RAF Kinross Disappearance 1956

On May 21, 1956, RAF Kinross ground control radar operators tracked an unidentified object over the North Sea at 20,000 feet. A de Havilland Venom was scrambled for intercept. Ground Control Intercept operators tracked both radar returns — the RAF jet and the unknown — converging. At the moment of apparent intercept, the two radar returns merged into one. The larger contact then departed at extreme speed to the northeast. No wreckage, no ejection, and no body of the pilot were ever found despite extensive North Sea searches. The RAF officially listed the aircraft as lost in the North Sea, cause unknown. The case drew comparisons to the 1953 Kinross Incident in which Lieutenant Felix Moncla's F-89 merged with a UFO return over Lake Superior. Joint USAF-RAF investigations classified the file at Top Secret. The North Sea incident remained classified until partial documents were released under the Freedom of Information Act in the early 2000s.