E-006318LANDMARK CASE · HIGH CORROBORATIONDATE PRECISION: seasonRECORD COMPLETENESS: 100%
MacDill Radar Track and B-29 Football-Light Observation
Summer 1952MacDill Air Force Base area, Florida, United States
Don Widener reported that radar near MacDill AFB tracked an unidentified target at approximately 40,000 feet. A B-29 crew later reported a glowing football-shaped white light/object near that altitude that reversed course and departed rapidly.
Claims are displayed with the source wording, locator, relationship and verification state. Competing claims remain separate rather than being averaged into a single answer.
“Widener wrote that radar tracked an unidentified target at about 40,000 feet and 400 knots; a B-29 later reported a visual object at about 40,000 feet moving around 220 knots before reversing and departing at high speed.”
“The account comes from Don Widener's later signed letter describing his Project Blue Book support role; Hall does not reproduce the original radar plot or contemporary case file.”
“Hall says many early Air Force reports came directly from Intelligence Reports released to NICAP/Keyhoe, while other cases came from private or unofficial channels.”
SRC-002107 · Section provenance and Air Force-source discussion; uploaded PDF pp. 30-31
SUPPORTS
CLAIM-689035reported
“Hall argues that the decline in publicly available Air Force UFO reports after 1953 reflects reporting restrictions rather than a decline in sightings.”
“Hall reproduces portions of Air Force Regulation 200-2 stating that local base commanders could publicly release UFO information only when a sighting had been positively identified, and restricting unauthorized personnel discussions with private organizations.”