The Gorman Dogfight
A National Guard pilot reported a 27-minute night chase of a small, brilliant white light over Fargo, which the Air Force later put down to a weather balloon.
- Region
- North Dakota
- Country
- USA
- Category
- UFO
- Date
- 1 October 1948
- Continent
- North America
The report
On 1 October 1948 Lieutenant George F. Gorman, flying an F-51 Mustang with the North Dakota Air National Guard, stayed aloft near Fargo to log night-flying time. After the control tower mentioned a Piper Cub nearby, he noticed another light and gave chase. He described it as clear white and completely round, and said it out-turned and out-climbed his aircraft, at one point coming straight at him, and that he blacked out during a tight turn. The encounter lasted about 27 minutes. The Air Force concluded that a lighted weather balloon released from Fargo that evening was responsible, with the erratic motion attributed to an illusion created by Gorman's own manoeuvres; later commentators also suggested he may at times have been looking at the planet Jupiter. Some UFO researchers dispute these explanations.
Sources and further reading
Location
46.9206, -96.8156