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Archive 1959: Fighter jets sent to intercept Redmond UFO

On September 24, 1959, police officer Robert Dickerson saw a large, bright object descend over the city, stop abruptly, and hover at 200 feet.

Editor's note: We published this a few years ago, but we're sharing it again in light of this highly popular story: UFO videos posted by Blink-182 are real and never should have been released, Navy confirms

REDMOND, Ore. -- Shortly before dawn on September 24, 1959, police officer Robert Dickerson was driving through the streets of Redmond, Oregon when he saw a large, bright object descend over the city, stop abruptly, and hover at 200 feet.

The object was low enough that nearby treetops glowed, he said. Minutes later, Dickerson drove to the Federal Aviation Administration Office at the Redmond Airport.

At 5:10 a.m., the FAA reported the object to Seattle Air Route Control Center, which relayed the message to Hamilton Air Force Base in California, which scrambled six F-102 jets to intercept the UFO.

An administrator at the Redmond Airport also witnessed the event and filed an official report with the FAA.

The video above comes from a broadcast of “Space Report” on KGW Television from September, 1959. The program's host was veteran broadcaster Hal Starr who hosted a weekly series about UFO’s on radio and then later on television.

It was the time of Sputnik and everyone was on guard, with the possibility of UFO’s from our cold-war adversary, our own armed forces or from worlds beyond.

Note: Broadcaster Hal Starr is not related to the Sydney Jordan comic series, coincidentally, also a space-based adventure.

KGW's Live at 7 was at the 17th McMenamins UFO Festival in McMinnville on Thursday night. Dr. Lynne Kitei, who witnessed the Phoenix Lights UFO in 1997, shared her experience in the video below. Also, Lewis and Clark astrophysicist Ethan Siegel talks about the recent discovery of new planets that might support extraterrestrial life.

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