The catalog
Sightings
Witness reports, held as-reported. Each entry keeps its source, its coordinates where the record has them, and its place in the larger pattern.
639 entries
August 25, 1951 · 9:00 PM · CIRCLE
UnexplainedAlbuquerque, NM
Albuquerque, New Mexico. 9:58 p.m. Witnesses: Sandia Base Security Guard Hugh Young and wife. A flying wing- shaped craft passed over their heads at an estimated 800-1,000' altitude with no sound. Size estimated at 1.5 times wingspan of B-36 bomber,or 350'. Dark, chordwise stripes on underside, and 6-8 pairs of soft, glowing lights on trailing edge of "wing". Speed estimated at 300-400 m.p.h., object seen for about 30 seconds. Aug. 31, ; Matador, Texas. 12:45 p.m. Witnesses: Mrs. Tom Tilson, one or two other women, all apparently of excellent reputations. One pear-shaped object with a length of a B-29 fuselage (100'), aluminum or silver with a port or some type of aperture on the side. It moved with smaller end forward, drifting slowly at about 150' altitude, then headed up in a circular fashion and out of sight after a few seconds.
July 24, 1951
UnexplainedPortsmouth, NH
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 7:10 Witnesses: Hanscom AFB Operations Officer Capt. Cobb, Cpl. Fein. One 100-200' tubular object, 5 times long as it was wide, with fins at one end, and colored greyish with many black spots. Flew 800-1,000 m.p.h. at 1-2,000' altitude, leaving a faint swath. 20 seconds.
June 15, 1951 · 11:28 AM · SPHERE
Unexplained[Aero Mil] Orange, Provence Alpes Cote d'azur · France
Le 15 juin 1951 à 11h30 deux pilotes décollent de la base aérienne d'Orange-Caritat. Un des pilotes est surpris de voir un engin d'apparence circulaire ou sphérique argenté et très brillant dans le ciel. Il informe son chef de patrouille qui l'aperçoit à son tour. L'engin est stationnaire et situé, d'après un des pilotes, dans le sud du massif du Pelvoux (massif des Ecrins) à la même altitude que les sommets du Pelvoux et que son avion (10 000pieds). Les deux avions poursuivent cet engin qui leur semble grossir. L'engin se déplace ensuite sur une trajectoire légèrement montante en prenant une forme oblongue. L'observation simultanée durera environ 6 minutes avant que l'engin ne disparaisse sous la forme d'un point à l'horizon. L'enquête de l'époque menée par le commandant de la base confirme la crédibilité des observations. On note que certaines descriptions dans ces témoignages font penser à un ballon stratosphérique observé de loin. Néanmoins du fait que l'un des pilotes signale un éloignement rapide de l'objet quant il tente de s'en rapprocher, ne convient pas à cette hypothèse. Le GEIPAN classe ce cas en D : Phénomène étrange à très étrange/ de consistance moyenne à forte. [GEIPAN classification D — Phénomène étrange à très étrange/ de consistance moyenne à forte]
June 1, 1951 · 4:00 AM · DISK
UnexplainedNiagara Falls, NY
Niagara Falls, New York. 4:20 a.m. Witnesses: M/Sgt H.E. Sweeney, 2 enlisted men. One glowing yellow-orange, saucer-shaped object with arc-shaped wings, flew straight up. Seen for 30-40 seconds.
March 15, 1951 · 10:00 AM · CIGAR
UnexplainedNew Delhi · India
New Delhi, India. 10:20 a.m. Witnesses: 25 members of a flying club, including the chief aerial engineer and his two assistants. One metallic cigar-shaped object with white exhaust which turned black when it accelerated to an estimated 1,000 m.p.h. and made a large loop. Seven minutes.
March 13, 1951 · 3:00 PM · CYLINDER
UnexplainedMcClellan AFB, CA
McClellan AFB, California. 3:20 p.m. Witnesses: USAF lst Lt. B.J. Hastie, Mrs. Rafferty. A cylinder with twin tails, 200' long and 90' wide, turned north and flew at incredible speed. Two minutes.
March 10, 1951 · 9:00 AM
UnexplainedChinnampo · South Korea
Chinnampo, Korea. 9:51 a.m. Witnesses: crew of USAF B-29 bomber, including scanners and tail gunner. A large red-yellow glow burst and became blue-white. No further information in files.
February 26, 1951 · 7:00 AM
UnexplainedLadd AFB, AK
Ladd AFB, Alaska. 7:10 a.m. Witness: USAF Sgt. J.B. Sells. One dull grey, metallic object, estimated to be 120' long and 10-12' thick, hovered, puffed smoke and sped away after 1-1.5 minutes. Note: may have been Feb. 25.
February 21, 1951 · 4:00 AM
UnexplainedDurban, South Africa
Durban, South Africa. 4:55 a.m. Witnesses: three men in a truck, several other persons, none named. A dark red, torpedo-shaped object with darker center, flew straight and level.
