George F. Gorman
George Gorman was born in July 1923. During World War II, George was a fighter pilot. Later, he became an instructor teaching French airmen to fly B-25 Mitchell bombers. When the war ended, he took a job with a construction company as a manager. Since flying was in his blood, he jumped at the opportunity to join the North Dakota Air National Guard in 1946. His unit flew P-51D Mustangs out of Hector Airport.
October 1, 1948
George was piloting his P-51 Mustang on October 1, 1948. He was flying with his fellow National Guardsmen when they peeled off. George wanted to spend a bit more time flying in the night sky over Fargo, North Dakota. He wasn’t expecting too much from the routine flight. While flying alone, he saw a light coming from another plane. It was a Piper Club light plane the control tower had already told him about. He could see it flying about 500-feet beneath him.
Unidentified Aircraft
A light in the sky caught George’s attention. He knew that it wasn’t the Piper, and it hadn’t been picked up by the control tower. George didn’t know what it was, so he decided to investigate. The light on the craft was bright, but then suddenly went dark. When he got close to the craft, the light moved faster than he could change his course. George wasn’t the only one who saw the mysterious lights in the sky. One of the air traffic controllers saw the craft on his radar, but it kept disappearing.
Describing the Incident
George wrote a report for Captain Edward J. Ruppelt. In the report, he said that the light was about six to eight inches in diameter; it was clear white and fuzzy around the edges. He said the light was blinking on and off. When he got close, the light became steady and pulled to the left. Soon, it reached about 7,000-feet. Suddenly, the light headed straight for him. He put his plane in a steep dive to prevent an impact. He says that it was a very close call.
Looking Up As A Fighter Pilot
After his dive, he looked up and saw the object about 500-feet above his cockpit. Suddenly, the light executed a sharp turn and was heading for George again. George was sure that the mysterious craft was hell-bent on colliding with him. At the last second, the aircraft flew high up into the sky. George kept tracking the path of the object to 14,000 feet, then his engine stalled. The object was gone, and he headed back to the airfield for a safe landing. The incident was known as the Gorman dogfight, which lasted a total of 27 minutes.
Official Sworn Statement
After the incident, George had to submit a report to Captain Ruppelt as well as his commanding officer. In his deposition, he said that he was convinced that there was thought behind the craft’s maneuvers. He also said that he was convinced that the laws of inertia did not govern the object due to the rapid acceleration. He says that it was fast but not immediate. He says that although the craft managed to turn so tight at a considerable speed, it still followed a natural curve. He also admitted to losing consciousness for a time.
Good Physical Condition
George says that his loss of consciousness had nothing to do with his physical condition. He says that there aren’t too many pilots who could turn with the speeds that he did and still remain conscious. He found it strange that the object was able to out-turn and out-speed his aircraft. He says that somehow, the craft was able to attain a steeper climb than him and maintain a constant speed. Fortunately, people didn’t think his story was just a delusion. The two men in the tower were able to back up his story.
Story From the Tower Of A Fighter Pilot
The two men in the tower backed up George’s story about the object’s high rate of speed, and they described the light the same way that George did. The man who was flying the Piper earlier saw something too and backed up the story as well.
Denial
For some reason, the investigators didn’t want to believe George, even though he had people to back up his story. First, they blamed his memory of the incident on the trauma that he suffered during the war. They blamed other issues; however, he barely drinks, doesn’t do drugs and spends his free time hunting and fishing. Many people believe that the government believes George, but they are trying to cover up what really happened out there that night. If it were a UFO that George was in a flight-fight with, the government wouldn’t want anyone to know. In 1948 A Fighter Pilot Pursued A Mystery Speeding Craft – But Then It Vanished Into Thin Air, but officials choose not to believe him.
