1st Time In History A UFO Forced A Commercial Flight To Make An Emergency Landing

On November 11, 1979, a TAE (Transportes Aéreos Españoles) airline Super-Caravelle, was forced to make an emergency landing at the Manises' airport in Valencia, Spain, due to objects that were on a collision course with the aircraft.

Sud Aviation Super-Caravelle Aircraft:


Halfway through the flight, the pilot of Flight JK-297, noticed three red objects that were heading directly towards his aircraft. The captain, Francisco Javier Lerdo de Tejada, immediately radioed, asking for confirmation on what he and his crew were seeing, "but neither the military radar of Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) nor the flight control center in Barcelona could provide any explanation for this phenomenon."

Flight JK-297 had taken off from Salzburg (Austria) with 109 passengers on board, and had made a refuelling stop on the island Mallorca before setting course towards Las Palmas.

The captain requested information about the inexplicable lights, but neither the military radar of Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) nor the flight control center in Barcelona could provide any explanation for this phenomenon.

alchetron.com...

The captain changed his altitude, in the hope of avoiding a collision, but the objects mirrored the plane. An evasive maneuver was determined by the captain and his crew to be impossible, so they elected to change course and make an emergency landing in Manises' airport.

In order to avoid a possible collision, the captain changed altitude. However, the lights mirrored the new course and stayed about half a kilometer away from the plane. Since the object was violating all elementary safety rules and an evasive maneuver was deemed impossible by the crew, the captain decided on going off-course and made an emergency landing in Manises' airport. This was the first time in history in which a commercial flight was forced to make an emergency landing because of a UFO.

alchetron.com...

Valencia Airport in Manises, also known as Manises Airport:


The captain reported that the three red objects had stopped pursuing them, as they were preparing to land. However radar soon detected three new signals, "each one with an estimated diameter of 200 meters."

The flight crew reported the lights abandoning the pursuit just before the landing took place. However, three new UFO signals were detected by the radar, each one with an estimated diameter of 200 meters. The objects were seen by several witnesses. One of the UFOs passed very close to the airport runway, and emergency lights were lit by the land crew in case the object happened to be an unregistered flight experiencing difficulties.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

A Mirage F-1 took off from Los Llanos airbase and accelerated to Mach 1.4, before the pilot was able to make visual contact of a cone shaped object, that quickly disappeared from sight. Soon afterwards, the pilot was told that another object was detected on radar, this time near Sagunto, a town 30 km north of Valencia. When the pilot got close enough, the object started to accelerate, as it responded to the presence of the Mirage F-1. During the pursuit, the fighter jet inexplicably "had its avionics scrambled" and "its electronic flight systems were jammed." The fighter pilot pursued the UFO for an hour and a half before abandoning the chase due to low fuel.

Given the lack of answer to all communication attempts, a Mirage F-1 took off from the nearby airbase of Los Llanos (Albacete) to identify the phenomenon. The pilot, Spanish Air Force captain Fernando Cámara, had to increase his speed to mach 1.4 just to be able to get visual contact with what he perceived to be a truncated cone shape displaying a changing bright color, but despite his initial efforts the object quickly disappeared from sight. The pilot was informed of a new radar echo, which indicated that another object might be near Sagunto (Valencia).

When the pilot was close enough, the object accelerated and disappeared again. This time, though, the UFO seemed to respond and the fighter had its avionics scrambled -its electronic flight systems were jammed. At last, and after a third contact attempt, the UFO finally disappeared, heading for Africa. After an hour and a half of pursuit, and due to fuel shortage, the pilot was forced to return to the base with no results

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en.m.wikipedia.org...

Dassault Mirage F1CE, Spanish Air Force:


Los Llanos Air Base:


There was so much interest on this unexplained sighting, that on September 1980, it reached the Cortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament). The Spanish Parliament dismissed the case as a "series of freak optical illusions" that was later attributed to "flashes emitted from a distant chemical industry complex" (about 100 miles away from Manises) "and some stars and planets." IMO, this assertion is ridiculous based on the number of witnesses; the captain and crew of Flight JK-297, the fighter pilot of the Mirage F-1, the witnesses who viewed the UFOs at Manises' airport, as well as the radar hits.

The public impact of the incident was such that on September 1980 it reached the Cortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament).

The full official report, declassified by the Spanish Air Force on August 1994, states that the Supercaravelle JK-297 pilot Javier Saenz de Tejada, the land crew in Manises' airport and the Air Force Captain Fernando Cámara might have been misled by "flashes emitted from a distant chemical industry complex" (about 100 miles away from Manises) "and some stars and planets". Although this possibility has been much argued and repeatedly rejected by all people involved, it stands as the only non-UFO-related explanation.

en.m.wikipedia.org...



