The Strange Case of King Bird Fifty

The Strange Case Of King Bird Fifty

Due to the sensitive nature of this story and its recent occurrence, all names have been deleted from the text in order to protect the sources of this material.

On the night (Thule time) of December 23rd, 2001, the Air Traffic Control at Thule AFB began receiving calls from an unidentified aircraft. The weather was horrible... as is usual for Thule... -52 Celcius, with snow and sleet driven by a twenty mile per hour wind, with gusts to thirty five miles per hour... The call letters of the aircraft were badly garbled, as was the voice transmission, which was coming in on an unused (obsolete) harmonic of the standard frequency. The only thing that they could make out clearly was the aircraft's designation... "King Bird Five Zero". This is not a call, or an official designation of any sort, it is the designation of a particular type of aircraft.

The aircraft showed on radar as an intermittent blip of considerable size, although not as large as modern heavy aircraft. Radar also indicated three other things... First, the incoming aircraft was extremely slow- moving, by accepted standards, and secondly, it was extremely low. Any experienced pilot would, if able, get above the current storm front, and remain there until the last possible minute. The front was a big one... extending to an altitude of some 42,000 feet, but this altitude was well inside the maximum ceiling of any known aircraft in service the size of the incoming "visitor". Unless... the "visitor" had sustained damage, such as loss of cabin pressure, and could not rise to this altitude. Finally, there was one other consideration... no military aircraft was scheduled to be incoming at the time, and there were no scheduled civilian flights known to be in the area.

Air Traffic Control at Thule Air Force Base first started making intermittent contact with the aircraft when it was approximately 100 nautical miles out of Thule, over the Atlantic. Somehow, it had simply, very suddenly, "appeared" as a faint "blip" on Radar, fading in and out as it progressed slowly Eastward, right in the midst of the storm. Radio contact had begun at approximately the same time. Messages incoming were regular, but garbled by interference from the foul weather, coming in on a harmonic (side band) of a long unused military frequency. The transmissions were voice only, but the voice appeared to be steady, firm and unconcerned by the horrendous flying conditions prevalent at the aircraft's cruising altitude 30,000 feet. The timing indicated a set pattern of transmission, such as the kind of routine positioning reports used in the days before Radar was either common, or dependable. There was no transponder signal, and no radar signal incoming from the aircraft. Thule tower remained in regular contact with the incoming aircraft for slightly over one hour.

The last message came at 01:07 GMT, at which time the aircraft was a solid radar image, and approximately 10 nautical miles from Thule AFB's main runway, over the lip of the glacier. The message, in clear transmission, stated... "We show to be ten knots out, and should be able to see you... but we can't see you... light up the night..."

Thule AFB is accustomed to having unscheduled visitors many of whom are in distress. They are capable of and quite willing to "light up the night". In fact, with all of the emergency lighting in use, the main runway at Thule is clearly visible, a good deal more than ten miles out in the worst possible weather. They can also set off a radar beacon, which is capable of literally making the hull vibrate on incoming aircraft. None of this, however, proved to be of any value. Immediately afterwards, the in-bound craft vanished from Thule's radar screens, and there were no further radio transmissions.

Owing to the conditions... darkness and storm... it was several hours before a search could be mounted for what was assumed to be an aircraft down on the Greenland Glacier. At first light, a search party was dispatched to the last known location of the incoming contact. After a search of approximately two hours, they reported back to Thule AFB, by radio, informing the Search and Rescue Headquarters that they had found the "wreckage" of a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-50D Superfortress bomber... which had belly landed on the glacier, in approximately sixteen feet of snow, twelve nautical miles out, in a direct line with Thule AFB's main runway. The crew was in place... dead.

There was no significant damage to the aircraft other than being completely out of fuel. The amount of snow on the surface of the glacier apparently cushioned the impact of the bomber. The crew, according to the logbook, knowing that they were reasonably close to Thule AFB, chose to remain onboard rather than risk the weather... thinking that a search would be imminent.

The aircraft's logbook showed to be up to date until approximately the time of the last transmission received by Thule Air Force Base Air Traffic Control... However, it also showed that the flight had originated at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, on December 22nd, 1948 and that the elapsed time of the flight the number of hours actually recorded by the crew was consistent with a flight from McGuire to Thule, at the maximum operational speed of this type aircraft, given the weather conditions prevalent at the time. They were, in fact, only two hours behind schedule, due to the fierce headwind that they appeared to have been fighting. This headwind also accounts for the aircraft's forced landing on the glacier, as the power requirements placed on the engines under such adverse conditions, more than doubled normal consumption. The logbook, which is allegedly up to date until shortly after the time of the plane's crash landing, also indicates that the crew was aware of their near proximity to Thule AFB, and expected immediate, or near immediate rescue. They therefore elected to stay with the craft, rather than venture off toward the Air Base. The condition and composition of the crew's uniforms indicate that their chances of survival in the prevalent surface conditions would have been slim to none. Since the B-50D was developed long before the advent of pressure suits, or extreme high altitude flying were more than record-setting novelties... the crew was equipped only with "normal" winter-issue uniforms of the day, augmented by heavy "B-2" coats. While heavier clothing was available at the time of the flight's supposed origin, none was found onboard. While this seemed strange to the would-be rescuers, research later discovered that the winter of 1948/49 had been considered a "mild" one by Greenland standards, and the issue would have been quite sufficient for that time.

