Unfortunately the radar station didn't have any height-finding
equipment. The operators knew the direction of the target and its
distance from the station but they didn't know its altitude. They
reported the target, and two F-86's were scrambled.

The radar picked up the F-86's soon after they were airborne, and
had begun to direct them into the target when the target started to
fade on the radarscope. At the time several of the operators thought
that this fade was caused by the target's losing altitude rapidly and
getting below the radar's beam. Some of the other operators thought
that it was a high-flying target and that it was fading just because
it was so high.

In the debate which followed, the proponents of the high-flying
theory won out, and the F-86's were told to go up to 40,000 feet. But
before the aircraft could get to that altitude, the target had been
completely lost on the radarscope.

The F-86's continued to search the area at 40,000 feet, but could
see nothing. After a few minutes the aircraft ground controller
called the F-86's and told one to come down to 20,000 feet, the other
to 5,000 feet, and continue the search. The two jets made a quick
letdown, with one pilot stopping at 20,000 feet and the other heading
for the deck.

The second pilot, who was going down to 5,000 feet, was just
beginning to pull out when he noticed a flash below and ahead of him.
He flattened out his dive a little and headed toward the spot where
he had seen the light. As he closed on the spot he suddenly noticed
what he first thought was a weather balloon. A few seconds later he