Operation Trojan Horse - John Keel-pages

Page 117 of 287

Page 117 of 287
Operation Trojan Horse - John Keel-pages

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tioned it, and reports were soon telephoned in from all points of the island. The Times stated: A check of the various calls indicated the flier had gone as far as 72d street, circled above Central Park, and then proceeded north to the vicinity of 231st Street and Sedwick [sic] Avenue, the Bronx. For a time no further reports came in, but about 2:25 P.M. the sound of the motor was reported over Riverside Drive and 155th Street.... All fields in the Metropolitan district reported there had been no flying during the day, and no stray plane had dropped down from the snowy skies. The planes of 1933 were simply not capable of operating under such severe weather conditions, nor is it likely that any known plane could have remained aloft for five or six hours in a blizzard. But this one seems to have done so. It was never identified. There was a similar incident over London, England, in February 1934 PR ee Vande Thwnn Tabane. A 1A AN (New York Times, February 4, 1934). In Scandinavia, the ghost flier stepped up his activities inumediately after Christmas (just as the 1909 flap had occurred during Christmas week). It was seen flying back and forth over the Norwegian border, with reports coming in from Tarnaby, Sweden, and Langmo Vefsn, Norway. On December 28, 1933, the Swedish Flying Corps No. 4 was ordered to Tarnaby to begin an investigation. A minor mystery developed when Lieutenant Georg Engelhard Wan- berg of the artillery regiment in Gotland, Norway, set out on skis from Tannas for a trek to Storlien, which would take him through the heart of ghost-flier country. He was never heard from again. Search parties, including planes from the Norwegian Air Force, looked for him in vain. On January 4, 1934, a group of three men started out to find him. They failed to return on schedule, and new rescue parties were organized to look for them. The trio had vanished. Even the New York Times was licking its chops over the growing mystery. On January 10, 1934, the Times’ Stockholm correspondent reported: The Swedish Air Force has already lost two airplanes, without loss of life, in efforts to locate the base of the strange plane. Concern is now felt for Lieutenant Wanberg who disappeared on foot on Christmas, and for a party of three skiers forming a rescue party. Military headquarters Unidentified Airplanes / 115