YouTube Clip About This Sighting (In Spanish):

Great thread :-)
What an interesting case.
I haven't heard about this one before, weirdly enough.

I agree that lights can fool you, but they do not normally show up on radar.

I should also think they would not run away from fighter jets.

Wow, I've never heard of this case either. Fascinating!

Awesome thread!

If a pilot going faster than the speed of sound could persue the objects for more than an hour and a half it clearly wasn’t an optical illusion created by a chems factory 100miles away (he would have covered that distance and some more).

Interesting that his avionics were scrambled (wonder how long the interruption lasted).
Can’t imagine this was government testing new tech, doing something so reckless as messing with a passanger airliner doesn’t fit the bill.

It must be awiens!
S&F

the original lights observed from the civil airplane were prompted by flare-ups raised from two combustion towers located in the major oil refinery of Escombreras, near Cartagena, Spain. The direction of lights as well as their apparent angular size matched exactly with the luminous flashes emitted from the chemical industry complex. Their brightness and special features produced an optical mistake, but the main culprit was a strong temperature inversion developed that night, one with an exceptional visibility.

Are there any photos?

Is there any way to verify the radar claims?

Is the flight path of the fighter aircraft documented anywhere?

All there seems to be are witness statements.

1979 was an interesting year.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: moebius

the original lights observed from the civil airplane were prompted by flare-ups raised from two combustion towers located in the major oil refinery of Escombreras, near Cartagena, Spain. The direction of lights as well as their apparent angular size matched exactly with the luminous flashes emitted from the chemical industry complex. Their brightness and special features produced an optical mistake, but the main culprit was a strong temperature inversion developed that night, one with an exceptional visibility.

Are there any photos?

Is there any way to verify the radar claims?

Is the flight path of the fighter aircraft documented anywhere?

All there seems to be are witness statements.

Probably not in 1979, I'm sure there were cameras in planes but not that could take a pic in negative g conditions

Great thread!

I haven't heard about this case before. I'm always interested in the red light UFOs, because my hometown had red light UFOs awhile back that I witnessed.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Good post!
That would also be around the same time frame we were rolling out Stealth technology. The Stealth F-117? It would blow the doors off the Phantom.

originally posted by: TexasTruth
a reply to: shawmanfromny

Good post!
That would also be around the same time frame we were rolling out Stealth technology. The Stealth F-117? It would blow the doors off the Phantom.

for performance agreed, however, the delicate nature of electronic flight control systems could render that platform inoperable if scrambling occurred due to pursuit of unidentified aerial objects.
f.

Very well put together ! I too have never read of this. Lesley Keen has wrote a really good book you should check out (if you haven't already)"Pilots and generals on the record"

This is also my first post. Hello.
I couldn't find the introduction section, apologies for hijacking your post.

OT

Are there any photos?

Is there any way to verify the radar claims?

Is the flight path of the fighter aircraft documented anywhere?

All there seems to be are witness statements.

Apparently there is a photo that a ground technician took of one of the objects. Found it at this site:

Pic of UFO and Article

I also had never heard of this - which is surprising, it seems like an excellent case! Multiple witnesses, aircraft malfunctions, high speed crafts, radar returns - I want to find out more about this case!

originally posted by: TexasTruth
a reply to: shawmanfromny

Good post!
That would also be around the same time frame we were rolling out Stealth technology. The Stealth F-117? It would blow the doors off the Phantom.

Sure, but wouldn't fly straight at a commercial jet and then stop within a certain distance of the plane. Also it flew close to the runway - and they stealth are not silent, it would have been obvious I think, that it was a jet. Plus the photo doesn't really look like a jet.

a reply to: OwenTrousers

WELCOME to ATS and thanks for your comment!

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Thanks for posting and nice presentation - not come across this one before.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Interesting and controversial case mate - for the sake of balance here's further info on the sceptical explanation hosted at the NICAP website.


Excerpts:

The Anomaly Foundation
Solves the "Manises" UFO Case
20 years of mystery are over


On the 20th anniversary of the most infamous Spanish UFO sighting, the Spanish Anomaly Foundation (www.anomalia.org) has presented to the press a detailed report written by engineer Mr. Juan A. Fernández Peris from Valencia, which definitely closes this emblematic aerial UFO incident, which occurred on 11/11/79 over the Mediterranean Sea. After a scientific and painstaking investigation of almost two decades, the 'Manises UFO' case has been solved..


