In the late 1940's, the world was gripped by UFO mania and extraterrestrials seemed to be everywhere.
Fortunately for the U.S. southwest, a potent new prototype was able to answer the call to guard against an intergalactic invasion.
It all began during World War II when Lockheed came up with their revolutionary L-133 Starjet fighter design.
This would lead to the little-known yet infamous failed YP-78 prototype.
Which in turn would lead to the aircraft seen here, top-secret Lockheed Project XO.
The XO project had to be kept top-secret as Lockheed was still in the dog-house over the YP-78 debacle and if it got out they were developing yet another iffy interceptor, heads would roll.
Never given an official designation, the new point-defense jet fighter was simply called The Product in the few surviving government documents.
Internal Lockheed company correspondence refer to the radical design as Project XO.
Since neither Lockheed nor the military ever officially acknowledged this aircraft's existence, we're left to speculate if the XO stood for Xperimental Operations, Xtreme Operations or just Xtremely Odd.
Fortunately for the Free World, Lockheed Project XO was undergoing extensive testing in New Mexico at a secret air strip near
the White Sands testing range which is not too far from a small town called
Roswell. On July 7th 1947, things would get a little more interesting in sleepy Roswell.
For all appearances, the local military was taking it all in stride even if they couldn't say what they were really thinking.
Publicly, they did their best to explain away anything that might spark panic.
But they knew the truth...
So convinced were they of the threat that the only air asset available at the time was diverted from gunnery tests to interdict the invaders from outer space. The Lockheed XO disengaged from the target range and vectored to an intercept course.
Finally spotting the unidentified flying object, the Lockheed XO tried to get in for a closer look.
At that moment the saucer accelerated and climbed away from the fighter at high speed. All the XO pilot was left with is this recently discovered gun-camera footage.
The Lockheed XO was sent out on additional sorties until other, more capable and numerous aircraft could be called upon to take up patrol.
As far as can be determined, nothing more of the alien invaders was ever found and in 1967 the Air Force finally released its findings to the public in the notorious "Project Brown Book".
We may never know for sure exactly what happened that July in Roswell, New Mexico or who or what was responsible for it all.
As for Lockheed's Project XO, it would meet an ignominious end, having been superseded by more cutting-edge aircraft. All that exists of it today except for a few scattered records is this overly-optimistic desk model found in an abandoned Calabasas, California office park.
Brian da Basher