Wonsan–Sunchon orange globes
Around midnight on 29 January 1952 the crews of two B-29s, about 80 miles apart over Wonsan and Sunchon, each saw an orange globe that paced their bomber.
1952 CE · 39.15, 127.44 · status: unexplained
The account
The first object stayed near the plane for about five minutes, occasionally flaring blue. Far East Air Forces commander Otto Weyland said more data was needed; the reports fed into the 1952 American UFO wave.
The sceptical view
No explanation was ever agreed; jet exhaust was considered unlikely by the Air Force itself.
The researched reading
Two bomber crews in wartime Korea each saw an orange globe pace them. Enemy aircraft or an electrical phenomenon could account for it, but the case was never resolved and keeps some genuine room for the unknown.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 30% | Gunners in a war zone saw an orange light with “blue flames” pace their bombers; North Korean night fighters, tracer, or Soviet aircraft with afterburner glow are the obvious candidates, though the Air Force itself thought jet exhaust unlikely. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 21% | Two separate crews reported a similar globe on the same night, and the Air Force could not explain it; the descriptions do not match any known aircraft well. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 15% | An orange, pulsating sphere about a metre across that pulled away resembles some ball lightning and plasma reports, and St Elmo-like discharges are known around aircraft. |
| Secret human technology | 12% | Experimental Soviet devices or night-fighter tactics in Korea were secret at the time; the crews would not have recognised them. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 12% | Crews under threat at night with no reference points misjudge distance and size; the two crews were about 80 miles apart (not 300 as sometimes said) and the reports were compared afterwards. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 8% | A bright planet or star seen from a moving bomber can appear to pace it, though five minutes of pacing at close range argues against this. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | Official crew reports through intelligence channels; no sign of fabrication. |
Official position: The Air Force issued a statement on the reports and Ruppelt’s Project Blue Book account left it unexplained; jet exhaust was considered and judged unlikely.