to have been a military plane. Although this discovery reignited 308 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: interest in the case among UFO believers, it didn't garner 309 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: much wider attention. Report on the discovery itself are sketchy, 310 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: and there is no record of whether the debris was 311 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 1: ever proven to be from an F eighty nine, never 312 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: mind the one that went missing from kin Ross fifteen 313 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: years before. And so once again, the strange case of 314 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: First Lieutenant Felix Monkler's missing Scorpion jet went quiet once again. 315 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: That was until two thousand and six, when UFO researcher 316 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: Francis Ridge received a strange email. It was late August 317 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 1: in two thousand and six that Francis Ridge was contacted 318 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: by a man named Preston Miller. The email included an 319 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: excerpt from an Associated Press story suggesting that the missing 320 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: F eighty nine had been discovered by an underwater search 321 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: team while taking scans at the bottom of Lake Superior. 322 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,879 Speaker 1: There was a link too. When Ridge clicked it, it 323 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 1: opened up a website for the Great Lakes Dive Company. 324 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: It contained two startling images taken with side scan sonar. 325 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,360 Speaker 1: Both showed images of what looked to be a completely 326 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: intact aircraft with the telltale tip tank and upswept tail 327 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: reminiscent of the F eighty nine Scorpion. Francis Ridge immediately 328 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: posted the email on the website UFO Updates, and before 329 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: long the apparent discovery was flooding UFO forums and message 330 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,919 Speaker 1: boards all over the world. When a number of reporters 331 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: attempted to contact the Great Lakes Dive Company, they were 332 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: directed to a man called Adam Jimenez, who declared himself 333 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:54,199 Speaker 1: the group's spokesperson. Jimenez confirmed the images were real with 334 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: a number of outlets, and even appeared on famed late 335 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: night talk show Coast to Coast talking to much revered 336 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: UFO researcher Linda Moulton Howe. What Jimenez then revealed was 337 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,199 Speaker 1: that something else had also been found at the bottom 338 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: of the lake close to the F eighty nine, a strange, metallic, 339 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: tear dropped shaped object of unidentifiable origin. Jimenez suggested this 340 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: could well be the object that downed Felix Montler's plane. 341 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: A short time later, apparent sonar images of this object 342 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: were also posted on the Great Lakes Dive Company website. 343 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: As the UFO community became increasingly excited by the news, 344 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:50,400 Speaker 1: efforts were made to verify the Great Lakes Dive Company's credentials. However, 345 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 1: no further evidence beyond the website could be found for 346 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: their existence. The so called Adam Jimenez proved equally difficult 347 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,679 Speaker 1: to pin down, with only the email address and a 348 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,639 Speaker 1: phone number provided on the website proving that he existed. 349 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: Two three weeks after Francis Ridge received his mysterious email, 350 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: the Great Lakes Dive Company website was taken offline and 351 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:23,919 Speaker 1: the mysterious Adam Jimenez stopped replying to inquiries. It was 352 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: sadly just a hoax. To this day, no trace of 353 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: Felix Monkler or Robert Wilson has ever been found. No 354 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,680 Speaker 1: convincing explanation has ever emerged to fill in all of 355 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,919 Speaker 1: the bizarre gaps in the official narrative. No official version 356 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: of events seems to account for the aircraft banishing at 357 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: the precise moment it intersected with the UFO, Nor do 358 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: they explain the mysterious five seconds snatch of Felix's voice 359 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,120 Speaker 1: supposedly heard more than an hour after the supposed crash 360 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: by the crew of the second Scorpion sent to find them. 361 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:09,880 Speaker 1: To quote Donald Keyho, a Marine Corps aviator turned UFO researcher, 362 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: the Kinross incident, as it became known, remains one of 363 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:27,199 Speaker 1: the strangest cases on record anywhere in the world. This 364 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,800 Speaker 1: episode was written by Emma Dibden and produced by Richard 365 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: McLain Smith. Thank you as ever for listening Unexplained as 366 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:39,479 Speaker 1: an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLain Smith. 367 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are 368 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: also produced by me Richard McLain Smith. Unexplained. The book 369 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You can 370 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. 371 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 372 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: your podcast, and feel free to get in touch with 373 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 374 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or a story 375 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: of your own you'd like to share. You can find 376 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: out more at Unexplained Podcast dot com and reaches online 377 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: through X and Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod and Facebook 378 00:28:19,040 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: at Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast m DU