Another Mantell: The Case of Mark Richard Polking
How a young jet pilot in the 1950s lost his life chasing UFOs
As usual, Geoffrey P. Cruickshank provides an excellent analysis of a brand new Majestic file release in his article, “New Majestic Documents: Atomic weapons “last line of defense” against UFOs and James Forrestal’s murder” One topic he doesn’t mention though, is the case of pilots who died in the pursuit of UFOs, tipified by Captain Thomas F. Mantell, and—until today—an unknown case of 2nd Lieutenant Mark Richard Polking.
In one of the three documents featured in the release, “CIA_ER1-2735_Majestic_pages1-2” now hosted by Ryan Wood on the Majestic Documents website, there is mention of Mantell who was famed1 for chasing—to the point of death—a UFO in an attempt at interception in 19482.
In addition to Mantell’s tragedy however is the case of 2nd Lieutenant Mark Richard Polking, who after scrambling to launch on August 19, 1954, from McGuire Air Force Base ‘flamed out’ in his F-86D Sabre and crashed while on a ground-controlled approach (GCA) during his return landing. This event was likely a year or less before CIA_ER1-2735 was written.
News accounts at the time3 said 2nd Lt. Polking was on a ‘routine training flight’ —although the fact, that his plane was armed with 24 rockets makes that unlikely.
But in 1957, a surprising source said 2nd Lt. Polking was actually chasing ‘after unidentified targets’ and posthumously published a poem he wrote describing just such a chase. This source: Aviation Week4, with the poem appearing in Philip J. Klass’ Avionics section.
As editor of the section, Klass is the likely author of the note at the end of the poem:
EDITORS NOTE: AVIATION WEEK is privileged to publish this poem by 2nd Lt. Mark Richard Polking, USAF. Lt. Polking was an all-weather fighter pilot in Air Defense Command, flying F-86Ds out of McGuire AFB, N. J. Like some other gifted pilots, Lt. Polking hoped to combine writing and flying. He planned to return to the University of Michigan after his term of USAF active duty to complete his academic degree. Lt. Polking died at the age of 22 in the crash of his F-86D after its jet engine flamed out on a GCA approach to McGuire. He was returning from a scramble after unidentified targets similar to the mission of “Level-head.”
Here is the poem as it appeared in the March 18, 1957 issue of Aviation Week:
In the poem, 2nd Lt. “Levelhead” Polking scrambles to intercept unknown radar contacts who turn out to be friendly, strayed aircraft. The days and nights around August 19th, 1954, however, had sightings of a different sort. From Loren E. Gross’ collection of reports from June-August, 19545 is a clipping from the 18 August 1954 issue of Newsday:
The Ground Observer Corps (GOC) were still active in this era. Trained observers, they frequently catalogued unidentified sightings backed by radar, radio, and multi-angle visual recordings. Again, from Gross’ records6:
The White Plains, New York, Ground Observer Corps (GOC) Filter Center covered a large part of the states of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. During the years of 1951 to 1955, James C. Beatty served at the Center as instructor, team supervisor, and alert crew supervisor. He remembers that many of the 15,000 GOC volunteers reporting to White Plains did spot UFOs; In fact, he said: “It was a faidy frequent occurrence.”
Beatty, however, states that one of the most memorable UFO incidents he knew about took place in late August or early September, 1954. At 9:30 p.m. the Poughkeepie, N.Y., GOC post called in to report the sudden appearance in the night sky of a big orange ball. There was no mistaking the image for the moon since the lunar orb was also visible in another part of the heavens and it was not in full phase. This extraordinary sight lasted for about ½ hour, the large round object stationary except for a slight oscillation. Finally, the object left the area, moving southwest and turning a yellow-orange color.
At full alert, the Filter Center tracked the UFO as it travelled in a southeastern direction.
Beatty:
“While the object had been progressing across our board, I at that particular time was on the hot-line at the Filter Center... Two radar stations we were hooked into confirmed at that time they had been holding an electronic fix on this same object... It coincided in position and movement with the object we had seen visually.”
Jets were scrambled from Steward AFB, Newburgh, N.J.; and from Newcastle airbase in Delaware. Beatty again:
“At the time I was hearing the scrambles in the background, the plot was progressing more in a direction toward the state of Connecticut... then we began to pick up the jet patterns, coming in from the south in the case of the scramble from Delaware, and from the west in the case of the scramble from Stewart Field... We could track the jets as they closed in on this object.
“Shortly before the interception occurred, a strange thing happened to the orange object. This was reported both by the ground observer posts and by the pilots of the jets. It seemed to speed up in its motion--it had been oscillating or pulsating and moved rather slowly--and it changed to a rotational effect with also a change of lights. By this time the reports came in that it was a whirling combination of red, green and yellow lights...
