The Jet That Merged and Vanished

On November 23, 1953, an F-89 Scorpion was scrambled from Kinross AFB to intercept an unknown radar contact over Lake Superior. Ground radar watched as the jet’s blip merged with the UFO—then both disappeared. The crew and aircraft were never found.

The Scramble

November 23, 1953:

• Kinross AFB
• Michigan
• Unknown radar contact
• Over Lake Superior
• Intercept ordered

The Crew

Who flew:

• 1st Lt. Felix Moncla Jr. (pilot)
• 2nd Lt. Robert Wilson (radar operator)
• F-89 Scorpion
• Two-man crew
• Combat aircraft

The Contact

What radar showed:

• Unknown object
• Over Lake Superior
• Near Canadian border
• Unidentified
• Required investigation

The Pursuit

What happened:

• F-89 launched
• Gave chase
• Ground radar tracked
• Both targets visible
• Converging

The Merge

Critical moment:

• Blips came together
• Then became one
• “Merged” on radar
• Stayed together
• Concerning

The Disappearance

After merge:

• Single return
• Then nothing
• Both gone
• No contact
• Silence

The Search

Recovery efforts:

• Immediate search
• Canadian cooperation
• Lake Superior
• Nothing found
• No debris

Lake Superior

The location:

• Massive lake
• Very deep
• Cold water
• Preserves wreckage
• Nothing located

Official Explanation

Air Force statement:

• Chased RCAF C-47
• Crashed into lake
• Canadian aircraft
• Case closed
• But problems

RCAF Response

Canadian position:

• No C-47 there
• No aircraft in area
• Not Canadian plane
• Denied explanation
• Contradicts USAF

The Second Explanation

Changed story:

• Pilot vertigo
• Crashed into lake
• Mechanical failure
• Normal accident
• Still no debris

Why Suspicious

Problems:

• No wreckage found
• No bodies recovered
• RCAF denial
• Radar merge anomaly
• Changed explanations

The Families

Who waited:

• Moncla’s family
• Wilson’s family
• No closure
• No answers
• Decades of nothing

The 2006 Claim

Later development:

• Diver claimed find
• Wreckage located
• Then retracted
• Hoax accusations
• Added mystery

Project Blue Book

Air Force files:

• Case included
• Explained as accident
• Radar merge ignored
• UFO aspect dismissed
• Inadequate

What Really Happened

Possibilities:

• Mid-air collision with UFO
• Abduction
• Crash
• Unknown
• Never resolved

Significance

An Air Force jet merging with a UFO on radar and disappearing completely—crew and aircraft never recovered.

Legacy

The Kinross Incident shows what happens when fighter jets intercept UFOs—sometimes they don’t come back. Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson vanished into Lake Superior, and the radar showed why.