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Though picked up on radar, the large object the MUFON report mentioned could have possibly been a radar anomaly caused by low-level temperature inversions, casting some doubt on the group's findings. Some witnesses who came forward said they witnessed F-16s that seemed to engage with an object in the skies near Stephenville. According to NPR, retired pilot and Stephenville resident Steve Allen saw something he described as "bigger than a Wal-Mart," and two F-16s attemped to confront it — but whatever it was traveled so fast the planes were unable to catch up to it. Allen also saw strange flashing orbs. "The jets looked like they were chasing the lights, and the lights seemed to be toying with them. It was like a 100-hp car trying to keep up with a 1000-hp one," he told Popular Mechanics.

Although the military blamed an internal communications error for the about-face, some still suspected a cover-up. Reporter Angelia Joiner, then with the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, first broke the story and told NPR the revised report "makes it seem like something's going on. The military coming out with this at this point is just going to fuel the fire." According to Air Force Major Karl Lewis, there are no known F-16 pilot reports of similar sightings that night. It was also unclear at that time if any pilots were interviewed.

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