On April 30, 1952, American G.I.s fighting the North Koreans and the Chinese in the rugged mountains around Panmunjom saw two startling objects fly over their foxholes. For the men of the 3rd Platoon, Heavy Mortar Company, 180th Infantry Regiment, Eighth Army, it was a sight they would never forget.
"Two white, silvery objects, one behind the other, rumbled high in the sky over a valley in a front-line sector at 6 p.m., April 30th [1952], heading southeast into South Korea,' stated a Stars and Stripes article by Sgt. Bill McCorkle [April 1952 issue]. He went on to point out that six members of the third platoon, Heavy Mortar Company, 180th Regiment saw the objects. PFC [Private First Class] H.B. Webb, a jeep driver, said that their speed was thought to be 900 to 1,000 miles per hour [1,440 to 1,600 kilometers per hour]. 'A trail different than jet streams appeared behind them,' he said."
"Pvt. Roland Jones, another eyewitness, said, 'Jets passed over right before the objects, only they were [F-86] Sabres going north. They were much slower than the southbound objects we saw.'"
"Mortar Platoon leader 2nd Lt. Bill Smith said, 'They didn't have wings but they sounded similar to jets with their rumbling sound. But they weren't - I know. They were going way too fast, and they started down, tumbling to earth, as they got out of view. Their trajectory before falling was flat and that proves they weren't mortars. [mortar shells or rounds] They were not jet gas tanks jettisoned off, either, as some theorized, as their trajectory knocks this idea, too."
