Felix Moncla First Lieutenant Felix Eugene Moncla , Jr . ( October 21 , 1926 – presumably died November 23 , 1953 ) was a United States Air Force pilot who mysteriously disappeared while pursuing an unidentified flying object over Lake Superior in 1953 . This is sometimes known as The Kinross Incident , after Kinross Air Force Base , where Moncla was on temporary assignment when he disappeared . The U . S . Air Force reported that Moncla had crashed and that the " unknown " object was a misidentified Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft . On multiple occasions , the RCAF denied their involvement in the intercept , in correspondence with members of the public asking for further details on the intercept . Biography . Moncla was born in Mansura , Louisiana on October 21 , 1926 to Felix , Sr . ( 1894 – 1957 ) , a high school science teacher , principal , and veteran of World War I , and Yvonne Beridon Moncla ( 1900 – 1961 ) , a seamstress . He also had two older sisters , Leonie and Muriel Ann . Not long after his father had been hospitalized , the family moved to Moreauville , Louisiana to live with his uncle and great aunt . He attended high school in the area and after graduating accepted an athletic scholarship to Southwest Louisiana Institute where he played football and received his Bachelor of Science degree . After graduation , he enlisted in the U . S . Army and served during World War II in occupied Japan . After his service , he attended the University of New Orleans , but reenlisted in the military at the start of the Korean War in 1950 in the United States Air Force as an officer pilot trainee . After spending a few months at a desk job in Dallas , Texas , Moncla was sent to Connally Air Force Base in Waco , Texas for basic pilot training where he met and married Bobbie Jean Coleman . He took his advanced pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock , Texas and further training on the F - 89 Scorpion at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City , Florida . In Panama City , Bobbie Jean gave birth to their first son . In July , 1952 , Moncla and his family moved to Madison , Wisconsin and had a daughter born five months before Felix Moncla ' s disappearance . Disappearance . Jet scrambled to investigate a radar blip . On the evening of November 23 , 1953 , Air Defense Command Ground Intercept radar operators at Sault Ste . Marie , Michigan identified an unusual target near the Soo Locks . An F - 89C Scorpion jet from Kinross Air Force Base was scrambled to investigate the radar return ; the Scorpion was piloted by First Lieutenant Moncla with Second Lieutenant Robert L . Wilson acting as the Scorpion ' s radar operator . Wilson had problems tracking the object on the Scorpion ' s radar , so ground radar operators gave Moncla directions towards the object as he flew . Flying at some 500 miles per hour , Moncla eventually closed in on the object at about 8000 feet in altitude . Two blips appear to merge , then both vanish . Ground Control tracked the Scorpion and the unidentified object as two " blips " on the radar screen . The two blips on the radar screen grew closer and closer , until they seemed to merge as one ( return ) . Assuming that Moncla had flown either under or over the target , Ground Control thought that moments later , the Scorpion and the object would again appear as two separate blips . Donald Keyhoe reported that there was a fear that the two objects had struck one another " as if in a smashing collision . " Rather , the single blip disappeared from the radar screen , then there was no return at all . Attempts were made to contact Moncla via radio , but this was unsuccessful . A search and rescue operation was quickly mounted , but failed to find a trace of the plane or the pilots . USAF Accident Investigation Report . The official USAF Accident Investigation Report states the F - 89 was sent to investigate an RCAF C - 47 Skytrain which was travelling off course . The F - 89 was flying at an elevation of 8000 feet when it merged with the other mystery radar return . Its IFF signal also disappeared after the two returns merged on the radar scope . Although efforts to contact the crew on radio were unsuccessful , the pilot of another F - 89 sent on the search stated in testimony to the accident board that he believed that he had heard a brief radio transmission from the pilot about forty minutes after the plane disappeared . Air Force investigators reported that Moncla may have experienced vertigo and crashed into the lake . The Air Force said that Moncla had been known to experience vertigo from time to time : " Additional leads uncovered during this later course of the investigation indicated that there might be a possibility that Lt . Moncla was subjective to attacks of vertigo in a little more than the normal degree . Upon pursuing these leads , it was discovered that statements had been made by former members of Lt . Moncla ' s organization but were not first hand evidence and were regarded as hearsay . " Pilot vertigo is not listed as a cause or possible cause in any of the USAF Accident Investigation Board ' s findings and conclusions . Contradictions in official USAF explanations . The official accident report states that when the unknown was first picked up on radar , it was believed to be RCAF aircraft “ VC - 912 ” but it was classified as “ UNKNOWN ” because it was off its flight plan course by about 30 miles . This assertion was emphatically denied by the pilot of this RCAF flight , Gerald Fosberg , when he was interviewed for the David Cherniack documentary " The Moncla Memories " produced for Vision TV ’ s " Enigma " series . The USAF also provided an alternative explanation to noted UFO investigator , Donald Keyhoe . His 1955 book , " The Flying Saucer Conspiracy " provides detailed information of his investigation of the F - 89 ’ s disappearance