 C00177897
 INQUIRE=DOC17D
 ITEM N0=00068039
 ENVELOPE
 .CDSN = LGX572   MCN = 92042/12935   TOR = 920420826
 PTTUZYUW RUEKJCS2305 0420824-UUUU--RUEALGX.
 ZNR UUUUU
 HEADER
 P 110824Z FEB 92
 FM JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
 INFO RUEALGX/SAFE
 P 110811Z FEB 92
 FM FBIS SEOUL KOR
 TO AIG 4596
 RUESDG/FBIS HONG KONG
 ACCT FBSK-EWDK
 BT
 __              rnN-r~rnr.~
 UNCLAS 4D
 BODY
 COUNTRY: ROK
 SUBJ:    UNIDENTIFIED PLANE 'MIGHT HAVE BEEN A PHANTOM'
 REF:     SK1102050992 SEOUL YONHAP ENGLISH 110501--FIGHTER
 -   -.PLANES--SCR.AMBLETO-I-NTER.CEP-T-t1NiDFNTTFLED-PLAIIE
 SOURCE:                                SEOUL YONHAP IN ENGLISH 0749 GHT 11 FEB 92
 TEXT:
 ((TEXT)) SEOUL, FEB. 11 (YONHAP) -- THE INTRUDER THAT SENT SOUTH
 KOREAN AIR FORCE PLANES SCRAMBLING LATE TUESDAY MORNING MIGHT HAVE
 BEEN A PHANTOM, AN AIR FORCE SPOKESMAN SAID.
 RADAR INDICATED AN INTRUDING PLANE IN THE WEST SEA AIRSPACE AT
 10:05, BUT FIGHTERS SENT UP TO INVESTIGATE FOUND NOTHING IN THE
 AREA. A SEARCH IS CONTINUING.
 THE UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT WAS SOME 24 KILOMETERS (15 MILES)
 SOUTH OF THE SHANDONG PENINSULA IN CHINA WHEN IT WAS FIRST DETECTED
 ON AIR FORCE RADAR AND, MOVING AT NEARLY THE SPEED OF SOUND, REACHED
 SOME 128 KILOMETERS (80 MILES) WEST OF KUNSAN IN KOREA BY 10:20,
 WHEN IT SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED FROM THE RADAR, THE AIR FORCE SAID.
 AT THE TIME IT APPEARED ON RADAR, THE PHANTOM WAS FLYING AT 630
 KNOTS' (1,160 KPH OR 724 MPH), HE SAID.
 THE AIR FORCE PROMPTLY SCRAMBLED 18 FIGHTER PLANES, A RESCUE
 HELICOPTER AND A C-130 TRANSPORT, BUT THEY FOUND NOTHING IN THE
 AREA, HE SAID.
 THE AIR FORCE SUSPECTS THAT A GHOST SIGNAL WAS CAUSED ON THE
 RADAR DUE TO AN OVERLAPPING OF AIR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS, THE OFFICER
 SAID.
 HE EXPLAINED THAT SOMETIMES, DUE TO SUCH PULSES, BIRDS APPEAR ON
 C00177897
 RADAR AS PLANES.
 "SINCE A SIMILAR PHENOMENON CAN ALSO BE SEEN ON RADAR WIZEN AN
 AIRPLANE CRASHES, WE ARE SEARCHING THE SEA WHERE THE OBJECT WAS LAST
 DETECTED ON RADAR, BUT SO FAR NOTHING HAS BEEN FOUND," HE SAID.
 ADMIN
 (ENDALL) 110749                   129    11/08112 FEB
 BT
 UNCLASSIFIED

