Near Miss - Near Hit

I just heard on the news this morning about a "near miss." Unfortunately I did not hear any details. What I'd like to know is, who the heck coined the phrase "near miss?" This has bothered me for years. I think if it had actually been a "near miss", the planes would have collided. It was a "miss", not a near miss. It seems it was really a "near hit". A "near hit" seems to make a LOT more sense.