The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an American all-weather, twin-engined interceptor aircraft built during the 1950s, the first jet-powered aircraft designed for that role from the outset to enter service. Though its straight wings limited its performance, it was among the first United States Air Force (USAF) jet fighters equipped with guided missiles and notably the first combat aircraft armed with air-to-air nuclear weapons (the unguided Genie rocket).
A Fighter jet piloted by Felix Moncla was deployed to intercept an unusual object that had been detected via radar. Moncla and the radar operator Robert L. Wilson were lost. While theories range from vertigo to an encounter with a UFO, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found. There is a memorial to Moncla at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Moreauville LA.
