Article about unidentififed clandestine aircraft flying into South Vietnam from the Cambodia borders

Item

derivative filename/jpeg

363-06337 to 363-06342.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-06337 to 363-06342

Title

Article about unidentififed clandestine aircraft flying into South Vietnam from the Cambodia borders

Description

Original title: "intercept", Keever's title: "U.S. Pilot Report Mysterious Planes from Cambodia and Electornic Jamming of Airwaves", article about unidentififed clandestine aircraft flying into South Vietnam from the Cambodian borders

AI Usage Disclosure

Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

deepe intercept--page 1 October 29, 1965 SAIGON--American pilots are disturbed by a number of unidentified, clandestine aircraft [XXXX indicating deletion] flying into South Vietnam from across the Cambodian [deletion: and Laotian] borders. One American pilot reported that a Russian-built plane, similar in configuration to the American DC-3, consistently slipped across the Cambodian border into South Vietnam, presumably to gather aerial intelligence. The pilot said the Russian-built plane was equipped with electronic counter-detection devices, which permitted it to evade U.S. Air Force F-102 Delta Dagger jet interceptors carrying lethal air-to-air missies. He said the American F-102s, based at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport were scrambled several times a day in attempts to intercept the mysterious plane, and that American-operated radar screens consistently picked up the plane crisscrossing the Cambodian border. Nationality of the pilots flying the mysterious planes is unknown. No incidents have been reported. American advisors on the ground, in Special Forces camps [deletion: long] along the ill-defined Cambodian-Laotian-South Vietnamese border said they recently have been picking up radio transmissions broadcast in the Russian language. (M9re) deepe intercept--page 2 In another instance, [deletion: another] a second American pilot reported that on a rainy, heavily overcast day in August, when all American aircraft had been grounded by bad weather, a mysterious, unidentified plane flew [XXXX indicating deletion] at 500 feet over the Pleiku jet-length airfield, situated _[insertion: 225]_ miles north of Saigon [insertion: and forty miles from [illegible]]. The plane was seen by two Americans--an Army captain and an American Air Force radar specialist, who [XXXX indicating deletion] claimed the plane was not American made. [deletion: A report] An intelligence report to higher headquarters about [deletion: this] the incident was rejected by [deletion: hit] higher headquarters, who identified the plane as a [insertion: an American] RF-100, [deletion: the “Vood99 Vodoo] Voodoo reconnaissance jet [deletion: which photographed] Voodoo jets are well known for photographing the Russian missiles [deletion: and] in Cuba and [deletion: detected] [illegible] the Chinese [insertion: Communist] push into Laos in 1961. However, the American Air Force radar specialist, who had worked closely with F-100s in previous years, rejected the decision of the higher headquarters and said that the plane was not a F-100 [insertion: according to reliable sources]. (More) deepe intercept--page 3 In another example, [deletion: another] a third American pilot claimed that [deletion: unif] one unidentified aircraft had flown over the Danang Air Base at a very low altitude to [deletion: eva] [illegible] avoid detection on radar screens, but this could not be confirmed. The Danang airbase, [deletion: protected] lies 380 miles north of Saigon and is protected by more than 10,000 U.S. Marine ground troops, [insertion: and] airmen [deletion: and] [illegible] Hawk ground-to-air missiles. During the battle of Plei Me this week, [deletion: one] a fourth American pilot claimed he saw a “giant swept-wing bird” which did not fit the design of American aircraft. He said the plane flew into the battle area [deletion: of] around Plei Me, which is situated only 20 miles from the [deletion: Cambodian border Vietnamese-] jungled [insertion: South] Vietnamese-Cambodian border. [deletion: Another] A fifth American pilot said he recently reported to the control tower [deletion: about] that a plane [insertion: was] flying into South Vietnam from Cambodia. [deletion: “They] “The tower told me it was alright,” he explained. “That it was the Pan American (commercial) flight coming in from Cambodia. Then suddenly it made a 90-degree turn and darted back across the border. We call these [insertion: [illegible]] flights the ‘Phnom [deletion: Phen] Penh Special’ ([insertion: [illegible]] the