DOW-UAP-D160: Air Intelligence Information Report - A Radar Return Shaped Like V, W and M over the Mediterranean, French Morocco, 1953

Source file: DOW-UAP-D160-Air_Intelligence_Information_Report_Morocco-1953.pdf Originating agency: United States Air Force (USAF), 316th Air Division (Defense) Document type: Air Intelligence Information Report, AF Form 112, Parts I and II; Report No. DI-1-53, under AFR 200-2 Date: 23 December 1953 (date of report); sighting on 16 December 1953, 1754Z Classification: Original classification inked out and stamped UNCLASSIFIED; downgrading stamp under Executive Order 11652; stamped DECLASSIFIED, Authority NND 57597; publicly released in 2026 Page count: 3 VIRIN: 260508-D-D0360-1152 PURSUE Release: 7

Summary

This is a UFO report in which nobody saw anything with their own eyes. The entire sighting took place on the scope of a TPS-1D search radar at Detachment 2 of the 737th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in northern French Morocco, on the evening of 16 December 1953: a row of returns strung out in a straight line over the sea, changing shape between V, W and M, breaking into as many as 12 blips and merging again, until they faded after several minutes.

What sets this report apart from many of its contemporaries is that it arrives with an explanation already attached. On the summary page, well before the form details, electronics personnel of the 316th Air Division list three possible causes, and paragraph 3 states: "Logical deduction is that one of above mentioned possibilities is the cause for this radar return."

The report was prepared by the division's Director of Intelligence, Major Edward O. Wittmer, and approved by its Director of Operations, Lieutenant Colonel Frank H. Rhoads. It rests on "Primary Report: TWX 12-177," the initial teletype report.

Research Article

What the radar showed

Part II of the form describes the "objects" in radar terms. Shape: "Varing shapes, series of V's, W's, and M's" (spelling as in the original). On size, the report says the item does not apply in the regulation's sense, but the return was "Approximately two (2) or three (3) degrees wide," an angular width on the scope. Colour: N/A. Number: "Varied with sweep from one (1) to twelve (12)."

Formation, according to the report: "Straight line on azimuth of 25° from 20 to 40 miles out," at approximately Geo-ref MJPF 1535. The item for other unusual features adds: "Frequent change in shape. Each object was more distinct at times."

Course of the sighting

The return appeared on an azimuth of 25 degrees and was last observed on the same azimuth. Movement: "Comparatively stationary." Manner of disappearance: "Faded out." Duration: "Several minutes." And above all: "Height finder was out so information concerning angle of elevation was not available." In other words, the report has no altitude data at all, the one measurement that might have helped choose between the explanations.

The sighting is logged as "16/1754Z/Dec 53," under night conditions, from location Geo-ref MJNF 4105. No optical aids were used, and nobody saw anything from the ground or the air.

Observers and weather

Item 6 lists three military observers and no civilians: Airman Third Class V. A. Kay, Air Surveillance Operator, Detachment 2; Captain T. S. White, Detachment Commander; and Lieutenant V. Baker, Controller. Weather: "Overcast with limited visibility but no rain," an estimated ceiling of 8,000 feet, five miles visibility, cloud cover 9/10 and no thunderstorms. Items 8 to 11, including any other unusual activity and physical evidence, are all answered "Negative."

Three explanations, none from the site

The preparing officer's comments reveal an interesting gap: "Although radar maintenance personnel at the Site of observation have offered no possible cause for the sighting," "several qualified electronics personnel at this division" believed the return was caused by one of three things: anomalous propagation of the radar beam, ship-borne radar jamming of the Detachment 2 radar, or geese or storks in flight.

The three possibilities are very different. Anomalous propagation is the bending of a radar beam through layers of air of differing temperature and humidity, a well-known effect over the sea; ship-borne jamming would point to deliberate or incidental electronic activity by a vessel in the Mediterranean; and migrating birds are a routine explanation for slow, numerous returns. The report does not choose among them and shows no check made to confirm any of them: no shipping movements, no temperature data, no migration data.

Structure and distribution

Page 1 is the summary sheet (AF Form 112, Part I), with the subject "UFOB" and the area reported on given as "North Fr Morocco and Mediterranean Sea." The evaluation field reads "A-1," the top grade in the rating scheme of the time, meaning a completely reliable source and confirmed information. Since the source here is a radar and its crew, the grade concerns the reliability of the record, not the interpretation of the return. The originator's distribution is one information copy to ATIC, and the division recommends further distribution to the Directors of Intelligence of USAFE and of the Seventeenth Air Force. Page 1 also carries handwritten annotations, including "Reg # N279" and the number AF605521.

Significance

The report shows clearly how the Air Force handled anomalous radar returns in 1953: a precise record of the scope parameters, alongside a list of natural technical explanations proposed after the fact at division headquarters, without testing any of them. On one hand, a description of numerous, comparatively stationary returns in a straight line over the sea on an overcast night fits propagation effects or a flock of birds well. On the other, the radar men who worked the set itself found no explanation, and the height finder, the instrument that could have told low-flying birds from returns at altitude, was out of service. The "logical deduction" of paragraph 3 is therefore a probability, not a finding.

Key People

Locations

Incidents

Notable Quotes

"The return varied in shape from a V shape to W shape to M shape. It faded after several minutes of observation." -- page 1

"Logical deduction is that one of above mentioned possibilities is the cause for this radar return." -- page 1

"Number-Varied with sweep from one (1) to twelve (12)." -- page 2

"Formation-Straight line on azimuth of 25° from 20 to 40 miles out." -- page 2

"Height finder was out so information concerning angle of elevation was not available." -- page 2

"Overcast with limited visibility but no rain." -- page 3

"Although radar maintenance personnel at the Site of observation have offered no possible cause for the sighting..." -- page 3