In the beginning, their intentions were uncertain. It was early evening when they appeared. The sun was down, and in the night sky, it was difficult to make them out.

They could not be seen with any sort of clarity, but their engines could be heard loud and clear. These were fighter jets, and they were going very fast, far overhead.

The April 4 Coos Bay Police log reveals dispatchers recieved calls from North Bend, Coos Bay, Englewood and Lakeside. They reported sighting the noisy, mysterious visitors.

Were they friend or foe? In the night sky, their colors could not be discerned, so there was no way to be sure. Were they the Russians, old foes running fresh surveillance missions? The North Koreans? The Norwegians?

Alas, the truth is not as interesting as the speculation. According to Capt. Lucas Ritter, public affairs officer at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, they were F-15 fighter pilots doing training exercises.

“We train F-15 fighter pilots here at Kingsley Field, and one week a month we do nightflying training,” said Lucas. “Our pilots learn to use nightvision goggles, among other things. That's what people have been hearing (in Coos County).”

The county is part of Kingsley Field's auxiliary training airspace, said Ritter. Usually the Kingsley pilots fly their training missions in Eastern Oregon and parts of Nevada. Because of recent weather conditions, however, they've had to use the “Dolphin airspace,” which is partly over Coos County.

Lucas said Kingsley Field runs two, hour-long training exercises a night during its monthly nightflying week. The first begins at about 5 p.m., and involves 10 planes. The second begins at about 8 p.m. and involves eight planes.

“We'll be doing nightflying for the rest of the week, but I couldn't tell you if it's going to keep being in the Dolphin airspace,” said Lucas. “We never really know until right before the pilots go up. It depends on weather conditions.”