Felix Moncla Jr.

Felix Eugene Moncla Jr. (October 21, 1926 – November 23, 1953) was a United States Air Force pilot who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while piloting an F-89 Scorpion jet. At the time of the incident, he was an accomplished pilot with over 120 hours of flight experience in the same aircraft type.

On November 23, 1953, Moncla and radar operator Robert L. Wilson were dispatched from Kinross Air Force Base to intercept an unidentified flying object detected on radar over Lake Superior near the Soo Locks. The unidentified object was flying at approximately 500 mph in restricted airspace, and Moncla's last communication indicated he was closing in on the target at 8,000 feet. After approximately 30 minutes of pursuit, ground control observed the aircraft's radar blip merge with the unidentified object's blip. Only a single blip continued on radar after the merge, then disappeared, and no wreckage was ever recovered.

The official USAF explanation remains listed as 'UNKNOWN'. However, subsequent Air Force statements attributed the disappearance to vertigo or collision with a Royal Canadian Air Force C-47 Skytrain—claims that were disputed by the RCAF and contradicted by Moncla's lack of prior vertigo history. His memorial plaque in Louisiana commemorates his disappearance while 'Intercepting a UFO Over Canadian Border.' The incident remains one of the most documented cases of an aircraft disappearance associated with UFO interception.