Bradford Runyon Interview, 25 February 2005

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TTOK [reading] "and then the radar echo continued with the aircraft during its TACAN penetration for about 20 miles. RAPCON had requested the aircraft change the UHF frequencies twice but the aircraft was unable to transmit." That's another omission as far as I'm concerned in the transcript, them telling you to change frequencies.
BRYeah, I see what you mean.
TTAt the end when your communications have resumed, they tell you to change frequencies but you have already reestablished communications at that point.
BRYeah.
TTI think there's a bunch of ways of seeing information missing from the transcripts, not just the fact the General Officer's request to over fly the object is missing, or the blatant one is the missing 290 degree downwind leg when you over fly the object.
BRYeah.
TTHow can, how can that be missing? [Reading] "And then so as soon as the echo disappeared your transmitters became operational." You never sighted it. They say here too "the tower operator who was following the aircraft progress through binoculars never sighted it either" but that may be because you had some haze that morning.
BRWe had haze, not right on the ground though, because, like I say, when we over flew it was just as clear as—
TTYeah, it seemed to be above 10,000 where there was a haze or cloud layers, but it is generally clear, you had 25-mile visibility. But apparently they didn't see you coming, they didn't see your—but would they see you at 20,000 feet?
BRI don't think so. But the 25 miles visibility well I don't know at what point they determined that, it's at a hundred foot elevation where our minimums were probably a hundred feet, and so they aren't talking about 25 miles visibility at 20,000 feet.
TTOh right.
BRNear ground. It was clear on the ground.
TTIt was cold morning, a crisp 32 degrees. We have finally gotten the point where we have as much as we're probably ever going to know about it.
BRYeah, and I'm remembering less all the time too.
TTYeah, I know, you get to a point where there is a negative return.
BRBut, different things do come up though. Like I finally realized how I saw Partin's description of the glow that he saw on the ground, and, like he said, it was sort of like a football but with the quarter crescent shape in the front and the oval shape of the thing with light reflecting over that. I could see how it would from behind. And one thing I'm curious about did the guys on the ground describe it? Which way did it move? Was the crescent part, did it go forwards or backwards?
TTThey never saw that, the lights were so bright that all they ever really saw were lights.
BROK well, on the ground, like I said, the front part of the main body was well lighted, but the rest of it really wasn't. On a dark night, up in the sky, why it would blend in very well

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