THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1952: A B-29 Navigator Over Antung Watches a Pulsing Blue Cylinder Close on His Bomber, and ATIC Calls It a Missile

At 11:15 p.m. on February 24, 1952, a B-29 on a leaflet-drop mission over North Korea was held in searchlights at 22,000 feet, with weak flak bursting around it, when its navigator saw something come up from behind. It was bluish, shaped like a cylinder, and trailed a rapidly pulsing exhaust about three times its own length. It climbed at 45 degrees, leveled off about 4,000 feet from the bomber, and turned toward it as if taking up an intercept course.

For about fifteen seconds it closed on the B-29 at high speed, then broke away and passed under the bomber at a gradual angle, within roughly 2,000 feet and “the size of an automobile.” The crew’s electronic counter-measures operator picked up weak signals. Washington asked Tokyo for more details, and ATIC’s missile specialists concluded in an evaluation dated February 29, 1952 that it was a subsonic surface-to-air guided missile, possibly of the German Schmetterling type. This Antung, North Korea B-29 UFO case, taken from the ATIC Appendix IV and Blue Book files, is a case where the Air Force’s own missile experts leaned toward Soviet-built weaponry.

Date: February 24, 1952 (night of February 23–24; the Air Intelligence report summary and the Blue Book list give February 23)

Sighting Time: 2315 local Korean time (the Blue Book copy and Sparks give 10:15 or 11:15 p.m.)

Day/Night: Night

Location: Over the Antung area, North Korea, southeast of Sinuiju (about 40°04’N, 124°25’E per Sparks)

Urban or Rural: Rural; combat area near the Yalu River

No. of Entity’s: Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light) with a close approach; the crew reported a body with an exhaust, not only a light

Duration: About 45 seconds from first sighting to passing the bomber, including about 15 seconds of close approach

No. of Object(s): 1

Description of the Object(s): Cylindrical, with a rapidly pulsing gaseous exhaust trail about three times the object’s length; both the object and the tail blast were bluish. As it began to descend the flame diminished in size and got brighter.

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Cylinder; about the size of an automobile at about 2,000 feet; bluish

Distance to Object(s): First seen from about 7 o’clock over the Antung area; leveled off about 4,000 feet away; passed within about 2,000 feet

Height & Speed: B-29 at 22,000 feet and 200 knots; the object climbed at about 45° and closed at “high velocity,” no speed given

Number of Witnesses: 1 principal witness (the B-29 navigator); the crew’s ECM operator picked up weak signals; other crew not named

Special Features/Characteristics: Searchlights held the B-29 for about four minutes; weak, inaccurate flak throughout; weak electronic signals on the ECM set, which could not be used for counter-measures; the B-29 took evasive action in curves followed by a shallow dive, after which the searchlights and flak stopped; CAVU weather

Case Status: Blue Book Unknown (BBU 1061 in Sparks’ catalog). ATIC’s guided missiles group evaluation of February 29, 1952: subsonic surface-to-air missile, possibly of the German Schmetterling type; further evaluation to await complete information from FEAF

Source: ATIC Appendix IV (Korea, 24 February 1952); FEAF flash message; ATIC guided missiles group evaluation (C. F. Zimmerman, ATIA); Air Intelligence Information Report (Capt. R. O. Mitchell, flak intelligence officer, with the 345th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Wing); Sparks #363

Summary/Description: A B-29 navigator on a leaflet-drop mission saw a bluish cylinder with a pulsing tail rise from behind, level off 4,000 feet away, close on the bomber for about 15 seconds and pass under it within 2,000 feet. ATIC’s missile group judged it a possible Schmetterling-type surface-to-air missile.

Detailed Report

The February 1952 Antung report comes from ATIC’s own file. A summary report (Appendix IV to a Blue Book status report) gives the incident as the night of February 24, 1952. The Air Intelligence Information Report, prepared by the flak intelligence officer, says the B-29 leaflet-drop mission was flown on the night of February 23, southeast of Sinuiju, and that its navigator observed a ground-to-air rocket with “flight guiding characteristics.”

According to Appendix IV, at 2315 local Korean time the B-29 was picked up by searchlights. About 45 seconds later the navigator sighted an object approaching from 7 o’clock, estimated to be over Antung. It appeared cylindrical, with a rapidly pulsating gaseous exhaust trail approximately three times the length of the object. Both the object and the tail blast were bluish.

