apparently put on power; it pulled into a sharp left bank and made a
pass at the tower. The light zoomed up with the F-51 in hot pursuit.
At 7,000 feet it made a turn. Gorman followed and tried to cut inside
the light's turn to get closer to it but he couldn't do it. The light
made another turn, and this time the '51 closed on a collision
course. The UFO appeared to try to ram the '51, and Gorman had to
dive to get out of the way. The UFO passed over the '51's canopy with
only a few feet to spare. Again both the F-51 and the object turned
and closed on each other head on, and again the pilot had to dive out
to prevent a collision. All of a sudden the light began to climb and
disappeared.

"I had the distinct impression that its maneuvers were controlled by
thought or reason," Gorman later told ATIC investigators.

Four other observers at Fargo partially corroborated his story, an
oculist, Dr. A. D. Cannon, the Cub's pilot, and his passenger, Einar
Neilson. They saw a light "moving fast," but did not witness all the
maneuvers that Gorman reported. Two CAA employees on the ground saw a
light move over the field once.

Project Sign investigators rushed to Fargo. They had wired ahead to
ground the plane. They wanted to check it over before it flew again.
When they arrived, only a matter of hours after the incident, they
went over the airplane, from the prop spinner to the rudder trim tab,
with a Geiger counter. A chart in the official report shows where
every Geiger counter reading was taken. For comparison they took
readings on a similar airplane that hadn't been flown for several
days. Gorman's airplane was more radioactive. They rushed around, got
sworn statements from the tower operators and oculist, and flew back