◆ CASE FILEThe facts, corroborated
Two Rescue-squadron Sentries and a Wandering Light at Ladd
On the evening of 16 December 1952 two airmen guarding the 74th Air Rescue Squadron area at Ladd AFB, Alaska, and their duty controller watched a light like a large bright star race north, slow almost to a stop, blink off and climb until it vanished. The record card says that because of the changing speed it "probably was not a star" or an aircraft. This is the record of what three airmen reported, not a verdict on what moved over Fairbanks.
◆ THE SHORT VERSION
- Two Rescue-squadron Sentries and a Wandering Light at Ladd is a reported UAP case in the USA, 16 December 1952, 19:55-20:15 local (17/0555-0615Z).
- Two sentries and a duty controller at Ladd AFB, Alaska, reported a star-like light on 16 December 1952 that went "faster than jet", slowed almost to a stop, blinked off and climbed away over 20 minutes.
- The record card says that because of the duration and changing speed it "probably was not a star" or an aircraft.
- Alaska's intelligence directorate called it the third such Ladd-area sighting that December and said University of Alaska meteorologists could not account for them.
- A bright planet or a balloon remains worth weighing; the card rejects a star only on the reported speed changes.
- 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.
EVENT DATE
16 December 1952, 19:55-20:15 local (17/0555-0615Z)
LOCATION
74th Air Rescue Squadron area, Ladd Air Force Base, 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