The object first appeared to be climbing at 45 degrees. It leveled off about 4,000 feet from the B-29 and turned toward it “as if taking up an interception course.” It continued to close on the bomber at high velocity for about 15 seconds, then broke off level flight and headed down, passing under the B-29 at a gradual angle. As it began to descend, the flame diminished in size and got brighter. The navigator estimated that it came within 2,000 feet of the aircraft and “appeared to be the size of an automobile,” which the analyst assumed to mean an automobile seen from 3,000 feet.

The B-29 was flying at 22,000 feet at 200 knots. Searchlights stayed with it for about four minutes. Weak, inaccurate flak was encountered throughout. The ECM operator picked up weak electronic signals for a short time but could not use his equipment for counter-measures. The bomber took evasive action in a series of curves followed by a shallow dive, after which the searchlights and flak stopped. Weather was CAVU.

The FEAF flash message is a cryptic summary of the preliminary report. A follow-up from Washington to Tokyo asked for the results of the crew’s re-interrogation “in most expeditious manner,” because more details were needed to evaluate the incident. The status line on Appendix IV says more details were requested from FEAF and, since the object resembled a surface-to-air guided missile, the incident was referred to the ATIC guided missiles group.

The evaluation, dated February 29, 1952 and addressed to Mr. C. F. Zimmerman of ATIA, says that on the performance deduced from the reported information the object appears to be a subsonic surface-to-air guided missile, possibly of the German Schmetterling type. It adds that current estimates credited the Soviets with the capability of having an operational missile of this kind now, although until then there had been no intelligence on which to credit them with more than a capability. A more complete evaluation was to follow receipt of complete information.

A separate ATIC note in the same batch links the Korea case with the Iranian incident of February 19, 1952 (Bandar Abbas), and says the Korean incident had been turned over to the ATIC guided missiles group, but that no evaluation had yet been made. The scan is poor and the file does not show a conclusion for either case.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

The Air Force Judged a UFO to Be a Missile and Left It Open

Date Conflict. Appendix IV says the night of February 24; the Air Intelligence report summary says the night of February 23. The Blue Book list uses February 23 and calls it Sinuiju; Sparks lists it as February 23 [24?]. This page uses February 24, 2315 local, since the appendix and the FEAF message both give it. If the mission took off on the 23rd and the sighting came after midnight, both dates could be right, but the file does not say that.
Location. The message places the object over Antung; the Air Intelligence report says southeast of Sinuiju. Sparks gives Sinuiju [Antung?] at 40°4’N, 124°25’E. The two cities face each other across the Yalu River.
Time. The appendix says 2315 local Korean time. The live site and Sparks gave 10:15 or 11:15 p.m., apparently from a secondary source, and this page uses 2315.
The Missile Hypothesis. ATIC’s evaluation rests on the “performance deduced”: a subsonic, climbing, maneuvering body with a bluish exhaust that closed on a bomber at high velocity. The Schmetterling was a World War II German surface-to-air missile; Soviet use in 1952 was a possibility, not a fact, and the memo says so.
Why It Is Still a BBU. Blue Book carries it as unidentified (BBU 1061). The missile evaluation is a hypothesis awaiting FEAF data, which the file does not show arriving. The file does not discuss alternative explanations such as flak or searchlight effects.
Illumination. The B-29 was being lit by searchlights and shot at, so the crew was already under stress and watching for threats. That makes a missile reading natural, but it also means observer expectation may have shaped the description.
Hynek Class. Hynek’s original system has no category for a close pass by a cylinder with a trail; NL is the closest fit for a nocturnal light that closes on the observer. No radar contact was reported.

The Antung case is one of the clearest 1952 examples of ATIC treating a UFO report as possible foreign hardware, rather than as a hoax or a misidentification. It has a named bomb squadron, a stated altitude and speed for the bomber, a measured approach geometry, a conflicting date in the Air Force’s own paperwork and a published evaluation that stops short of closing the case. What it lacks is the re-interrogation report that Washington asked Tokyo for, and any second witness description.

“Since the object resembles a surface-to-air guided missile, the incident has been referred to the ATIC guided missiles group.”
— Project Blue Book status report, Korea, February 24, 1952