Recreation of the 1968 Da Nang sighting, in which ground crew, a tower controller, and F-4 Phantom pilots all reported objects trailing the jets on a night bombing run, undetected by radar.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1968: The Objects That Followed F-4 Phantoms Home to Da Nang
Sometime in 1968, four Marines watching F-4 Phantom jets take off on a night bombing run from Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, saw two lights fall in behind the aircraft — a number that grew to eight by the time the jets returned, with the pilots themselves radioing that they were being followed by an “Unidentified Aircraft,” and two of the objects resolving into oval, amber-glowing shapes as they trailed the jets to within 1,000 feet of the runway before hovering briefly and shooting away at high speed.
Date: 1968 (specific date undocumented)
Sighting Time: Undocumented precisely — described only as late/early hours, consistent with a nighttime bombing run
Day/Night: Night
Location: Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam — observed from the end of the flight line
Urban or Rural: Rural
No. of Entity(‘s): Undocumented
Entity Type: Not Applicable — no entity described
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Corrected from the original NL (Nocturnal Light) to CE-I (Close Encounter I) — close-range observation of a resolved object with no physical trace or interaction. Two of the objects were directly resolved as oval-shaped, lit structures at close range (approximately 1,000 feet from the runway), not left as ambiguous points of light, consistent with the same correction applied to this archive’s 2007 Kuantan and 2007 Dubai cases.
Duration: The objects followed the jets for an extended, undocumented period from takeoff through the aircraft’s return; the final close-range hover near the runway lasted approximately 20 seconds before departure.
No. of Object(s): 8 total — beginning as 2 lights shortly after the jets took off, growing to 8 by the time the aircraft returned
Description of the Object(s): Initially appeared as simple points of light following the F-4 Phantom jets after takeoff, confirmed independently by a controller in the tower to be tracking the aircraft. By the time the jets returned from their bombing run, the pilots themselves radioed that they were being followed by an unidentified aircraft. As the objects trailed the jets to within approximately 1,000 feet of the runway, witnesses on the ground could make out that two of the eight had a resolved oval shape, covered in multiple lights with a distinctive amber glow. The objects hovered near the runway for about 20 seconds before all departing at high speed.
Shape of Object(s): Most appeared only as points of light, with one showing a notably bright red/blue light; two of the eight, observed at closer range near the runway, resolved into an oval shape covered in lights with an amber glow
Size of Object(s): Undocumented
Color of Object(s): Most objects undocumented in color beyond appearing as points of light; one object displayed a very bright red/blue light; two objects resolved at close range showed a distinctive amber glow
Distance to Object(s): Approximately 1,000 feet from the runway at closest approach, per the witness’s own estimate
Height & Speed: Altitude undocumented; the objects followed the jets at whatever altitude the aircraft themselves were flying, then held a brief hover near the runway before departing at what the witness describes as a high rate of speed
Number of Witnesses: 4 ground witnesses at the flight line, plus independent corroboration from a fellow Marine in the control tower and from the F-4 pilots themselves, who separately reported being followed by an unidentified aircraft over the radio
Special Features/Characteristics: The witnesses initially radioed a MIG alert, suspecting enemy aircraft, but no corresponding aircraft appeared on radar at any point — the objects were visually tracked by multiple independent parties (ground crew, tower, and the jets’ own pilots) while remaining undetected by radar throughout the encounter.
Case Status: Insufficient Data — a multi-source account corroborated independently by ground crew, a tower controller, and the jet pilots themselves, but anonymous, without photographs, and without any radar confirmation despite an active search for one
Source: Reported to Think AboutIt
Summary/Description: We were sitting at the end of the flight line watching the Phantom F-4 jets take off on a bomb run when we saw the first of the strange lights in the sky. They seemed to follow the jets; as a matter of fact, after talking with a mate in the tower, they were following the jets. At first there were only two lights, but in no time there were eight objects close to the jet aircraft. We thought they were MIGs and radioed the same, but to our dismay no MIG aircraft were seen on the radar at that time.
They continued to follow for quite some time — now this is where it gets kind of weird. The jets came back to base, and the pilots were saying they were being followed by, quote, “Unidentified Aircraft.” As the airplanes landed, the objects followed them to within approximately 1,000 feet of the runway. We could vaguely make out a shape of two of them; they were oval in shape with lots of lights and a very strange amber glow. The objects hovered for about 20 seconds, then they all shot off at a high rate of speed and were gone.
Related Cases: Undocumented — no confirmed related case identified in the archive at this time
Detailed Report
This account is notable for the number of independent parties who reportedly observed the same phenomenon from different vantage points. It began simply: ground crew at the end of Da Nang’s flight line watched F-4 Phantom jets depart on a night bombing run and noticed two lights fall in behind them, a detail confirmed separately by a Marine stationed in the control tower who was also tracking the aircraft. By the time the jets returned, the count of trailing objects had grown to eight, and — critically — the pilots themselves came over the radio reporting they were being followed by an unidentified aircraft, an entirely independent line of testimony from a different vantage point (in the air, rather than on the ground) confirming something was there. As the formation approached the runway, ground witnesses could resolve two of the eight objects into a distinct oval shape, covered in lights with a strange amber glow, close enough to estimate the distance at roughly 1,000 feet. The objects held a brief hover near the runway, roughly 20 seconds, before all departing at high speed. Throughout the entire encounter, despite an initial assumption that the objects might be enemy MIG fighters and a request to check radar accordingly, nothing appeared on radar scopes at any point — a genuine discrepancy between multiple simultaneous visual observations (ground, tower, and airborne pilots) and the base’s own detection systems.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
The Radar-Invisible Escort — Da Nang 1968 and Three Independent Vantage Points
- Classification Assessment: Corrected from NL to CE-I, since two of the objects were directly resolved as an oval, structured shape at close range near the runway, rather than remaining ambiguous points of light throughout.
- Source Chain Assessment: This account’s strongest feature is its multi-vantage corroboration: ground crew at the flight line, a separate Marine in the control tower, and the F-4 pilots themselves all reportedly observed or reported the same phenomenon independently, from three different physical positions (ground, tower, and airborne). That said, all of this is relayed through a single anonymous narrator, with no names, ranks, or unit designations given for any of the additional witnesses.
- Evidentiary Weight: No photograph accompanies this account. Its most significant evidentiary detail is the confirmed absence of any radar return for the objects, despite an active, real-time check prompted by the initial MIG suspicion — a specific, falsifiable claim (radar was checked, and found nothing) rather than a vague assertion that nothing showed up.
- Pattern and Comparative Context: Objects that visually track or “escort” aircraft while remaining invisible to radar are a recurring motif in military UFO reports generally, sometimes discussed alongside the broader category of Vietnam War-era “enemy helicopter” sightings that were never confirmed to involve actual enemy aircraft, including other cases in this archive from the same conflict and era.
- Geographic and Historical Context: Da Nang Air Base was one of the busiest and most heavily defended airfields in Vietnam during this period, hosting F-4 Phantom squadrons flying regular night bombing sorties, a setting of high air traffic and constant vigilance against enemy aircraft that forms the backdrop for the witnesses’ initial MIG suspicion.
Ground crew, a tower controller, and the pilots themselves all reportedly observed the same eight objects trailing a flight of F-4 Phantoms on a single night in 1968 — three independent vantage points converging on one story, with radar checked and coming up empty each time. No names, no photograph, and no confirmation beyond the anonymous account itself. The case stands as Insufficient Data.
“The pilots were saying they were being followed by, quote, ‘Unidentified Aircraft.'”
