Narrative:

A probable equipment issue; my r-side & I both observed a mode-C intruder target appear west of MHZ showing FL360 squawking xyza. At first I suspected it was a false target (ring-around) from a radar site; and did a flight plan readout on the code. The code belonged to aircraft X who was at FL360; established well outside ZME in ZHU airspace and heading away toward aex/iah. If the target had disappeared after a couple hits; we may have thought little of it. The target was moving rapidly northeast bound toward mem; exhibiting a greater airspeed than aircraft X; and showing good steady radar identification for approximately 35 miles; I was on the d-side; so I'm not sure; but I would estimate the target marched along for about 35 or 40 miles and then disappeared. During this time; I stood up to view the underlying sector 45 and sector 66 for any possible targets in the same vicinity; but there were none; there was an aircraft just southeast of the target at FL380 and my r-side asked him if he showed anything on his TCAS; the pilot replied negative. Sector 43 is routinely our busiest sector; if this had happened during a busy session it would have created much confusion and some panic.the target vector was not relative to aircraft X [and] any radar site; in an example of the old ring-around scenario; aircraft X would have been 30 southwest of the radar site and the false target 30 north of the site; then 30 nne; 30NE; etc. I do not know where the adsb antennas are; but if one is near vks then it may have an impact on the situation. I think it's important to note that the false target was not moving opposite aircraft X; it was not a mirror presentation; but I would estimate 150 degrees opposite. We told the asic (area supervisor in charge) when [asic] returned to the area and took down information and reported it to someone. I have not seen this type of event before; and have no idea what caused it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZME Controller reports of a Mode-C intruder target moving NE towards their airspace at a fast rate. Controllers checked with pilots in the vicinity to see if they saw it on TCAS and they did not. Controller referenced it to something like ring-around but said it was not because the targets did not correlate to ring-around. Controller reported the incident to Front Line Manager (FLM).

Narrative: A probable equipment issue; my R-side & I both observed a mode-C intruder target appear west of MHZ showing FL360 squawking XYZA. At first I suspected it was a false target (ring-around) from a radar site; and did a flight plan readout on the code. The code belonged to Aircraft X who was at FL360; established well outside ZME in ZHU airspace and heading away toward AEX/IAH. If the target had disappeared after a couple hits; we may have thought little of it. The target was moving rapidly northeast bound toward MEM; exhibiting a greater airspeed than Aircraft X; and showing good steady radar identification for approximately 35 miles; I was on the D-side; so I'm not sure; but I would estimate the target marched along for about 35 or 40 miles and then disappeared. During this time; I stood up to view the underlying sector 45 and sector 66 for any possible targets in the same vicinity; but there were none; there was an aircraft just southeast of the target at FL380 and my R-side asked him if he showed anything on his TCAS; the pilot replied negative. Sector 43 is routinely our busiest sector; if this had happened during a busy session it would have created much confusion and some panic.The target vector was not relative to Aircraft X [and] any radar site; in an example of the old ring-around scenario; Aircraft X would have been 30 SW of the radar site and the false target 30 N of the site; then 30 NNE; 30NE; etc. I do not know where the ADSB antennas are; but if one is near VKS then it may have an impact on the situation. I think it's important to note that the false target was not moving opposite Aircraft X; it was not a mirror presentation; but I would estimate 150 degrees opposite. We told the ASIC (Area Supervisor In Charge) when [ASIC] returned to the area and took down information and reported it to someone. I have not seen this type of event before; and have no idea what caused it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.