Saturday, May 4, 1968

JOUETT JARGON

4 MAY 68

MIG 21 SHOT DOWN OVER GULF

Aboard the USS Ranger, Tonkin Gulf--A U.S. Navy F4 Phantom protecting American ships and planes in the Gulf of Tonkin shot down a MIG 21 Thursday.

The MIG pilot parachuted into the Gulf, where U.S. ships and helicopters began a search and rescue operation. By nightfall, Navy spokesmen said the Communist pilot had not been rescued, and chances he would be captured dwindled. The United States has not captured a Communist pilot during the Vietnam War. The Phantom pilot, Lt. John E. Ryan, 27, of Beverly, Mass., and his backseat radar man, Lt(jg) James E. Spencer, 26, of San Pablo, Calif., spotted the Communist MIG heading into the Gulf at 57,000 feet. "He may have been waiting to roll in on one of our own planes," Ryan said.

The U.S. Seventh Fleet keeps picket ships and radar communications planes prowling the Northern Gulf. Ryan's job was to protect them from MIGs. He had never seen one before Thursday. This was the second time Ryan had seen a MIG in five minutes. The first one headed into the Gulf when Ryan and Lt. Cdr. Barlan Hall of Vancouver, Washington, sped in to intercept it. The MIG turned back over northern North Vietnam, and the Navy pilots were forbidden to follow because of the current bombing pause.

The second time, the MIG kept coming and turned north when Hall and Ryan spotted him. The U.S. pilots sneaked up behind it and Hall snapped off two missiles, which had no effect. The MIG kept flying straight, apparently with the pilot unaware he was being chased. Then Ryan moved the Phantom up to within a mile or so and opened up with an air-to-air missile. "The missile went straight at him. It did not vary at all," Ryan said. Hall watched as the MIG, minus a left wing, spiraled earthward. He saw the pilot's pink parachute blossom and observed the pilot splash into the Gulf, 70 miles offshore and between the mainland and Hainan Island. Running short on fuel, Hall and Ryan left other Phantoms over the pilot to direct the rescue.

[OVER]

Two days later it was disclosed that the "Mig" reported shot down was actually a USAF drone carrying radar and radio detection gear over North Viet Nam. The Navy pilots mistook it for a Communist Mig and opened fire with a guided missile. The parachute they reported seeing was a parachute which ejected carrying the electronic equipment after the drone had fell to an altitude of 5,000 feet. A drone is a remote controlled aircraft often used for surveillance and target practice. The Jouett launched its SAR helicopter to search for the assumed "pilot" after the "Mig" was reported shot down.