File 102 · 13–14 August 1956
Lakenheath–Bentwaters radar-visual
RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. East Anglian airfield country. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
Ground radar, airborne radar, and pilots at two USAF/RAF stations tracked objects that made sharp stops and turns. Condon called it unidentified.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
On the night of 13–14 August, GCA radar at Bentwaters and then Lakenheath painted targets that moved at high speed, stopped, and darted. A Venom night fighter was scrambled; the crew got a lock and a visual on a light that then appeared behind them. Multiple scopes and two stations were involved.
The Condon Committee’s radar expert, Gordon Thayer, wrote that this was one of the most puzzling radar-visual cases in the file and left it unidentified. The USAF later preferred anomalous propagation. The logs from two airfields remain.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
Before Sputnik the known lights were planets, meteors, aircraft, and balloons. No station. No Starlink.
Always
Venus and the bright planets
A fixed brilliant point. Does not streak. Does not hover over a street then leave. Often the first misread light in a rural report.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
Paper on this file
Official or public documents that belong with this case — not a verdict.
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Same craft · Same years · 17 July 1957
RB-47 electronic encounter
Gulf Coast, Mississippi to Texas · United States
Unidentified
An Air Force RB-47 with electronic intelligence gear tracked a luminous object that matched its ELINT bearings for hundreds of miles.
Same craft · Same years · July 17, 1957, ~10:30 PM onward
RB-47 Electronic and Visual Encounter
Over Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma · United States
Unidentified
A six-man USAF RB-47 crew on an ECM training mission was followed for over 700 miles and 90+ minutes by an object detected simultaneously on airborne radar, electronic countermeasures equipment, and visually as a bright light. Ground radar also tracked it. Remains one of Blue Book's most puzzling radar-visual-electronic cases.
Same craft · Same years · July 17, 1957
RB-47 Electronic Reconnaissance Encounter
Mississippi to Oklahoma (airborne) · United States
Unidentified
A six-man USAF RB-47 crew was shadowed for over an hour by an unidentified object detected simultaneously on visual, airborne radar/ELINT, and ground radar. The object performed maneuvers impossible for conventional aircraft and disappeared from all sensors simultaneously.
Same craft · Same years · July 17, 1957
RB-47 Electronic Intelligence Encounter
Gulf Coast / Mississippi to Oklahoma · United States
Unidentified
A USAF RB-47 crew of six experienced a 90+ minute encounter with a bright light tracked visually, on airborne radar, ground radar, and electronic countermeasures equipment across multiple states. The object repeatedly appeared, disappeared, and maneuvered at high speed. Studied by the Condon Committee.
Same craft · 10 September 2026, night
Mysterious lights over the Las Vegas valley
Las Vegas, Nevada · United States
Unidentified
KLAS aired a viewer video of sparkling lights hovering in the Las Vegas night sky on 10 September.
Same craft · Early September 2026 (recent, prior to Sept 10 post)
Strange Lights Floating and Emitting Horizontal Light, Geumchon, Paju, South Korea
Geumchon, Paju · South Korea
Unidentified
A resident in an apartment complex saw and filmed strange floating lights. One light appeared to emit or fire another light horizontally before disappearing. First-person account shared on X.