Sioux City mystery plane
- Date
- 20 Jan 1951
- Place
- Over the Sioux City airport, Iowa (Mid-Continent Airlines DC-3), United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on 20 January 1951 the Sioux City tower saw an unidentified red light at about 8,000 ft. Captain Larry Vinther and co-pilot Jim Bachmeier of a departing Mid-Continent Airlines DC-3 were asked to look; they reported a large aircraft-like object with a B-29-sized fuselage and a straight wing that passed under them and then reappeared flying alongside them about 200 ft away, reversing course faster than they thought possible. Their account ran in newspapers nationwide and in Aviation Week. Edward Ruppelt wrote that an Air Force investigator attributed it to a B-36 in the area, an identification he considered implausible; James McDonald discussed the case in his 1968 congressional testimony.
What officials concluded
Tentative explanation
A B-36 bomber in the area (Air Force investigator, per Ruppelt)
Strongest ordinary reading
None established; a misjudged conventional aircraft remains the only proposal
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- Yes: Airline crew
- Yes: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- Yes: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Sioux City mystery plane incidenten.wikipedia.org
On the map
42.50° N, 96.40° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map