Willow Grove: Pilot encounters domed disc near Navy jets

Sighting Details William C. Powell, an 18,000-hour veteran pilot formerly with KLM and the U.S. Air Force, was piloting a Luscombe aircraft at 4,500 feet near Willow Grove, Pennsylvania when he observed Navy jets departing the naval air station. At approximately 3:15 p.m., he spotted a bright-red circular object with a prominent dome ascending and apparently tracking the jet formation.

Object Characteristics The craft exhibited no wings or visible propulsion systems. It executed a sharp turn without banking and altered course to approach Powell's aircraft on a near-collision trajectory, passing beneath the starboard wing at an estimated distance of 300 feet before vanishing rearward.

Witness Credibility Powell and his passenger Muriel McClave obtained clear daylight observation of the object. Powell later described the clarity of the sighting as comparable to observing a vehicle at 100 yards distance. He reported the incident to Willow Grove Naval Air Station and subsequently presented his account during an April 1967 panel discussion before the American Society of Newspaper Editors.