All this aside, the crew seems to have done the logical thing by remaining in the aircraft, where there was some protection from inclimate weather. As it was, they seem to have survived for several hours after their landing. Examination on site, and a later Coroner's report allegedly indicates that the crew died from shock and exposure. While the bodies were partially frozen, there was no "frost burn" or other associated damage from prolonged freezing. Time of death was fixed at ten hours, plus or minus two, before discovery, which is consistent with the time of the last radio/radar contact with "incoming" unidentified aircraft by Thule Air Traffic Control.

"Unofficially" the crew and aircraft have been identified as one which went "missing, and was presumed lost"... presumed to have crashed into the Atlantic, due to "unknown circumstances"... on a routine patrol deployment, "some years ago". Since downed aircraft are common on Thule, and the nature of the far northern location often means that such aircraft are soon covered over with literally dozens of feet of snow, this "explanation" is plausible.

The aircraft, a type that went completely out of service with the Air Force in the late fifties, was the last propeller driven bomber in the U.S. Air Force inventory. The serial number and log book designation of the recovered aircraft, match the fragmentary transmissions received by Thule AFB Air Traffic Control and match the "lost" flight of 1948.

The Heavy long range B-50 Superfortress was developed from the earlier, Second World War era B-29 Superfortress, the same type of aircraft which delivered the first Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The primary difference was a slightly larger rudder assembly, and more powerful, turbo-prop engines. It was an impressive aircraft, for it's time and the last propeller driven bomber ever accepted for service in the U.S. Air Force.

General characteristics
Primary function: Long-range heavy bomber. Power plant-Four turboshaft Pratt & Whitney R-4360-35 engines. Length 99 ft 30.2 m, Wingspan 141.2 ft 43 m, Wing area 1,720 sq. ft 159.8 sq. m, Weight empty 84,714 lb 38,426 kg. Maximum take off 173,000 lb 78,472 kg. Combat ceiling 35,650 ft 10,900 m. Speed cruising 244 mph 393 km/h max. 395 mph 635 km/h. Rate of climb sea level 620 ft/min, 189 m/min combat (max. power) 2,200 ft/min, 671 m/min Combat radius 2,396 miles 3,856 km Total mission time 20 hours. Maximum load (bombs) 28,000 lb 12,700 kg. Crew Eight (pilot, co-pilot, engineer, radio-electronic countermeasures operator, left-side gunner, right-side gunner, top gunner, tail gunner) Armament 13x .50-caliber machine guns. Date deployed 1945. Number built 370.

While impressive for it's time, beyond any doubt the most sophisticated aircraft of it's type then in service, a quick look at the statistics will show that it was ill equipped to handle a major Arctic Storm being too slow and inefficient in it's fuel consumption to "fight it's way through", and lacking the altitude maximums needed to "get above" such a storm. The aircraft also did not have a pressurized cabin. Like all aircraft of this era, the crew depended only on breathing masks, and heavy clothing for comfort, coupled with a cabin heater that operated only when the engines were in use.

According to reports, the aircraft has, since it's recovery, been transported to a maintenance hanger at Thule Air Force Base. It is not badly damaged. The plane landed in heavy snow, and aside from some relatively minor "scarring" and a four slightly bent propeller blades, there is no real damage. It is estimated that the old plane could be flown out of Thule in less than three days... depending on weather conditions... and... if someone could be located who knows how, and has the proper certifications, to fly this type of aircraft. According to rumor, a search for such a person is currently underway. Maintenance reports also allegedly confirm that the cause of the crash was very simple... out of fuel, and a large aircraft, of this type, can only glide so far... especially into a twenty to thirty-five mile per hour plus headwind.

The Air Force has supposedly contacted existing next of kin. The statement says that they have found the remains and that they are from a crash that happened "some years ago". The bodies are being "prepared" for return to the U.S. An "official" statements to the press... not as yet released... but allegedly scheduled to be released within a few days... will state that in-tact wreckage has been found, but will give only the date of departure of the flight and "official" time of loss... 22 December, 1948... and no further details.

What is the true story behind King Bird Fifty? The odyssey of the venerable old Cold Warrior poses more questions than answers...