“Then at almost the same time we got reports from the posts which had been holding this object under ground observation, and jets themselves that the object disappeared straight upward in a burst of speed... At that moment it also became apparent that not only the ground observers, but also the aircraft and airborne radar had lost visual and electronic contact with the object as it zoomed upward and vanished in the night sky.” 5.
Another “Summer of 1954” UFO report would follow the March 18, 1957 Aviation Week article as Sports Writer and Editor of Worcester’s The Evening Gazette, Frank Crotty wrote in a Tuesday, April 2, 1957 editorial7.
From his vantage point on Main St in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Mr. Crotty would be looking back towards Long Island (17 August sighting) and from there onwards towards McGuire AFB in Trenton, NJ (19 August intercept). While his was a joyful day time sighting and doesn’t mention jets in pursuit as others at this time do, it does add to the history of activity in the area—especially around August 1954.
Sadly, after the night of 19 August, parents had to bury a son.
Were they told he died in a training accident or when sent on an interception mission? Did Klass come across the poem from Polking in the McGraw-Hill mailroom? Did he know the Polkings personally? Was the incident another piece of motivation for his debunking career in the future?
These questions remain unanswered.
Mark’s father, Anthony, would go on to sign for his son’s application for a headstone8.
By March 3, 1956 a bronze plaque would signify a commemorative gift made by the Polking family towards the purchase of books for the Kuemper High School library9.
A MEMORIAL GIFT TO KUEMPER HIGH SCHOOL.
In memory of their son, Lieut. Mark Polking, who was killed in an army air force crash August 19, 1954, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Polking have presented a gift of $500 to Kuemper High School which has been used to purchase books for the library.
Some of the books were on display in the trophy case during National Catholic Book Week with the above bronze plaque which has been made to commemorate the gift.
Replicas of the plaque have been placed in each of the 140 books in the memorial collection.
Mark would be brought back home to Carroll, Iowa and laid to rest in Mount Olivet Cemetery10.
Will histories like this become apparent in upcoming PURSUE releases? Or will people have to scrape together the pieces on their own?
Many of the records still held classified relating to UAP/NHI are older than, or just shy of 75 years and should be up for mandatory declassification. Given the extra scrutiny based on the PURSUE initiative, their release should be all the more urgent.
Simply, if all the documents relating to the reality of UAP/NHI older than 1951 were released the question would move from “What if?” to “What now?”
~
Below are records on Mark Richard Polking to aid further researchers:
Crash Date YYMMDD: 540819
Aircraft Type: F-86D
Aircraft S/N: 51-8331
Squadron: 5FIS
Group: 4709ADW
Home Base: McGuire AFB, Trenton, NJ
Command: -
Action Code: KCRGC (Killed in Crash Ground Collision)
Damage Code: 4
Pilot: Polking, Mark R
Country: USA
State: NJ
Location: 1 Mi S McGuire AFB, Trenton, NJ
File Code: 54-08-19-002
New Jersey Record of Death
Birth Certificate of Mark Richard Polking
Polking Family Headstone
“Questions remain 75 years after mysterious Fort Knox UFO incident, downed pilot” Pilgrim, Eric; January 6, 2023, https://www.army.mil/article/263119/questions_remain_75_years_after_mysterious_fort_knox_ufo_incident_downed_pilot
“An Analysis of the Thomas Mantell UFO Case” Randle, Kevin, NICAP https://www.nicap.org/docs/mantell/analysis_mantell_randle.pdf
The Gettysburg Times, “Jet Plane Crashes Killing Young Pilot” Friday 20 August 1954, Page 5 https://archive.org/details/gettysburg-times-1954-08-20/page/n3/
“Levelhead and the Night” Polking, Mark Richard, Poem, published in AVIATION WEEK, 18 March 1957, ed. Klass, Philip J. https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1957-03-18/page/n79/
“UFOS: A History 1954 June-August” Gross, Loren E. page 82 https://sohp.us/collections/ufos-a-history/pdf/GROSS-1954-June-Aug.pdf
“UFOS: A History 1954 September” Gross, Loren E. pages 1 & 2 https://sohp.us/collections/ufos-a-history/pdf/GROSS-1954-Sept.pdf
The Evening Gazette, “Around These Parts” Crotty, Frank; April 2, 1957, archived in “The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse - UFOs: A History, 1954 June-August, Supplemental Notes” Gross, Loren E. page 3 https://sohp.us/collections/ufos-a-history/pdf/GROSS-1954-June-Aug-SN.pdf
National Archives Catalog, “Record Group 92: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster GeneralSeries: Applications for Headstones, 1954-1956: Petersen, Robert S - Pope, Edward”, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration https://catalog.archives.gov/id/106526904?objectPage=3585
Carroll Daily Times Herald, “A Memorial Gift to Kuemper High School” Saturday, March 3, 1956 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2326990/ Page 4
Find-A-Grave “2LT Mark Richard Polking” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173094881/mark-richard-polking