On the night of November 23, 1953, an F-89 all-weather interceptor was flying over upper Michigan. Oddly, a ground control radar station saw the blips of the plane -- as well as the blips of some other, unidentified object. Soon, the blips merged on the radar-scope: the F-89 and the object were "locked together." Suddenly, the blips disappeared, suggesting the objects crashed. Although both US and Canadian officials searched for the F-89, nothing was ever discovered. An initial press release indicated the second blip was that of a UFO, but the "official" newspaper report indicated the blip had been mis-read by the radar operator and that the blip represented a Canadian airliner. All Canadian airlines quickly denied any flights in the area. Later, although the Air Force told one of the pilot's widows that the plane had been flying too low and had crashed into Lake Superior, when she asked if her husband's body could be recovered, she was informed that the jet had exploded at a high altitude, destroying the plane and its occupants. Huh? Was it flying too low or too high?

Recently, Great Lakes Dive claim to've discovered the wreckage of the F-89 in Lake Superior. Using wide trajectory side scan sonar, the group made 28 passes of the area that yielded impressive images. Surprisingly, the images are of a largely intact jet -- not one that exploded and crashed in a fiery ball of flames. Moreover, Great Lakes Dive claims they've located the wreckage that may be the alleged UFO, er, Canadian airliner, er, whatever. GLD plans to send an ROV to the lake floor in early 2007 to investigate further. In the meantime, the few "UFO"-images feature round-ish, gray blobs, which may or may not look like a UFO. Without a doubt, though, they don't look like a jet. What do you think?