Gorman dogfight facts for kids
The Gorman dogfight was a famous UFO event. It happened on October 1, 1948, in the sky over Fargo, North Dakota, United States. Captain Edward J. Ruppelt of the United States Air Force (USAF) wrote about it in his book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. He said it was one of three "classic" UFO events in 1948 that showed Air Force experts that UFOs were real. The other two were the Chiles-Whitted UFO encounter and the Mantell UFO incident. However, in 1949, the USAF decided that the Gorman dogfight was actually caused by a lighted weather balloon.
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A Pilot's Night Flight
George F. Gorman was a 25-year-old pilot who had flown in World War II. After the war, he worked for a construction company. He was also a second lieutenant in the North Dakota National Guard.
On October 1, 1948, Gorman was flying a P-51 Mustang plane. He was part of a cross-country flight with other National Guard pilots. They arrived over Fargo around 8:30 PM. The other pilots landed, but Gorman decided to keep flying. The sky was clear and cloudless, perfect for night flying.
Around 9:00 PM, he flew over a stadium where a high school football game was happening. Gorman saw a small Piper Cub plane about 500 feet below him. Other than that, the sky looked empty.
The Mysterious Light Appears
Soon after seeing the Piper Cub, Gorman saw another object to his west. It looked like a blinking light. He could not see any wings or body, unlike the Piper Cub.
At 9:07 PM, Gorman called the control tower at Hector Airport. He asked if there was any other air traffic besides his P-51 and the Piper Cub. The tower said no. They then contacted the Piper Cub pilot, Dr. A.D. Cannon. Dr. Cannon and his passenger also saw the lighted object to the west.
The Chase Begins
Gorman told the tower he would follow the object to find out what it was. He sped up his Mustang to full power, flying at 350 to 400 miles per hour. But he quickly realized the object was too fast to catch in a straight line.
Instead, he tried to cut it off by making turns. Gorman made a right turn and flew towards the object head-on at 5,000 feet. The object flew over his plane, about 500 feet away. Gorman said the object was a simple "ball of light" about six to eight inches wide. He also noticed that when the object went faster, it stopped blinking and got brighter.
After this close call, Gorman lost sight of the object. When he saw it again, it seemed to have turned around and was coming at him once more.
A Vertical Climb
The object then suddenly climbed straight up into the sky. Gorman followed it in his own steep climb. At 14,000 feet, his P-51 stalled (lost lift). The object was still 2,000 feet above him.
Gorman tried two more times to get closer to the object, but he couldn't. It seemed to make another head-on pass but turned away before getting too close. By this time, the object was over Hector Airport. In the control tower, air traffic controller L.D. Jensen watched the object through binoculars. He could not see any shape around the light. Dr. Cannon and his passenger from the Piper Cub joined him. They had landed and walked to the tower for a better view.
Gorman kept following the object until he was about twenty-five miles southwest of Fargo. At 14,000 feet, he saw the light at 11,000 feet. He then dived towards the object at full power. However, the object climbed straight up again. He tried to follow but watched as the object disappeared from his sight. At this point, he stopped the chase. It was 9:27 PM. Gorman flew back to Hector Airport.
Gorman's Own Words
On October 23, 1948, Gorman gave a sworn statement about what happened. His statement was often shared in books and documentaries about UFOs for many years. He said:
I am convinced that there was definite thought behind its maneuvers. I am further convinced that the object was governed by the laws of inertia because its acceleration was rapid but not immediate and although it was able to turn fairly tight at considerable speed, it still followed a natural curve. When I attempted to turn with the object I blacked out temporarily due to excessive speed. I am in fairly good physical condition and I do not believe that there are many if any pilots who could withstand the turn and speed effected by the object, and remain conscious. The object was not only able to out turn and out speed my aircraft ... but was able to attain a far steeper climb and was able to maintain a constant rate of climb far in excess of my aircraft.
Gorman believed the object was controlled by something intelligent. He felt it moved in ways that no human pilot could survive.
The Air Force Investigation
Within a few hours, military officers from Project Sign arrived. Project Sign was the United States Air Force's (USAF) group that studied UFOs. They interviewed Gorman, Dr. Cannon, his passenger, and the control tower staff.
The officers also checked Gorman's P-51 Mustang with a Geiger counter to look for radiation. They found that the Mustang had more radiation than other planes that had not flown for several days. This was first seen as proof that Gorman had flown close to an "atomic-powered" object. USAF investigators also said the light could not be "another aircraft, Canadian Vampire jet fighters, or a weather balloon." Their first idea was that "something remarkable had occurred" to Gorman.
Later Explanations
However, more investigation by Project Sign found simpler answers. A plane flying high in the atmosphere gets more radiation than one on the ground. So, the Geiger readings were not strong proof of an atomic object.
Also, the Air Weather Service said that on October 1, they had released a lighted weather balloon from Fargo at 8:50 PM. By 9 PM, the balloon would have been where Gorman and the Piper Cub passengers first saw the light.
Project Sign's investigators also thought that the object's amazing movements were an illusion. They believed Gorman's own plane movements made it seem like the light was moving wildly. They also thought that after the weather balloon disappeared, Gorman might have mistaken the planet Jupiter for the UFO. They suggested he was chasing Jupiter before giving up.
By early 1949, Project Sign and its later groups, Project Grudge and Project Blue Book, said the Gorman case was caused by a lighted weather balloon. However, some people point out that these explanations do not cover all the facts. Gorman was an experienced pilot. He was unlikely to mistake a slow-moving balloon for something he nearly blacked out chasing. Also, Jupiter was below the horizon when he was chasing the object.
What Happened After
The Gorman dogfight became very famous across the country. It helped to increase the number of UFO reports in the late 1940s.
Some UFO researchers, like James E. McDonald and Donald Keyhoe, did not agree with the Air Force's conclusions. They still thought the case was unsolved. Other UFO researchers agreed with Project Sign. UFO historian Jerome Clark wrote that the Air Force's solution "seems plausible." He also felt that "After the Mantell Incident the Gorman sighting may be the most overrated UFO report in the early history of the phenomenon."
In Popular Culture
- The first episode of the 2019 History Channel TV series Project Blue Book is called "The Fuller Dogfight." It is loosely based on the Gorman dogfight.
