Tony Dodd - Military confrontations -
The strange case of Foxtrot 94

Author: Tony Dodd.

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This story concerns a series of incidents that occurred in 1970 and 1971 in and around the Lincolnshire area. One such incident led to the crash of a lightning jet fighter aircraft, call sign Foxtrot 94, from RAF Binbrook and the mysterious disappearance of it's pilot. It appears that at least two other aircraft were lost in other incidents.

It involved the alleged setting up of secret observation posts around Britain, including at least four in Lincolnshire which were manned throughout the Autumn, Winter and Spring of 1970 and 1971. This culminated in a number of sightings of Unidentified Flying objects, including one in broad daylight on the Lincolnshire coast, a few miles from Cleeththorpes.

The incident involved the appearance of a huge UFO, claimed to be up to 180 feet long, accompanied by numerous glass ball type objects that spent several hours hovering over the RAF bombing range at Donna Nook in full view of several airmen, before vanishing over the North Sea.

Reports of what were seen in the incident correspond closely with information from other sightings and from a controversial transcript between the pilot of the doomed lightning, Foxtrot 94 and his ground controllers.

The source of the information requested that his identity be kept secret and those of his sources. He maintains that some authorities have been prepared to go to great lengths to keep quiet the official reports on the incidents he has disclosed.

Information was passed to him at a number of pre-arranged locations, including a wind swept platform at York railway station and a lay-by on the A1.

He claims that one contact who knew the full story about Foxtrot 94 was killed in a car accident in Germany. The German Police maintained he had been drinking, but our information was that the man was a total abstainer.

The source claims that in 1970-1971 a major operation was undertaken to get to the bottom of the UFO mystery once and for all. It involved largely British and American forces and much of it's activity was centred on the United Kingdom and the North Atlantic area. The operation was code named 'Arneid'.
The informant claims that fresh information has emerged of a year long operation by the British Air forces to finally solve the riddle of the UFOs pilots claim to have seen since the end of World War two. The informant also stated that he was one of the aircraft accident investigators who were sent to RAF Binbrook to inspect the wreckage of the intact Lightning, Foxtrot 94, which had been ditched in the sea after a close encounter with a UFO. He also stated that the recovered aircraft had been taken to Binbrook where it was kept under shrouds and armed guards mounted around it.

The investigators who were from farnborough were only allowed a brief look at the aircraft before being ordered off the base. The investigators were puzzled when they inspected the aircraft because they saw that all the instruments had been removed and a different ejector seat fitted.

Now the source of the information has provided a lot more information about what he claimed was going on over the North Sea in the early 1970s. Attempts have been made to verify this information but this has not been possible.

THE FATAL FLIGHT OF FOXTROT 94

Saxa Vord was one of a chain of British Radar stations who's task was to scan the skies and guard against intrusion from unidentified aircraft approaching over the North sea or the sensitive 'Iceland Gap'. The year was 1970 when the cold war was at it's height with Russian aircraft making regular flights into the North Atlantic to test the reaction from Nato fighters.

At 8.17pm. on the night of September, 8th. 1970, a radar operator at Saxa Vord picked up a contact of an unidentified aircraft over the North Sea between the Shetlands and Norway. The contact was monitored for several minutes at a steady speed of 630 mph. At 37,000 feet altitude on a South Westerly heading. The contact was then seen to turn 30 degrees to head due South with it's speed increasing to 900mph. And it's altitude lifting to 44, 000 feet.

In accordance with normal procedure Saxa Vord flashed a message to the quick reaction flight at RAF Leuchers on the East coast of Scotland. Two Lightning interceptors were scrambled within minutes and headed out across the north sea. So far it had been a routine scramble, but it was then that the Radar plotters on the Shetland Isles saw something on their screens that left them amazed. The contact which had been traveling at a speed consistent with Russian warplanes had turned through 180 degrees and within seconds had disappeared from their screens. Later they calculated the speed of the object at 17, 400mph.

During the next hour the mystery contact reappeared several times and each time the lightnings were sent to investigate, but each time the object turned and disappeared again.

By this time two F4 Phantoms of the US Air Force had scrambled from Keflavik in Iceland and with their sophisticated Radar were able to track the intruder themselves. As they attempted to close on the object they found that they had no more success than the Lightnings.

The cat and mouse games were now causing alarm to NATO commanders. The alert had reached such a level that the contact was being monitored by the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Station at Fylingdales, also with a second BMEWS in Greenland. The North American Air Defence Network at Cheyenne Mountain and the US Detection and tracking center at Colorado Springs also became involved.

During this time the Lightnings and the Phantoms made repeated attempts to get close to the object, but as they approached it disappeared off the Radar screens. Eventually the Lightnings were ordered back to base whilst the Phantoms continued to patrol.

At 9.30pm. the radar controllers picked up the object again. This time it's speed was decelerating to 1, 300mph. Which was almost at the limit of the Lightnings and Phantoms. It was holding an altitude of 18,000 feet and heading Southwest, off the Northern tip of Denmark.

