Lightning Accident not Aliens!

[FD2]

Did ALIENS abduct a US air force pilot over the North Sea? Serviceman took off from an RAF base in 1970 but disappeared 12 minutes later and when his plane was found the cockpit canopy was closed and there was no body.

How unlucky to survive a ditching in a Lightning and then drown after escaping.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... -1970.html

Lightning Recovery.png (117.42 KiB) Viewed 211 times

[Boac]

I knew Bill from my time at the Lightning OCU, and his loss sent huge shockwaves through the Lightning force at the time. There was a lot of 'questioning' about his training in shadowing, but it was reckoned that an experienced pilot should have been 'OK'. Shadowing a Shack was a bad card to be dealt, and we nearly lost another Lightning in a real intercept of a 'Badger' (TU16) off the coast at low level when the TU (at low level and slow) turned towards the 'shadowing' Lightning, leaving few options with limited performance at the low speed. I had a 'Bear' (TU95) that didn't want to be photographed turn towards me at night (at high level, though, having hit me with a huge searchlight...) and that was exciting enough............

The actual reason the canopy came down again is that it was raised hydraulically and as the pressure bled away so gravity took hold - not 'increasing water pressure' and I think we were told that one of his seat straps was trapped over the side under the canopy.

A very sad ending for a good guy.