The Kinross AFB Disappearance of 1953

On the evening of November 23, 1953, an F-89C Scorpion interceptor was scrambled from Kinross Air Force Base to investigate an unidentified radar target over Lake Superior. Ground radar operators watched as the fighter approached the unknown object. Then something unprecedented happened: the two radar returns merged into one, and then both disappeared. Despite an extensive search, the aircraft and its two-man crew - First Lieutenant Felix Moncla Jr. and Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson - were never found. The case remains one of the most disturbing UFO-related incidents in military history.

The Crew

First Lieutenant Felix Moncla Jr.

The pilot:

• 25 years old
• Experienced interceptor pilot
• 433rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• Based at Kinross AFB, Michigan
• Never found

Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson

The radar operator:

• Crew member
• Operated onboard radar
• In constant communication
• Tracking target
• Never found

The Intercept

The Target

What triggered the scramble:

• Unidentified radar return
• Over Lake Superior
• Heading toward restricted airspace
• Required identification
• Standard intercept protocol

The Scramble

F-89C Scorpion launched:

• Evening conditions
• Lake Superior below
• Target tracked on ground radar
• Fighter vectored toward unknown
• Routine intercept initially

The Disappearance

Ground Radar Tracking

What operators saw:

• F-89 approaching target
• Two separate radar returns
• Distance closing steadily
• Returns getting closer
• Then something impossible

The Merge

The critical moment:

• Two returns became one
• Appeared to merge on radar
• Single blip visible
• Then that blip disappeared
• Both gone from screens

Complete Vanishing

What followed:

• No radio contact from Moncla
• No distress signal
• No emergency beacon
• Complete silence
• Total disappearance

The Search

Immediate Response

What was done:

• Search and rescue launched
• Lake Superior searched extensively
• Aircraft and boats deployed
• Shoreline examined
• Nothing found

Extended Efforts

The continuing search:

• Days of searching
• Expanded search area
• Multiple agencies involved
• All efforts unsuccessful
• No trace of aircraft

What Was Never Found

The complete absence:

• No wreckage
• No debris
• No bodies
• No oil slick
• No evidence whatsoever

Official Explanation

Canadian Aircraft

The Air Force claimed:

• Target was RCAF C-47
• Canadian transport aircraft
• Routine flight
• Moncla crashed pursuing it
• Lake swallowed evidence

Canadian Denial

The problem:

• RCAF denied any aircraft in area
• No C-47 on that route
• No Canadian flight plan matched
• Official explanation contradicted
• Story didn’t hold

Analysis

The Merge Problem

What the radar showed:

• Two objects became one
• Not typical collision behavior
• Collision would show debris pattern
• This showed absorption/merge
• Then complete disappearance

Lake Superior

Could it hide evidence?

• Very deep lake
• Cold water preserves
• But wreckage should surface
• At least some debris expected
• Nothing ever appeared

The UFO Connection

Why it’s considered UFO-related:

• Unknown radar target
• Never identified conventionally
• Merge behavior unexplained
• Complete disappearance
• No wreckage ever found

Legacy

Military UFO Fatality

The classification:

• Some consider this UFO-related death
• Crew never recovered
• Target never explained
• Circumstances highly unusual
• Added to UFO lore

Ongoing Mystery

Decades later:

• Case never resolved
• No satisfactory explanation
• Families never got answers
• Lake keeps its secrets
• Mystery endures

The Question

November 23, 1953. Evening. Lake Superior.

Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson climb into their F-89C Scorpion. Routine scramble. Unknown target on radar. Go identify it.

They fly out over the lake. Ground radar tracks them. They’re closing on the target.

The operators watch. Two blips on the screen. Getting closer. Closer.

Then the blips merge.

One blip now. Where there were two.

Then nothing.

No blips. No radio. No distress call. No nothing.

They never came back.

Search teams scoured Lake Superior. Nothing. Not a piece of wreckage. Not a drop of oil. Not a trace of two men and their aircraft.

The Air Force said they were chasing a Canadian plane. The Canadians said no such plane existed.

What was the target?

What happened when the F-89 reached it?

What does it mean when two radar returns become one, and then both vanish?

Lake Superior is deep. Lake Superior is cold. Lake Superior keeps secrets.

But even Lake Superior should give up some wreckage. Some debris. Something.

It gave up nothing.

Felix Moncla Jr. and Robert Wilson. First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant. Pilot and radar operator.

Sent to identify something over Lake Superior.

And swallowed by whatever they found.

The Kinross AFB Disappearance.

Still gone.

Still unexplained.

The lake still silent.

The mystery still waiting.