Patrick D. McCaslin Interview, 25 February 2001
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| turned back to the VOR, this return moved out at the same rate we were turning in—it moved out to the northeast—and by the time we rolled back out headed southeast to start the approach, it was 3 miles off our left wing, and I advised the pilots of that. | ||
| INT: | So it moved relative to you? How many miles? | |
| PM: | Well, it would've had to—if it was 3 miles off our right wing and we—I can't remember the turn rates of a B-52 anymore—but relative to a track over the ground, it must've moved 6, 7, 8 miles to the northeast, to accommodate the turn we made. | |
| INT: | And why do you make the statement—I mean, you're implying that the thing maintained a relative distance at all times, relative to your turn, so you're implying an intelligence there, aren't you? | |
| PM: | Yeah, I guess I am. | |
| INT: | Was that what you were thinking about at the time? What did you think at the time this thing was? | |
| PM: | I really didn't—I don't know that I thought it was anything. I mean my first concern was that it was an aircraft of some kind. I was worried about hitting an aircraft. | |
| INT: | Did you at anytime think it was an incoming missile or something? | |
| PM: | No. Because there was no—because it didn't—I didn't see it come in from the side. When you see an airplane coming at you on radar, you see it moving—here it's at 4, here it's at 3, here it's at 2, here it's at 1. This was at 3 miles when it appeared and it stayed at 3 miles. And then as we turned into it, it moved off so that it maintained the three-mile distance, except now we—it allowed us to turn inside of it, and then it was 3 miles off our left wing when we started our approach. Then, as we descended on the approach, it stayed as bright as it had been, which for a navigator means, or a radar navigator, it is stay—it is remaining co-altitude. In other words, it's descending at the same rate we are. | |
| INT: | The return would've changed as it moved away. | |
| PM: | It would've become weaker. It would've flown—we would've descended until it was out of our radar energy, or it would have descended out—whatever, but... |
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