posted 07-27-2002 09:14 AM            

An all news station in Washington, DC (WTOP-AM) has been running
the following story throughout the day. They have a little
information on their web site, and I'm providing that
information below.
http://wtopnews.com/news/newsdetail.cfm?newsid=584517

A local investigator has been contacted and has been asked to
get involved in this case, and that should be done relatively
quickly. As noted in the story, this is apparently a multiple
witness event:

=====begin forwarded story=======

What was that bright light in Maryland's sky???

WTOP has learned that residents near Andrews Air Force base were
shaken from their beds early Friday morning by some strange
activity in the air.

"Incredible. Absolutely incredible" is what Renny Rogers of
Waldorf calls it. Just before two in the morning, Rogers says he
saw a large blue ball of light streaking across the sky. But it
was the military jets that really startled him.

"(The jets) were right on its tail. As the thing would move, a
jet was right behind it," Rogers recalls.

He is not the only one who saw it. Several people called WTOP
Radio reporting seeing a bright blue or orange ball moving very
fast, being chased by jets.

Rogers says there was no smoke coming from the object, no
flashing lights, and says it was smooth, and eerily silent.

The Air National Guard confirms they scrambled the 113th
squadron. Spokesman Sheldon Smith says they are investigating
and in contact with NORAD.

WTOP Radio, 2002
*****************************************************************************************
Subject: Washington F-16 Scramble - FOX Transcript

Many thanks to FOX NEWS Channel for their sober reportage and
investigation (ongoing, hopefully) of the F-16 scramble near
Andrews AFB on July 26, 2002. The following transcript is a
word-for-word rundown of their report, as I caught on video as
it was broadcast. Note the clear emphasis the reportage placed
on the discrepancies from ground witness testimony vs. (alleged)
pilot testimony. Again, thanks to FOX News for some cutting edge
journalism here.

Transcript of FOX NEWScast, dated JULY 26, 2002 around 7:40 p.m.
E.D.T.

SHEPARD SMITH: The night time skies over the nation's capital
alive with blue and orange lights streaking across the sky, so
say a lot of panicked people who called in to a radio station,
no joke here. American fighter jets in hot pursuit... NORAD
confirmed to FOX News that 2 F-16s did scramble, but found
nothing! A mystery in the sky above Andrews Air Force Base...
that's the one The President uses. Fox report now from Brian
Wilson live in our D.C. newsroom. Brian?

BRIAN WILSON: Fair to say, Shepard. A lot more questions than
answers at this point, but something strange was going on in
the Maryland night sky.

Here is what we know; 1:00 a.m. the folks at NORAD saw something
they couldn't identify in Maryland airspace, not far from the
nation's capitol. The track it was taking caused them some
concern so they scrambled 2 DC Air National Guard jets to check
things out.

Now, DC Air National Guard confirms that 2 F-16s from the 113th
Wing were vectored to intercept whatever it was that NORAD was
worried about. However, when the pilots got where they were
supposed to be, they said they didn't see anything when they
arrived on the scene.

Now the folks at NORAD would not provide details about the exact
location, direction or speed of the object they were tracking.

Now independently, a number of folks who live in Waldorf,
Maryland, which is not far from Andrews Air Force Base and not
far from the nation's capitol, called local radio station WTOP
to say that about the same, they witnessed a fast moving, bright
blue light in the sky. They go on to claim that the light was
being chased by military jets.

One witness tells the radio station that the jets were right on
its tail. Quote: "as the thing would move, a jet was right
behind it..." end of quote.

An investigation is underway. But National Guard spokesman
Captain Sheldon Smith says, and this is another quote, "We don't
have any information about funny lights."

By the way, this just happens to be the 50th anniversary of a
series of still-unexplained sightings over the nation's
capitol, a story that made banner-headline news in 1952.
Shepard, we'll continue to watch for this.

SHEPARD SMITH: And now it can be told... Brian Wilson, live in
Washington.

END OF TRANSCRIPT
Typed from videotape of FOX NEWS 7:00 p.m. E.D.T. newscast

Filed,
Kenny Young, 7-27-02

posted 07-27-2002 10:00 AM            

Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8131-2002Jul26.html

F-16s Pursue Unknown Craft Over Region
By Steve Vogel

For Renny Rogers, it was strange enough that military jets were
flying low over his home in Waldorf in the middle of the night.
It was what he thinks he saw when he headed outside to look
early yesterday that floored him.

"It was this object, this light-blue object, traveling at a
phenomenal rate of speed," Rogers said. "This Air Force jet was
right behind it, chasing it, but the object was just leaving him
in the dust. I told my neighbor, 'I think those jets are chasing
a UFO.' "

Military officials confirm that two F-16 jets from Andrews Air
Force Base were scrambled early yesterday after radar detected
an unknown aircraft in area airspace. But they scoff at the idea
that the jets were chasing a strange and speedy, blue
unidentified flying object.

"We had a track of interest, so we sent up some aircraft," said
Maj. Douglas Martin, a spokesman for the North American
Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, which has responsibility
for defending U.S. airspace. "Everything was fine in the sky, so
they returned home."

At the same time, military officials say they do not know just
what the jets were chasing, because whatever it was disappeared.
"There are any number of scenarios, but we don't know what it
was," said Maj. Barry Venable, another spokesman for NORAD.

Radar detected a low, slow-flying aircraft about 1 a.m.
yesterday, according to a military official. Controllers were
unable to establish radio communication with the unidentified
aircraft, and NORAD was notified. When the F-16s carrying air-
to-air missiles were launched from Andrews, the unidentified
aircraft's track faded from the radar, the military official
said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Pilots with the D.C. Air National Guard's 113th Air Wing, which
flew the F-16s from Andrews, reported nothing out of the
ordinary, NORAD officials said.

"It was a routine launch," said Lt. Col. Steve Chase, a senior
officer with the wing, which keeps pilots and armed jets on 24-
hour alert at Andrews to respond to incidents as part of an air
defense system protecting Washington after the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks.

Rogers remains convinced that what he saw was not routine. "It
looked like a shooting star with no trailing mist," he said.
"I've never seen anything like it."