The U.S. Navy balloon A-5598 was an American naval free balloon which went off-course and its crew of three were recorded missing for several weeks. [1] [2]
The balloon departed Rockaway Naval Air Station (Queens, New York) on December 13, 1920, and went missing the following day. It crash landed 20 miles (32 km) north of Moose Factory, Ontario (Canada). [4]
The balloon was manned by three aeronauts, U.S. Navy Lieutenants Louis A. Kloor, Jr. (mission commander); Stephen A. Farrell (pilot); [5] [6] [7] and Walter Hinton (ground observer). [8]
After a flight of over 25 hours the group, [9] which had narrowly avoiding coming down in the James Bay, was stranded in the wilderness and wandered for four days before they came upon a Cree Indian fur trader. He initially mistook the Americans for Canadian revenue agents but then guided them to safety. [10]
The trio recovered at Moose Factory, and later were brought to the nearest town on a railway line, Mattice (Ontario) on January 11. [11] They returned to a heroes' welcome in New York City on January 14, 1921. [12]
An inquiry by the Navy [13] found that the flight was legitimate and there was no misconduct by the airmen. [5] Hinton and Kloor had written letters home which their families sold to newspapers describing the flight, which prompted the Navy to start enforcing rarely used censorship rules. [14]
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where, according to an urban legend, a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The idea of the area as uniquely prone to disappearances arose in the mid-20th century, but most reputable sources dismiss the idea that there is any mystery.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1921:
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1922:
Walter T. Hinton was a United States aviator.
Elmer "Archie" Fowler Stone was a United States naval aviator and a commander in the United States Coast Guard.
This is a list of aviation-related events during the 19th century :
Naval Air Station Rockaway adjoined Fort Tilden on the western portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It was established on transferred municipal property in 1917 during American involvement in World War I.
The D class blimp was a patrol airship used by the US Navy in the early 1920s. The D-type blimps were slightly larger than the C-type and had many detail improvements. The Navy continued the practice of dividing the envelope production between Goodyear and Goodrich. The control cars were manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory. The major improvements over the C-type blimps were a better control car design and easier, more reliable controls and instrumentation. The engines were moved to the rear to reduce noise and allow easier communications between crew members. The fuel tanks were suspended from the sides of the envelope. The envelope was identical to the C-type, except an additional six-foot panel was inserted for a total length of 198 feet (60 m) and a volume of 190,000 cubic feet (5,400 m3). The last of the D-Class, D-6, had a redesigned control car by Leroy Grumman who later founded the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation.
The H class blimp was an observation airship built for the U.S. Navy in the early 1920s. The original "H" Class design of 1919 was for a twin engined airship of approximately 80,000 cubic feet volume. Commander Lewis Maxfield suggested that a small airship which could be used either as a tethered kite balloon, or be towed by a ship until releasing its cable, would be able to scout on its own. The concept was an airship similar to the later Army Motorized Kite Balloons.
Holden Chester Richardson was a decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of captain. He is most noted as a pioneer in United States naval aviation.
The M/V Commander is a historic motor vessel built in 1917 and designed by Beele Wallace Co. of Morehead City, North Carolina, United States. She is homeported at the Haverstraw Marina in West Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York. She is a wooden 275-passenger excursion boat approximately 60 feet in length, 25 feet in breadth, and weighing 70 tons. MV Commander was built as an excursion boat for service between Rockaway and Brooklyn, New York.
The Curtiss CT-1 model 24, a twin engine torpedo bomber mounted on floats, was first flown in 1921.
The United States capital, Washington, D.C., has been the site of several events in the nation's history of aviation, beginning from the time of the American Civil War, often for the purpose of promoting the adoption of new aeronautical technologies by the government. It has also been home to several governmental and civilian aircraft manufacturers and aviation organizations, and several aerospace contractors.
Henry C. Mustin Naval Air Facility, also known as NAF Mustin Field, is a former military airfield located at the United States Navy Naval Aircraft Factory on board the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was in service from 1926 to 1963.
Charles Perry Mason was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of vice admiral. An early naval aviator, he distinguished himself as commanding officer of aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8), which was sunk during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in late October 1942. Mason was subsequently promoted to rear admiral and served successively as commander, Aircraft, Solomons and chief of the Naval Air Intermediate Training Command at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
Eleanor Vadala was an American chemist, materials engineer and balloonist. She became director of research and development at the Naval Air Development Center in Pennsylvania, where she helped to develop light synthetic materials for use in aircraft. One of her jobs was the testing of fabric in existing balloons to ensure they could be used safely.
The Pentagon UFO videos are selected visual recordings of Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) targeting from United States Navy fighter jets based aboard aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2004, 2014 and 2015, with additional footage taken by other Navy personnel in 2019. The four grainy, monochromic videos, widely characterized as officially documenting UFOs, have received extensive coverage in the media since 2017. The Pentagon later addressed and officially released the first three videos of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) in 2020, and confirmed the provenance of the leaked 2019 videos in two statements made in 2021. Footage of UAPs was also released in 2023, sourced from MQ-9 military drones.
The following events occurred in January 1921:
The following events happened in February 1921: