Ohio: F-51 Pilot Chased by White UFO
Capt. Harry Roe Jr. encountered a round white object trailing his F-51 fighter near Columbus, Ohio. Radar confirmed it, but interceptors found nothing.
Background
Sighting by Pilots
On June 23, 1954 at around 20:00 or 21:00, Capt. Harry Roe Jr., pilot of an Ohio Air National Guard F-51 Mustang, observed a round white object at 240 mph on a flight from Dayton to Columbus. It followed him closely, positioned slightly higher and behind, without exhaust, and possibly detected on radar. Roe attempted evasive manoeuvres or a collision course, but the object held a similar position until it disappeared to the southeast.
Radar and Intercept Confirmation
S/Sgt. Maynard Harris at Wright-Patterson AFB tracked both the aircraft and the object. Two F-86s took off from Columbus but saw nothing. At 22:00, Maj. Frank J. Gshwandtner and 2nd Lt. Robert P. Lommori in an RB-47E at 25,000 feet saw a white object the size of a baseball, which rotated extremely fast, climbed slightly, and vanished within 30 seconds.
Significance
A military incident with both visual and radar observation, unconfirmed by the fighters. Sources: NICAP, newspapers, Keyhoe.