Lakenheath-Bentwaters radar-visual case (13-14 Aug 1956).
documentedclose_encounterLandmark High-Strangeness Cases
[DOCUMENTED] Night of 13-14 Aug 1956: ~5 hrs of ground-radar, airborne-radar, ground-visual and airborne-visual contacts over USAF-tenanted RAF Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath, England, involving RAF and USAF personnel. Bentwaters tracked a target at several thousand mph; an RAF de Havilland Venom (23 Sqn, from RAF Waterbeach) was scrambled, reported a radar lock, then lost the target as it reportedly moved behind the aircraft.
Designated 'Case 2' in the Condon Report, which concluded it 'the most puzzling and unusual case in the radar-visual files...the apparently rational, intelligent behavior of the UFO suggests a mechanical device of unknown origin,' and that 'the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved appears to be fairly high' (an exceptional stance for a generally dismissive report). Analyzed by James McDonald and Condon staffer/radar analyst Gordon Thayer, who argued the stop-and-go behavior on two radars of different frequency/scan-rate made anomalous propagation (AP) nearly inconceivable. Competing [COMPETING-DOCUMENTED]: AP / temperature inversion plus a strong Perseid meteor shower that night. Later Fortean researchers (David Clarke, Andy Roberts, Martin Shough, Jenny Randles) re-dated the scrambles (~02:00/02:40) and floated a radar-spoofing-test hypothesis.