which began the night of the incident when he received a phone call telling him of “ a rumor out at Selfridge Field that an F - 89 from Kinross ( sic ) was hit by a flying saucer ” . A follow - up telephone call to Public Information Officer Lt . Robert C . White revealed that “ the unknown in that case was a Canadian DC - 3 . It was over the locks by mistake ” . The “ locks ” refers to the restricted air space over the locks at Sault Ste . Marie , on the US Canadian border at the southeast end of Lake Superior . Reports of parts found in 1968 . It is possible that aircraft parts found near the eastern shore of Lake Superior in late October 1968 were from the missing F - 89 . A U . S . Air Force officer confirmed the parts were from a military jet aircraft and the news report speculated these might be from the F - 89 missing from Kinross AFB in 1953 . The identity of the parts was never published and the Canadian government says they have no record of the find . 2006 " Great Lakes Dive Company " hoax . In late August 2006 , an email from a " Preston Miller " was sent to UFO researcher Francis Ridge which contained a quoted excerpt from an Associated Press story . The quoted " news story " claimed that a group of Michigan divers had discovered Moncla ' s F - 89 that vanished in 1953 . The location of the claimed discovery was at the bottom of Lake Superior in the approximate location where the F - 89 had disappeared from radar . The email also contained a link to a website that had recently been created for the group of divers ; they called themselves the " Great Lakes Dive Company " . Francis Ridge forwarded the email to the Internet website " UFO Updates " , a popular forum and message board for UFO researchers and writers . As a result , news of the purported discovery quickly spread through the UFO community and news media sources . Several reporters attempted to contact the " Great Lakes Dive Company " to obtain more information about the discovery . The reporters were placed in contact with a person who claimed to be the spokesman for the Great Lakes Company . He called himself " Adam Jimenez " , and he discussed the " discovery " with several investigators and journalists . " Adam Jimenez " was even interviewed by UFO researcher Linda Moulton Howe on the nationally syndicated , late - night radio talk show , Coast to Coast AM . The company website initially presented two images of the claimed discovery , both images stated as being output from side - scan sonar . The fuzzy , high noise images depicted an almost completely intact aircraft resting on the lakebed , its nose in the silt , with one exposed wing , tip tank and the upswept tail characteristic of the F - 89 " Scorpion " clearly displayed . The discovery initially caused excitement , as many felt that the discovery of the crashed jet would at last provide an answer as to what had happened to Felix Moncla in 1953 . However , as journalists and ufologists delved deeper into the case , their suspicions were raised as the story became more and more elaborate . It was soon stated that an unexplained metallic object had been found near the F - 89 and " sonar images " of this discovery were soon published on the website . It was speculated that the " teardrop - shaped " object was possibly the UFO that the F - 89 had merged with on radar . Several factors about the alleged discovery led journalists to claim that the discovery was in fact a hoax . Several investigators began efforts to track down more information about the " Great Lakes Dive Company " and their spokesman , " Adam Jimenez " . All efforts to find evidence of the existence of the " Great Lakes Dive Company " led to the conclusion that the company did not exist . Efforts to obtain any biographical data on " Adam Jimenez " also turned up nothing . The only contact information anyone obtained for Jimenez were an email address and cellphone . Only three weeks after the discovery , the company ' s website suddenly disappeared without explanation and " Adam Jimenez " stopped answering emails and cellphone calls . An investigation by James Carrion , the International Director of MUFON , the largest UFO civilian research organization in the United States , revealed the following : There was no evidence the Associated Press had written the original " news story " that was quoted in the initial notice of the discovery to MUFON ; there is no record of the existence of the " Great Lakes Dive Company " beyond its fleeting presence on a website ; " Adam Jimenez " refused to provide any further information on the principals of the company , the type of vessel they used , or any other information which might help to establish the existence of the organization . Carrion ' s investigation showed that many of Adam Jimenez ' s statements about the discovery of the F - 89 jet were untrue , including his suggestion that the Canadian government had withheld permission for site survey work to be resumed . It turned out no such permission had been requested . Brendon Baillod , who is active in Great Lakes shipwreck hunting and maritime history circles , and is a director of the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History , stated that he had never heard of Jimenez or his group and that nobody he knew associated with the history of the Great Lakes had heard of him either . Baillod said that the sidescan images taken seemed to be authentic , but dismissed Jimenez ' s claim that they had been made with a fish finder , particularly in depth of water . He further said that the images could not have been made with a hull mounted transducer as was claimed by Jimenez , but would have required a towfish ( a towed scanner ) . As of 2009 , the general consensus among journalists and UFO researchers who have investigated the purported " discovery " is that it is a hoax , and that Felix Moncla ' s F - 89 jet remains undiscovered .