The Kinross Incident: Did a UFO Abduct an Entire Jet?
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What happened during the Kinross incident?
It's November 23rd, 1953, a bitterly cold night along the waters of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. At Kinross Air Force Base, radar picks up an unidentified aircraft flying over Lake Superior. Two lieutenants take off on an intercept mission. They're charged with finding out who or what they're dealing with. But somewhere along the way, the entire jet vanishes.
What theories exist about the disappearance of the jet?
The Kinross incident is a story ufologists know well. For decades, there's been speculation that a UFO encounter caused the disappearance. A theory popularized in the 1955 book, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy. Military officials said the jet simply crashed into Lake Superior. But in recent years, members of the Open Skies Project have been amassing research about the Kinross incident. What they've found suggests there's more to the story and raises some important questions. Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. I'm Carter Roy. You can find us here every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod, and we would love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts.
Today, we're talking to Kyle Carey and Zach Garner of the Open Skies Project about the research they've gathered, which was integral to this episode. And we're thrilled they could be here. Stay with us.
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Who are the key figures in the Open Skies Project?
Just one day after the Kinross incident in November 1953, newspapers run the story of the missing Air Force jet and two men on board. Some play up the mysterious circumstances. Other reports are less cryptic. They assert it's just a tragic accident. that the pilot, Felix Monclaw, and the radar operator, Robert Wilson, died when their jet crashed into Lake Superior. In fact, that's the statement given to the press by an Air Force official. But two years later, another version of events is popularized. By now, it's 1955. Initial searches for the missing lieutenants and their jet have long since been called off. That's when Donald Kehoe publishes The Flying Saucer Conspiracy. A former Marine Corps major, Kehoe claims he knows of hundreds of reports of UFO sightings, many by credible witnesses, like seasoned pilots. But, he says, the U.S. government is keeping the truth from the public. And he uses Kinross as an example. Here's the version of the story Kehoe relays in his book, which we should note includes several points of speculation.
On the night of November 23rd, radar operators located at what's now Calumet Air Force Station noticed a surprising blip on their screen. It was moving fast over the Sioux Locks, a waterway connecting Lake Superior to other Great Lakes. Since they had no record of any flights there at that time, they classified the aircraft as unknown. Over at Kinross Air Force Base, two men were on alert. First Lieutenant Felix Monclaw, a pilot, and Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson, a radar operator. As soon as they got the word, their F-89 jet was scrambled and they took off in hot pursuit of the unknown aircraft, or bogey. Meanwhile, Ground Control Intercept, aka GCI, kept close watch on the radar scope. It now showed two blips, the jet and the bogey.
When the bogey changed course, the controller relayed that information to Monclaw, who closed in on his target. As the jet approached, the controller radioed, target should soon be visual, and then... The two blips appeared to merge into one large dot. The single dot lingered on screen for a moment, then vanished. The controller had lost radar contact with both aircraft.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What happened during the Kinross incident?
0:02–0:33
2
What theories exist about the disappearance of the jet?
0:33–2:31
3
Who are the key figures in the Open Skies Project?
2:31–11:17
4
What discrepancies exist in the official reports?
11:17–17:00
5
What new evidence has emerged about the Kinross incident?
17:00–25:26
6
How do radar systems work in intercept missions?
25:26–32:18
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Conspiracy Theories
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