It would appear that "something" swallowed this plane and it's crew in 1948, and spit it in 2001. There is no evidence that the aircrew was aware of the passage of time, other than normal flight time from McGuire to Thule, plus the two hours or so that they were put behind by the storm. Nor, had the crew, according to reports, aged any. Their apparent ages match the age recorded for them at the time of their departure, over half a century ago.. Is there some kind of natural "vortex" a "portal" that randomly opens in the fabric of space and time? Are there places in the world in which one can be "swallowed up", only to be returned at the same place, in a future or past time If this is so, then all we know of Physics and the so-called "laws" of nature, are only the beginnings of a dream.

What would have been the case if the crew of King Bird Fifty had survived? What if they had been "rescued"? What would have been their fate? Would it have been the imprisonment of "government secrecy"? Would it have been madness? Both?

Is there some short of "paradox shield" in effect, which prevented the crew from surviving the crash? Were they, in effect, already dead when the aircraft landed? Had they been "dead" ever since the aircraft disappeared some fifty-three years ago?

Is the flight of King Bird Fifty some sort of naturally occurring, airborne, "Philadelphia Experiment"?

Is this incident indicative of some sort of "Bermuda Triangle" type anomaly?

Has this kind of thing happened before?

Does someone, in fact, know exactly what happened to King Bird Fifty and her crew? Is it being covered up, like so many other "unexplained" and "unsubstantiated" paranormal occurrences... for reasons of "national security" or for fear of causing a "panic"... or is King Bird Fifty the subject (some might say "victim") of some darker, and more well-thought-out scenario... part of some "experiment" that people are "better off" not knowing about... some hidden aspect of the "Cold War" from which the general public is being "protected"?

Did the incident happen at all, or is it yet another "mystery" and growing legend of the far north? Is it yet another "tale of the unexplained"... the kind that seems to simply grow around aviation, as they once flourished around the ships, which plied the oceans?

There are always "rumors" like the "rumors" which surround the Roswell Disc and the Bermuda Triangle... like the "rumor" about King Bird Fifty. "Rumors" that might never come to light or maybe some day, they will. Who knows? Almost certainly, someone does.

Update - King Bird Five Zero...

The aircraft is being FLOWN. It is operational. That is what is so unusual about this story. They actually repaired it and FLEW it back to the states from Greenland...and it is traveling under it's own power now. This indicates, to us, that it is still being evaluated, or that they are planning to repeat the experiment on the same aircraft to try and determine what went wrong the first time.... and something obviously did.

Our original lead in the story was the Air Traffic Control Office at Thule. He went off post to send the information to us, and kept us posted on the repairs. He notified us about an hour after the plane took off for the States, and we turned out people up and down the coast, armed with the ID photos that you have in this article, to try and spot her. We knew the approximate range of the aircraft, so that gave us some pretty good ideas about destinations. We got three confirmed sightings. They flew her across, so that she would cross the coast in darkness, but there aren't that many large, multi-engined reciprocal aircraft around, and this one is rather noisy, even at altitude.

From that point on, we sent a description of the aircraft, and the same ID photos, through our entire email data base, and simply asked people to be on the lookout. We have been lucky, and have been notified every time they move her. Right now, she's on the ground, somewhere northwest of Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. We assume that it's somewhere in Northern California, given the speed and range of the aircraft. We were notified when she left Luke (actually a small farm-out base Northeast of Luke, and given her bearing just after take off.

Interestingly, since we've been covering this story, we are usually "tipped" accidentally every time there's a move. Hacking and intrusion activity steps up just before a move. I think that "uncle" is trying to intercept the sources of our "leads". It is far to complex to get into in one email, but if you'll look through the material on our site, you'll get the idea. There is a definite attempt to keep information on this aircraft under wraps.

We traced one hacking attack that hit me, and one or our fellow researchers, in Canada, through 14 proxy servers, all the way back to LANGLEY, Virginia. And a second hacker attack to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. We also had one that traced to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. That particular attack coincided with the aircraft being moved from Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio to Luke AFB in Arizona.

We have made inquiries of all major organizations involved, and have received neither a confirmation or denial... they simply say that "they don't know" about the incident or the recovery of the aircraft and it's aftermath.

The connection that we have made to this experiment is as follows. It is all connected with the activity of the Majestic 12 Group, which overlaps and interlocks with he Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. We have documented the overlap on our site.

Chronology:

1936 (38?) UFO recovery by Germans in Bavarian Alps

1942 UFO crash in San Francisco Bay area.

1942 Manhattan Project

1943 Project Rainbow (The so-called "Philadelphia Experiment)

1945 Technology "acquired from Germany transported to United States.

1947, July, The Roswell Incident.

1947, Late Fall, Operation "Highjump".

1948 King Bird Incident.

Each of these events is tied together by the presence of the same scientists being involved, and the same group of "specialists" in charge of security.

The goal that we have undertaken with this series is to determine the following:

a. What, exactly happened here?

b. What became of the remains of the crew?

c. Is the experiment continuing?

d. What is the nature of the experiment?

e. Why is a sixty-year old aircraft still considered to be "above top secret"?

f. Who is responsible for this?

g. Who exactly is involved?