Andrews AFB Jet Chase of July 26, 2002—FOIA Response Indicates Andrews AFB Tower Logs Were Sanitized For the Day of the Sighting

Since publication of "The Washington, D.C., Jet Chase of July 26, 2002", in the International UFO Reporter, Vol. 27, No. 4, Winter 2002-2003, pages 3-7, 22-25, additional tower logs have been received. These logs are for Andrews Air Force Base (ADW) and for Reagan National Airport (DCA) and cover the day before the sighting.

Also, final FOIA responses have been received on the availability of information regarding the number of aircraft that scrambled from Andrews and regarding the possibility of a training exercise scheduled for the time of the sighting.

Copies of all tower logs and FOIA responses are attached to (linked from) this report.

The Tower Logs—Background

On July 26, 2002, four fighters scrambled from Andrews at about 1 AM. Over the next hour, witnesses 8 miles apart independently reported a fighter chasing an unidentified light or object, once over Waldorf, MD, and twice over Brandywine, MD. The fighters were seen to return to base at about 1:50 AM. As part of the investigation of these events, on July 29, 2002, a FOIA was sent to the FAA requesting tower logs from Reagan National Airport and Andrews. (I had also requested logs from Dulles International Airport. At the time I was not sure which airports might be involved. Dulles tower logs did not have any pertinent information and are not included here.)

On November 5, 2002, I received a response from the FAA (copy attached) that included the tower logs for DCA and ADW for July 26. The tower log from DCA reported a scramble at l:00 AM (as reported by Brandywine witness), reported altitudes between 4000 and 6000 feet blocked for use of fighters (same altitudes as reported by Waldorf and Brandywine witnesses), and reported that the fighters returned to base at 1:51 AM (as reported by Brandywine witness).

The ADW tower log, however, showed no scrambles, no take offs, no airplanes, for the entire day with the exception of an in-flight emergency landing late afternoon after a scramble (a scramble reported on DCA log but not on ADW log). At the time I thought that scramble and flight information at Andrews was probably recorded somewhere other than on the tower log so the general public (like me) could not get it unless they knew what form to request.

The Tower Logs—The Day Before the Sighting

On December 2, 2002, I appealed the FOIA response, and on July 24, 2003, I received the tower logs from ADW and DCA for July 25, 2002, the day before the sighting. Unlike the day of the sighting, when the ADW log reported no alerts or scrambles, the tower logs from ADW for the day before the sighting recorded three NORAD ("Huntress") alerts with aircraft on the runway ready to scramble and with references to DCA being informed (see UCT* times 0109, 0112, 0158, 0201, 0216, and 0218 on the ADW log for July 25). On this day, all alerts were canceled before the fighters took off. The DCA tower log for July 25 reflects much of this information. (see UCT times 0110, 0218, 0231 on the DCA log).

Compare this to the ADW tower log of July 26, 2002. The ADW tower log records neither the 0500 UTC (1 AM) scramble of interest to this investigation nor an unrelated 2112 UTC (5:12 PM) scramble. Both scrambles are recorded on the DCA tower log (see UTC 0500 and 2112). As mentioned above, the ADW log does mention an in-flight problem experienced by one of the fighters in the 5:12 PM. scramble (see 2231 UTC) and notes the aircraft landed safely. There is no mention of it having taken off.

The main point is that the ADW tower log records no activity between 0400 (midnight) and 1022 UTC (6:22 AM EDT). However, we know that NORAD stated that it scrambled fighters at 1 AM, we know that a witness saw 4 scrambled fighters depart Andrews about 1 AM, we know that between 1:30 AM and 1:40 AM a fighter was seen to be pursuing an unidentified light or object three times by widely separated witnesses in southern Maryland, and we know that a witness saw 4 military fighters returning to Andrews between 1:50 and 1:55 AM. Furthermore, we know from the DCA log that a scramble occurred at 1:00 AM and that the aircraft returned to base at 1:51 AM. The ADW tower log shows absolutely nothing during this period.

The tower logs from ADW and DCA for July 25 and July 26, 2002, are included as part of this report. Below is a brief timeline showing both UTC time (used on tower logs) and local time for the various events. Hopefully this will make it easier to relate the timeline of the sighting to the tower logs for anyone who would like to look at the raw tower log material and compare it to the facts of the sighting.

* The UCT tower log times are the same as GMT times. To convert to local EDT for the Washington, D.C., area, 4 hours must be subtracted, giving local 2400-hour time. For consistency with IUR article, this is converted to local am/pm time.

On the Andrews tower logs, Huntress refers to NORAD. Brave 1 and Brave 2 are the call signs for Andrews interceptors. ADW is Andrews Air Force Base and DCA is Reagan National Airport.

Timeline Comparison of ADW and DCA Tower Logs

The thing to note on July 25 is the number of entries on the ADW tower log regarding alerts/scrambles.

July 26 is the day of the sighting. Events associated with the sighting started at 0500 UCT and ended at 0551 UCT. (NORAD statements and witness observations are inserted for continuity):

Another unrelated scramble occurred late in the day of July 26, 2002. With the exception of an in-flight emergency declared by one of the fighters, that scramble is also missing from the ADW tower log.

Copies of the ADW and DCA tower logs for July 25 and 26, 2002 are attached.

Obviously something occurred on July 26 that the Air Force did not want the public to know about. Military maneuver? Test? Unknown?

Other FOIA questions

Two questions were pursued with much correspondence between FAA and various parts of the Air Force, and myself. There were a number of pieces of correspondence back and forth, but I have included here only the final correspondence, in both cases saying the information was not available.

Question 1: I wanted the official word on how many aircraft took off from Andrews at 1 AM on July 26, 2002. Normally 2 fighters are scrambled, but we have an eyewitness who saw 4 fighters depart in a scramble mode and 4 fighters return to base at the time designated by DCA log as the end of the scramble. We also had NORAD stating only 2 fighters were scrambled (see IUR article). On August 6, 2003, I received a letter from the Headquarters of the 89th Airlift Wing located at Andrews that stated the records had been destroyed on July 1, 2003 (copy is included).

Question 2 involved whether or not fighter training activities were scheduled during the time of the sighting. On October 27, 2003, I received a letter from the 113th Wing of the Air National Guard stating that they had no records relating to my request (copy is included).

Acknowledgments

Robert Durant was of enormous help in translating the tower logs.

Attachments

• Nov. 5, 2002, FAA response (.pdf)
• July 24, 2003, FAA response (.pdf)
• DCA tower log for July 26, 2002 (.pdf)
• ADW tower log for July 26, 2002 (.pdf)
• DCA tower log for July 25, 2002 (.pdf)
• ADW tower log for July 25, 2002 (.pdf)
• Aug. 6, 2003, letter, AF, number of aircraft departing Andrews (.pdf)
• Oct. 27, 2003, letter, ANG, training activities (.pdf)