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◆ CASE FILEThe facts, corroborated

An F-94 Crew and the Light That Climbed Away over Ladd

On the evening of 8 December 1952 the crew of an F-94 jet fighter coming in to land at Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska, saw a white oval light pass within about 200 yards at their own height, then climb away "at a phenomenal rate" and turn red. Project Blue Book's record card judged it too long for a meteor and carried it as Unknown. This is the record of what two aircrew and two ground crew reported, not a verdict on what flew over Fairbanks.

◆ THE SHORT VERSION

  • An F-94 Crew and the Light That Climbed Away over Ladd is a reported UAP case in Ladd Air Force Base (now Fort Wainwright), Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 8 December 1952 local evening (0616-0626Z 9 December 1952).
  • The crew of an F-94 landing at Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska, on 8 December 1952 reported a white oval light that passed within about 200 yards and then climbed "at a phenomenal rate".
  • After landing, the crew and two ground crew watched it move erratically and descend "as a helicopter would" behind buildings, without a sound.
  • The Blue Book record card says ten minutes was "Too long for a meteor", that no aircraft were reported in the area, and evaluates the case as Unknown (2266).
  • The sighting was visual; the fighter's radar did not track the light.
  • For this case Fractured Realities holds 1 distinct source, 1 corroborating primary document and 3 distinct claimants on its resolved list.
  • The archive grades it L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD — a released government record names who saw it, the top of our scale, though no independent testimony sits beside that record.

Counts are resolved totals of what sources say, computed 2026-10-12; the reported details above are claims in the record, not findings. A record of reports, not a verdict on what happened.

An F-94 Crew and the Light That Climbed Away over Ladd
An F-94A Starfire of the 449th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ladd Air Force Base, 1955 · photo: United States Air Force · via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Public domain ↗
EVENT DATE
8 December 1952 local evening (0616-0626Z 9 December 1952)
LOCATION
Ladd Air Force Base (now Fort Wainwright), Fairbanks, Alaska · USA
COORDS
64.84°N 147.61°W
INDEPENDENCE
L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD
SOURCES
1 distinct
CLAIMANTS
3
STATUS
Known from released government records
NUMBERS COMPUTED 2026-10-12 · RESOLVED COUNTS, NOT A VERDICT
VIEW ON ATLAS →

F-94A 49-2522 was on the base leg into Ladd Air Force Base at 2,000 feet. Its pilot was First Lieutenant Donald A. Dickman, and First Lieutenant Thomas W. Davies was his radar observer. At their own altitude they saw a white oval light about the size of a transport's cabin light. It was on a near-parallel course going the other way, and at its closest it was about 200 yards off. It sped up noticeably. Then it climbed "at a phenomenal rate" on an erratic path, turning from white to red as it rose.

The crew landed and kept watching from the ground with two ground crew on duty. For three minutes the light moved erratically. Then it headed 160 degrees and gained speed like a falling star, growing redder. It slowed its descent "as a helicopter would" and dropped behind buildings. The air was 22 degrees below zero, the kind in which sound carries far, and they heard nothing.

What is on the record

Project Blue Book holds the case as Unknown 2266. Ladd tower and Crane Control had no traffic. No interception was tried because of an alert recall. The Project 10073 record card notes that ten minutes was "Too long for a meteor" and that "No a/c were reported in area". It evaluates the sighting as Unknown.

The card is dated 8 December. The messages give 06:16 to 06:26 Zulu on 9 December, which was the evening of the 8th in Alaska. Berliner's list of Blue Book unknowns, NICAP and Hatch all carry the case. Hatch tags it as a ground-radar case, but the sighting in the record is visual and the fighter's radar did not track the light. The same Blue Book file also holds a separate Ladd sighting from 16 December, which is not part of this one.

Why it sits where it does

L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD — a released government record names who saw it. The two officers, Dickman and Davies, are named. The two ground crew are in the file but unnamed. No account from either officer exists outside the Blue Book file. The grade measures the paperwork, not the light. What climbed away from the F-94 is not resolved here.

◆ CORROBORATION
✓BB Unknown 2266 · 1952-12-08 · Ladd AFB, Alaska, Alaska, USA (government primary)
✓3 resolved claimants
◆ SOURCES

Everything this file draws on, in the open — reports, not reality. Check us.

Documents & published sources

Government records, papers and journalism the archive links to this case.

government record · 1
PILOT ENCOUNTERGOVERNMENT RECORD1952USA

CASE FILES STATE THE RECORD AS OUR ARCHIVE HOLDS IT — FACTS, NOT OPINION. REPORTS, NOT REALITY.

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An F-94 Crew and the Light That Climbed Away over Ladd — Case File · Fractured Realities