capital of Cambodia.” Although Cambodia and South Vietnam broke diplomatic relations in 1963, commercial airline flights and flights for the International Control Commission have been [deletion: maintained.] continued. [insertion: (more)] deepe intercept--page 4 American navigators are also [deletion: distrubed at] disturbed by the sophisticated equipment used to jam their radios to intercept radio transmissions and to give deliberately inaccurate [deletion: flyin] flight instructions “so we will [deletion: fly] crash into a mountain.” One American ni navigator explained, “We know there’s a little boat outside of Danang that gives wrong flight instructions to American pilots. [deletion: They] [XXXX indicating deletion] little boat has very good equipment on it and the people operating it speak perfect English. You can’t tell them from an American in [deletion: a] the control [deletion: go] tower. They give us flight information, vector us in just like the control tower, then--pow! you’ve crashed into a mountain. We’ve had several crashes in Danang because of that. Also, on flights from South Vietnam to Okinawa our radio transmissions are always jammed. There’s a real electronic war going on here.” Last [XXXX indicating deletion] Tuesday [insertion: night], two U.S. Marine Corps F4b jets crashed into a mountain just off the Danang airfield. [deletion: Offc] Military sources said engine trouble was believed to have caused the crashes. deepe intercept--page [deletion: 4] 5 [deletion: No incidents have been reported with these unidentified aircraft.] American pilots of strike aircraft have been ordered not to fly missions closer than five kilometers [insertion: to the [illegible]] without prior approval of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, according to highly reliable sources. Vietnamese Air Force planes [insertion: also] generally allow an aerial buffer zone by not flying [deletion: to] close to the Cambodia border; however, last year one Vietnamese Air Force plane was shot down [deletion: in a major in] [illegible] Cambodia in a major border incident. American pilots of unarmed liaison and transport aircraft admit however, they that they have sometimes inadvertently [deletion: corr] crossed the vague borderline between Cambodia and [deletion: Lao] South Vietnam. “Sometime, it’s very hairy,” one American pilot explained. “Our routes to Saigon come as close as 20 miles to the Cambodian border; if there’s bad weather we have to divert either to the east or to the west and that brings us close [deletion: the] to [deletion: the] Cambodian territory.” (More) deepe intercept--page [deletion: 5] 6 Reliable sources indicate that near the border areas inside Cambodia, there is at least one base for Russian-built MIG’s. [deletion: but] [XXXX indicating deletion] The nationality of the pilots is unknown. In addition, [insertion: the] Cambodian air forces are known to include B-57 jet fighter-[deletion: bombs] bombers, a British-manufactured plane. [deletion: which] the U.S. [insertion: [illegible]] has purchased some of these and [deletion: use] based them in Vietnam, [insertion: [illegible]] [deletion: although they] are now considered obsolete [insertion: [illegible]]. Another plane included in the Cambodian air strength is the T-37 jet-trainer. “The American government gave Cambodia [insertion: these T-37s] when we were friendly with [deletion: each other] them,” one American pilot explained. “Now [deletion: they] the Cambodians have hung rockets on them [XXXX indicating deletion] so they can shoot [insertion: down] American aircraft,” he shrugged. Small two or four-seat transport aircraft piloted by French plantation managers also are reported to cause [insertion: confusion among] American and Vietnamese pilots. “These French planes regularly fly into Cambodia without the proper clearances from [XXXX indicating deletion] the Vietnamese government,” one pilot reported. “Recently, I zoomed up on a small plane that was flying over the [deletion: operational] battle area of American combat troops. I suppose he was spying on the operation. There was a Frenchman and a Vietnamese in the two front seats. I picked up my rifle and motioned them to get the hell out of there. But, of course, I couldn’t shoot him down. American pilots can shoot only at fast-moving aircraft, unless the Vietnamese government orders us otherwise.” -30-

Date

1965, Oct. 29

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Radar--Interference; United States. Air Force; Intelligence service; Air warfare

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B187, F6

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English