The Gorman Incident

By Crusader1307

Sometimes referred to as The Gorman Dogfight , this incident concerned a US Air Force Fighter and his so called Air Battle with an Unidentified Flying Object. The incident occurred on October 1, 1948 over Fargo, North Dakota (US). A Veteran Fighter Pilot of World War II, 2nd Lieutenant George Gorman (North Dakota Air National Guard), on routine patrol Gorman noticed a glowing Disk flying at 5,000 feet. Gorman was flying a P-51 Mustang Fighter and began to accelerate to 400 miles per hour. The Object climbed to operational ceiling of 21,000 feet in seconds. Gorman, nonetheless continued his pursuit. Several times, he and the Object ran head on with one another - breaking off just before impact. Soon other Fighters were enroute to assist Gorman. Gorman tried several times to dive drop on the Object from 14,000 feet - only to have it veer off at angles that a traditional aircraft could NOT do. After 20-minutes, the Object simply rose up higher and higher into the atmosphere until it disappeared. The story was widely told in local and National News. Gorman (as a serving Officer in The US Military), filed his Official report. He was told by his Superiors that he had tangled with an Experimental Balloon and NOT a Flying Saucer . Gorman never talked about the incident until he left The Military.