Two more Lightnings were scrambled from RAF Leuchars to patrol northeast of Aberdeen and a further two from RAF Coltishall in Norfolk.The contact was now within these two lines of fighters. While this was taking place the RAF were informed that the Strategic Air command HQ at Omaha, Nebraska, was ordering it's B52 bombers into the air.

This order can only have come from the highest level. What had started as a routine sighting of a Russian aircraft had now reached the White house and presumably President Richard Nixon.

At this time NORAD was informed that a US pilot of great experience was presently on an exchange visit with the RAF at Binbrook, the North Lincolnshire fighter base near Grimsby. Enquiries were made and it was discovered that the pilot was on station and by coincidence 'Flight available'. At 9.45pm. a request was made from the highest level within NORAD through strike command's UK Headquarters at high Wycombe for RAF Binbrook to send Captain William Schaffner to join the Lightnings search for the mystery object. By this time four Lightnings, two Phantoms and three tankers were already airborne and were joined by a Shackleton from Kinloss which was ordered to patrol on a North South heading at 3000 feet, 10 miles from the East Coast.

Binbrook's QRA Lightnings were being held in reserve but it was decided to send out one more aircraft flown by Captain Schaffner. The Americans wanted one of their own men present when the object was eventually cornered.

Captain was sitting in the crew room of 5 squadron when the call came from High Wycombe. Schaffner was still in his flying suit, after returning earlier that evening from a training sortie in one of the squadron's aircraft. When the call came Schaffner ran out of the building across the runway towards two Lightnings which were standing virtually ready for flight. One XS894 was in the process of having it's fuel tanks topped up. Schaffner climbed the ladder into the aircraft and hauled himself into the cockpit. He waved aside the ground crews who were expecting to carry out pre-flight checks, ordered the refueling to stop and failed to sign the regulation form stating that he was happy with the aircraft.

The aircraft was armed with two Red Top air -to- air missiles, one was armed, the other a dummy. The aircraft's guns had enough 30mm. cannon shells for a six-second burst. One of the men on the ground crew at the time was Brian Mann of Grimsby, who was driving one of the fuel bowsers. He remembers XS894 being refueled at a rate of 150 gallons per minute. When suddenly the aircraft started. He said, " The windows of the tanker almost went in. I took off the hoses and got out of the way". Mr. Mann remembered Captain Schaffner disregarding the ground marshal, who was the eyes and ears of the pilot on the ground, as he swung the Lightning round.

At 10.06pm. the aircraft blasted off Binbrook's runway into the night sky. Those on the ground saw it disappear with a sheet of flame from it's twin tail pipes as it headed out over the North Sea.

By now the mystery contact had lead to five Lightnings, two Phantoms, three tankers and a Shackleton being scrambled and was being tracked by by radar controllers at Staxton Wold, which stands on high ground overlooking Scarborough. The contact was flying parallel to the east coast 90 miles east of Whitby, at a speed of 530 mph. And at an altitude of 6,100feet.

What follows is drawn from information given to the Grimsby Evening Telegraph newspaper who broke the story and was reported as being an official transcript of the conversation between Captain Schaffner and the radar station at Staxton Wold.

SCHAFFNER: I have visual contact, repeat visual contact. Over.

STAXTON; Can you identify aircraft type.

SCHAFFNER: Negative, nothing recognizable, no clear outlines. There is bluish light. Hell that's bright….very bright.

STAXTON: Are your instruments functioning 94. Check compass. Over.

SCHAFFNER: Affirmative, GCI I'm along side of it now, maybe 600 feet off my…It's Conical shape, jeeze that's bright, it hurts my eyes to look at it for more Than a few seconds.

STAXTON: How close are you now?.

SCHAFFNER: About 400 feet he's still in my three o'clock. Hey wait…there's something Else. It's like a large soccer ball…it's like made of glass.

STAXTON: Is it part of the object or independent over.

SCHAFFNER: Negative, nothing.

STAXTON: Can you asses the rate…..?.

SCHAFFNER: Contact in descent, gentle. Am going with it…50 no about 70…it's Levelled out again.

STAXTON: Is the ball object still with it. Over.

SCHAFFNER: Affirmative it's not actually connected…maybe magnetic attraction to The conical shape. There's a haze of light ye'ow …it's within that haze. Wait a second it's turning…coming straight for me…shit I'm taking
Evasive action…a few…I can hardly…

STAXTON: Come in 94 are you receiving over, come in.


As the controller lost contact with Captain Schaffner, a radar operator who had been tracking the Lightning and the mystery object watched in amazement. The two blips on the screen representing the aircraft and it's quarry, slowly merged into one. Decellerating rapidly from 500mph. Until they became stationary 6000 feet above the North Sea.

Two and a half minutes after the blip came to a halt it started accelerating rapidly to 600mph. And climbed to 9000 feet, heading South towards Staxton.

Shortly afterwards, the single blip separated into two. One maintaining it's southerly heading, somewhat erratically, at about 600mph. And descending slowly, the other turning 180 degrees to head North Westerly and vanishing at a speed calculated to be around 20,400mph.