The Spanish Anomaly Foundation granted its "Ricardo Caruncho" research prize to Mr. Fernández Peris for his 200-page analysis report on the circumstances surrounding this incident. Investigation resolved that the original lights observed from the civil airplane were prompted by flare-ups raised from two combustion towers located in the major oil refinery of Escombreras, near Cartagena, Spain. The direction of lights as well as their apparent angular size matched exactly with the luminous flashes emitted from the chemical industry complex. Their brightness and special features produced an optical mistake, but the main culprit was a strong temperature inversion developed that night, one with an exceptional visibility. All factors together contributed decisively to the sighting distortion..


On the other hand, the Mirage aircraft manned by captain F. Cámara returned to its base at 02:07, after and unsuccessful pursuit of several non-defined luminous stimuli, which had not any relationship with the lights seen from the TAE airliner. The most amazing part of the incident, the EM interference suffered by the military jet when flying over Valencia city, these were caused by the electronic countermeasures adopted by US Navy helicopter's carrier "Iwo-Jima", a US Sixth Fleet's ship sailing near the Columbretes islands. The US Navy ship was at the highest alert due to Iran's hostages' crisis developed at the time.

In summary, an extraordinary and unusual mixture of chance circumstances lead to an exaggeration and distortion of events, otherwise trivial.

link

Cheers.

Seems like a feeble explanation. It doesn't explain radar returns on 3 objects, red objects seen above the airport up for at least 2 hours after the encounter, the picture snapped of an object by a ground crew, or the fighter jet seeing a cone object that accelerated.

Seems like a lame way to try and explain it away.

The objects were seen by several witnesses. One of the UFOs passed very close to the airport runway, and emergency lights were lit by the land crew in case the object happened to be an unregistered flight experiencing difficulties.

So either the witnesses are lying, or it was obviously not a rig 100 miles away. A fighter jet flying at mach 1.7 obviously wasn't chasing the flare ups either - for an hour and a half.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Finally. A thread not related to politics at the top.

Can't believe I've never heard of this case before. Thanks for raising it, and I look forward to developments on this thread.

originally posted by: karl 12
a reply to: shawmanfromny

Interesting and controversial case mate - for the sake of balance here's further info on the sceptical explanation hosted at the NICAP website.


Excerpts:

The Anomaly Foundation
Solves the "Manises" UFO Case
20 years of mystery are over


On the 20th anniversary of the most infamous Spanish UFO sighting, the Spanish Anomaly Foundation (www.anomalia.org) has presented to the press a detailed report written by engineer Mr. Juan A. Fernández Peris from Valencia, which definitely closes this emblematic aerial UFO incident, which occurred on 11/11/79 over the Mediterranean Sea. After a scientific and painstaking investigation of almost two decades, the 'Manises UFO' case has been solved..


The Spanish Anomaly Foundation granted its "Ricardo Caruncho" research prize to Mr. Fernández Peris for his 200-page analysis report on the circumstances surrounding this incident. Investigation resolved that the original lights observed from the civil airplane were prompted by flare-ups raised from two combustion towers located in the major oil refinery of Escombreras, near Cartagena, Spain. The direction of lights as well as their apparent angular size matched exactly with the luminous flashes emitted from the chemical industry complex. Their brightness and special features produced an optical mistake, but the main culprit was a strong temperature inversion developed that night, one with an exceptional visibility. All factors together contributed decisively to the sighting distortion..


On the other hand, the Mirage aircraft manned by captain F. Cámara returned to its base at 02:07, after and unsuccessful pursuit of several non-defined luminous stimuli, which had not any relationship with the lights seen from the TAE airliner. The most amazing part of the incident, the EM interference suffered by the military jet when flying over Valencia city, these were caused by the electronic countermeasures adopted by US Navy helicopter's carrier "Iwo-Jima", a US Sixth Fleet's ship sailing near the Columbretes islands. The US Navy ship was at the highest alert due to Iran's hostages' crisis developed at the time.

In summary, an extraordinary and unusual mixture of chance circumstances lead to an exaggeration and distortion of events, otherwise trivial.

link

Cheers.

Wow that is some heavy propaganda in that 'skeptical' report. Words like "painstaking", years of study and plenty more colorful adjectives to describe the "job" they did. And the forceful application of "Case solved" etc.
Gotta love the efforts of counter intelligence even though it's an obvious deception.