THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1952: South Korea, the T-6 Crew and the Silver Disc

At dawn on an October morning in 1952, a pilot and an instructor pilot flying a T-6 combat mission over the eastern sector of the main line of resistance in Korea saw what the pilot first took to be a strange aircraft, flying at about 200 mph on a roughly parallel course.

It was a perfectly circular, metallic silver disc, about 25 feet across, with no protrusions, no exhaust and no sound. It slowed, hovered for a second or two as the instructor dipped the wing for a better look, then accelerated away to the east-northeast at an estimated 600 mph and vanished into the haze.

Date: October 16, 1952 (the report text may read October 14)

Sighting Time: About 6:50 a.m. (dawn)

Day/Night: Dawn

Location: Over the eastern sector of the main line of resistance, South Korea (UTM grid DT 221413)

Urban or Rural: Combat zone, rural

No. of Entity(‘s): None reported

Entity Type: Not applicable

Entity Description: Not applicable

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)

Duration: Up to about three minutes of observation; the hover lasted 1 to 2 seconds

No. of Object(s): 1

Shape of Object(s): Perfectly circular disc with no protrusions

Size of Object(s): About 25 feet in diameter, by comparison with the T-6 at the same distance

Color of Object(s): Metallic silver

Distance to Object(s): Close enough to compare with the aircraft

Height & Speed: About 6,000 feet; about 200 mph, then a hover, then an estimated 600 mph east-northeast

Number of Witnesses: 2 (1st Lts. Hooper and O’Neill)

Special Features/Characteristics: Seen against cloud bank, haze and ground backgrounds; no visible means of propulsion, no vapor or smoke, no sound; the instructor banked the T-6 for a better view

Case Status: Evaluated by Blue Book as Probably Balloon; the card notes balloons were used by every force in the area

Source: Hooper; Blue Book file (6149th Tactical Control Squadron Air Intelligence Information Report with the statements of Lts. Hooper and O’Neill)

Summary/Description: Two airmen in a T-6 over Korea saw a 25-foot silver disc stop and hover beside them, then accelerate away at about 600 mph. Blue Book called it a probable balloon.

Related Cases: Other Korean War reports on the October 11th–21st page

DETAILED REPORT

According to the report, Lt. Hooper, the instructor pilot, and Lt. O’Neill, the pilot, were flying a combat mission in a T-6 over the eastern sector of the main line of resistance. They were on a magnetic heading of 280 degrees at 140 mph indicated and about 6,300 feet when O’Neill, checking the area for activity, saw what he thought was a strange aircraft at about 6,000 feet traveling approximately 200 mph on a heading of about 100 degrees.

The object was about 15 degrees to the right of his course. O’Neill pointed it out to Hooper, who did not see it until the T-6 and the object were running parallel, with the object at the 3 o’clock position. As O’Neill called the relative positions, the object appeared to be decelerating. By the time Hooper saw it, it had apparently ceased to move and was hovering over a spot on the ground.

They differ on how long the hover lasted: Hooper estimated about 1 second and O’Neill 1 to 2 seconds. Hooper dipped the right wing for a better view. The object then began to move, accelerating east-northeast and disappearing in the haze as the T-6 passed. Both estimated its speed then at about 600 mph, Hooper basing his figure on the time it took to cover about 15,000 meters. Both described it as perfectly circular, metallic silver and without protrusions, with no visible propulsion and no vapor trail or smoke. By comparison with the T-6 at the same distance they estimated a diameter of about 25 feet.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Korea 1952: A Hover and a Wing Dip

• Two trained observers: Both were airmen on a combat mission, one of them an instructor pilot, and their statements agree on the shape, the color and the hover.
• Size comparison: The 25-foot estimate comes from comparing the disc with the T-6 at the same distance, which makes it more reliable than a bare guess.
• The balloon note: The card calls it Probably Balloon because balloons had been used by all forces in the area, but a balloon does not normally hover and then accelerate to 600 mph.
• Earlier listing: The earlier page entry described six witnesses, a 40-foot disc and 800 mph. The file names two observers, 25 feet and about 600 mph; both are shown on the page.

The Korea disc is a short, clean pilot report: two witnesses, a direct size comparison and a sequence of slowing, hovering and accelerating that does not sit easily with the balloon evaluation.