When pilot Torres locked on the target to launch the rocket, the giant object suddenly accelerated and disappeared from the radar screen.
In October 2008, the British National Archives released 19 secret documents related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including an encounter between an American fighter pilot and a strange flying object in the sky. British sky during the height of the Cold War, according to AP.
On the night of May 20, 1957, American pilot Lieutenant Milton Torres stationed at Manston Air Force Base, Kent County, England and a teammate were asked to sortie and stop a mysterious object appearing on the radar screen.
“This is an object with a very unusual orbit. According to initial assessment, we found that this ‘monster’ did not seem to move for a long time,” Torres recounted.
The American pilot said that after receiving orders to launch 24 rockets at strange objects, he controlled the F-86D Saber fighter to fly at maximum speed to close the distance, despite the dense clouds.
Torres was extremely scared when the signal on the radar screen showed that the object was very large, possibly equivalent to a B-52 bomber or even an aircraft carrier.
“The command to fire was given and I selected 24 rockets and locked the target on the strange flying object. The larger the object, the easier it was to lock on the target and this object was locked very quickly,” Torres recounted.
Torres only had a few seconds left before he could fire a series of rockets aimed at the target on the radar screen. However, at that moment, the mysterious flying object disappeared from the screen.
“It suddenly appeared, then suddenly accelerated, leaving us behind. It was like some kind of alien spacecraft. It flew very fast, very strangely. It was definitely a very strange object. dangerous,” the American pilot affirmed. Torres said the object was traveling at a speed of more than 12,000 km/h at times, so he was ordered to stop pursuing.
The incident took place in the context of the Cold War being at a tense stage, with US and Western fighter jets always on duty at British air force bases ready to respond to a surprise attack by the Soviet Union. .
Torres returned to base and the next day was called up to meet a man dressed smartly like a salesperson. “He threatened me that I would violate national security if I said a word about the above incident to anyone,” Torres said.
“I’ll never forget that,” the pilot said. “That night, I was ordered to open fire just before takeoff. This had never happened before.” However, he still kept his secret for 30 years.
The declassified documents do not provide any official explanation for this incident. However, according to UFO expert David Clarke, this could be part of a plan to create “ghost planes” on the CIA’s radar screen to evaluate the Soviet Union’s air defense capabilities at that time.
“It’s very possible that this is just an electronic warfare exercise situation, but it could also be a UFO,” Clarke said. “Something very unusual happened.”
