- Nash-Fortenberry UFO sighting
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The Nash-Fortenberry UFO sighting was an unidentified flying object sighting that occurred on July 14, 1952, when two experienced commercial pilots (William B. Nash and William H. Fortenberry) claimed to have seen eight UFOs flying in a tight echelon formation over Chesapeake Bay in the state of Virginia.
Though the encounter lasted only twelve to fifteen seconds, Nash and Fortenberry were able to offer a detailed moment-by-moment chronology of events. Both pilots were World War II U.S. Navy veterans, and had been trained in identification of enemy aircraft -- Nash was a Naval Air Transport veteran who specialized in anti-submarine patrols, while Fortenberry worked with the Navy's air experimental wing.
The encounter was particularly noteworthy because the pilots observed the UFOs between their aircraft and the ground, allowing for relatively precise measurements of the objects' motion and size when compared to known landmarks; more often claimed UFOs are spotted against an open sky, making such comparisons difficult. The encounter was lent additional corroboration by several groups of independent ground witnesses who reported their own sightings within an hour of their occurrence, before the case earned mass media attention.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book, who could find no conventional explanation for what the pilots described, and who declared the case an "unknown." Astronomer and UFO skeptic Donald Menzel first argued the pilots might have seen reflections in their cockpit, but withdrew this explanation following a rejoinder from the pilots.[1]
References
External links
- UFO CASE REPORT: The Nash-Fortenberry Sighting (aircraft encounter with formation of UFOs) from UFOCasebook.com
- "We Flew Above Flying Saucers", by William B. Nash and William H. Fortenberry, from True magazine, 1967
UFOs and ufology Notable Incidents List of sightings · List of aircraft-UFO incidents · List of UFO sightings in outer space · Aurora (1897) · Roswell (1947) · Washington (1952) · Tehran (1976) · Rendlesham Forest (1980) · Japan Air Lines (1986) · Belgian UFO wave (1990) · Phoenix Lights (1997) · O'Hare Airport (2006)
Scientific studies Project Blue Book · Condon Report · COMETA Report · List of notable studies in ufology · Identification studies of UFOsUFO conspiracy theory Culture Involvement Skeptics 
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