It has been reported that two F-16 jets from Andrews Air Force Base were scrambled early on July 26 after radar detected an unknown aircraft in Washington, D. C. airspace. Local residents reported seeing a "bright blue or orange ball moving very fast, being chased by jets." There had been a UFO incident in Washington, D. C. involving Andrews Air Force Base exactly 50 years before (the first of the two sightings was on July 19, 1952 and the second was on July 26, 1952)), and the Washington Post had reminded everyone of it with an article published on July 21, 2002. Therefore, those inclined to see such things were well primed to see all manner of suspicious lights in the early morning of July 26, 2002. Note that the article was published two days after the fiftieth anniversary of the first 1952 sighting, but five days before the fiftieth anniversary of the second sighting. This is starting to look like the set up of a false UFO incident. After the article was published, people would be looking to the sky on July 26. Say some odd military plane was capable of displaying colored lights and flying around like a UFO. It could be sent up on July 26 with the F-16's in hot pursuit, all being viewed by people looking for such things because of the July 21 Washington Post article. Nothing was ever found "because whatever it was disappeared." But why would the military do this? I quote from the July 27 article:

"'It was a routine launch,' said Lt. Col. Steve Chase, a senior officer with the wing, which keeps pilots and armed jets on 24-hour alert at Andrews to respond to incidents as part of an air defense system protecting Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Note that the article states "as part of an air defense system protecting Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks" (my emphasis). This little UFO incident, at one fell swoop: 1) proved that Washington was safely protected from harm by the jets at Andrews Air Force Base; and 2) emphasized that Andrews Air Force Base was not in a position to provide such protection prior to September 11, thus explaining why no planes were scrambled from there on the morning of September 11 to intercept Flight 77's attack on the Pentagon. There has been much speculation about why no intercepting jets were sent from Andrews, as it was only 10 miles from the Pentagon. The site The Emperor's New Clothes has written a lot (see here and here and here and here and here, and also this article by George Szamuely) on this issue, and in particular how the original websites for The District of Columbia Air National Guard and the 113th Wing had been oddly altered at some point so as to remove reference to how ready they were to respond in the event of an emergency. We can now see that they are ready to respond, having I guess learned something from the events of September 11. This would not be the first time that a fake UFO flap was used by the military to accomplish propaganda goals.