The Great Lime Green UFO Incident

[dlr110]

The year was 1975 and the place was Naval Air Station, Kingsville, TX. One of the Navy's three (at that time)
advanced student jet pilot training commands. The following event is documented by:
Air Traffic Controller Second Class David Roberts.

"One very clear night I was on duty in the control tower and our evening flight operations seemed to be routine
when for some reason several pilots reported seeing strange lights around the local area. The pilots were not just
reporting them to the control tower, but also to our approach control and to Houston Center. They were primarily
being spotted around a chemical plant north of the airport. We had one TA-4 pilot report seeing something just
north of the airport, so when he landed I asked if he was serious about seeing some unidentified lights north of
the airport and he answered “affirmative.” Because of FAA regulations I then asked him if he wanted to make
a formal report to which he replied “hell no.” Back then there was still some kind of negative stigma that was
attached to anyone making official UFO reports.

After I got off ground control I told the control tower supervisor I was going down to the weather office and that
I had a little trick to play on a new controller we had in the control tower that night. I went to the weather office
and told a friend of mine there what I wanted to do and he agreed to help me. We took a balloon that is used to
measure winds aloft which is about three to four feet in diameter and was kind of a lime green in color. We had
a small light bulb and when you placed the end of it in some kind of wet wax they had, it would glow, so we put
it in the balloon and then aired it up with helium. The end of the balloon was then secured and then attached to
a one-hundred-foot section of line and we took it outside to the base of the control tower which was ninety feet
in height.

While we were getting the balloon ready the tower supervisor had given a pair of binoculars to the new guy and
told him to get out on the “catwalk” that went around the control tower just below the windows and to watch
for any of the strange lights that were being reported out to the north and northwest between the chemical plant
and the air station. When we saw him come out on the catwalk and start looking through the binoculars we started
letting the balloon go up slowly. So here we have a young guy right out of ATC school looking through some powerful
binoculars and a large balloon glowing bright green.

As the balloon reached the level of the catwalk he turned around and saw it in the binoculars at 7 time’s normal
view as he screamed and rushed to get back in the control tower. The other guys later said he nearly broke a leg
trying get in yelling “I saw it, I saw it,” and all the while my friend and I were rolling in the grass at the base of
the control tower laughing our heads off. By the way we lost the balloon and now everyone on the airport saw a
green UFO floating up and across the airfield. And of course we were called on the carpet the next day to answer
a few questions from the Chief weather forecaster. He really didn't appreciate the humor in our little escapade."

[Doc B]

[WillyCamaro]

[Paladin]

God story, David.

Ray

[Stanwade]

I love a good prank!

[carrmillus]

......great story!!!!!............. ...........................

[steve99f]

Great story! I wonder though, if your prank was the genesis for the USAF cover story for UFO: it was a weather balloon. Often used with swamp gas.

[dlr110]

Great story! I wonder though, if your prank was the genesis for the USAF cover story for UFO: it was a weather balloon. Often used with swamp gas.

Given the time period and that a lot of cases were being "reopened" I think the USAF definitely copied the idea from us.

[Quick Steel]

When a new 2nd LT would show up I would brusquely send him to the maintenance shop to get the "paper stretcher." The maintenance Sgt. would tell him the supply Sgt. probably had it. The supply Sgt. would send him to battalion maintenance.......and on it went.