February 1, 1951 · 5:00 PM · LIGHT
UnexplainedJohnson Air Base · Japan
Johnson Air Base, Japan. 5:10 p.m. Witnesses: pilot and radar operator of F-82 night fighter. One amber light made three or four 360* turns to the right, reversed toward the F-82 and then climbed out of sight.
January 8, 1951 · 10:00 PM · CIRCLE
UnexplainedSouth of Ft
South of Ft. Worth, Texas. 10:45 p.m. Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Boggus, plus unidentified drivers and passengers in other cars stopped to watch. Two groups of red and green lights in triangular formations were stationary and then moved. Jan. 12, 1951, Ft. Benning, Georgia. 10 p.m. Witness: U.S. Army 2nd Lt. A.C. Hale. One light with a fan-shaped wake remained motionless like a star about 20 minutes and then sped away. Jan 16, 1951; Artesia, New Mexico. Time unknown. Witnesses: Two members of a balloon project from the General Mills . Aeronautical Research Laboratory, the manger of the Artesia Airport, and three pilots. The balloon crew was observing their 110' balloon at an altitude of 112,000' when a dull white, round object was spotted. It appeared larger than the balloon, but made no movement. Later, the balloon crew and the others saw two objects from the airport; flying side-by-side, they circled the balloon and flew away to the northeast. The second observation lasted about 40 seconds. Note: there is confusion over the date of this case, with some USAF records showing it as 1952; however, 1951 appears to be correct.
December 11, 1950 · 10:00 PM
Unexplainedl0 mi
l0 mi. NW of Gulcana, Alaska. 10:13 p.m. Witnesses: crew of Northwest Air Lines flight 802. Two white flashes, followed by a dark cloud which rose and split in two.
December 6, 1950 · 5:00 PM
UnexplainedFt
Ft. Myers, Florida. 5 p.m. Witnesses: former aircraft purchasing agent Harry Lamp and four boys, using lO-power binoculars. One 75' object, 3-4' thick, bubble on top, silver with a red rim having two white and two orange jets along it. The center revolved when the object hovered; then it flew away very fast.
December 2, 1950 · 10:00 AM
UnexplainedNanyika, Kenya
Nanyika, Kenya. 10:50 a.m. Mr. and Mrs. L. Scott. One pearly, iridescent object with a flattened top, spun while hovering and made a sound like bees buzzing. Only data in files was from East African "Standard" newspaper.
October 23, 1950 · 12:00 PM · LIGHT
UnexplainedBonlee, NC
Bonlee, North Carolina. 12:42 p.m. Witness: ex-USAF pilot Frank Risher. One aluminum object shaped like a dirigible or Convair C-99 cargo plane, with 3 portholes, arrived from southeast, hovered 3-5 seconds and flew away to the south- south-east at end of 40 second sighting. Nov. 5, 1950, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 11:55 a.m. Witness: Fairchild Aircraft illustrator Don Patrick. One translucent object, light grey with dark core, shaped like a pear or bean. Flew for 5-10 minutes with rapid, darting movements.
October 15, 1950 · 3:00 PM
UnexplainedOak Ridge, TN
Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 3:20 p.m. Atomic Energy Commission Trooper Rymer, J. Moneymaker, Capt. Zarzecki. Two shiny silver objects shaped like bullet or bladder. They dove with a smoke trail and one vanished. The other hovered at 5-6, altitude, 50' away, left and returned several times somewhat further away.
October 15, 1950
UnexplainedPope AFB, NC
Pope AFB, North Carolina. Witness: Daniel. Listed as "unidentified" in folder index, but no supporting data could be found. Oct 15, 1950; Pope AFB, North Carolina. Witness: Woodward. Same as previous observation.
September 21, 1950 · 9:00 AM
UnexplainedProvincetown, MA
Provincetown, Massachusetts. 9:52 a.m. Witness: M.I.T. research associate and Air National Guard Maj. M.H. Ligda. Radar tracking of one object during M.I.T tracking of USAF flight of F-84 or F-86 jet fighters. Object speed was 22 miles/minute (l,200 m.p.h.), made turn of 11-12 gs acceleration during 1 minute observation.
September 20, 1950 · 10:00 AM · CIRCLE
UnexplainedKit Carson, CO
Kit Carson, Colorado. 10:49 a.m. Witness identified only as a "reliable source". Two large, round, glowing objects and three smaller, internally lit objects. Two hovered for 1 minute, moved, and three smaller ones came from behind or within the two larger objects, and all sped upward and away.
September 3, 1950 · 2:00 PM · DISK
UnexplainedSpokane, WA
Spokane, Washington. 2 p.m. Witnesses: Maj R.J. Gardiner, Mrs. Gardiner and neighbor (former saw three objects, others saw one). Metallic bronze discs, 20-30' long, 2-6' thick. Moved independently and erratically for 5 minutes.
August 30, 1950 · 1:00 PM
UnexplainedSandy Point · Canada
Sandy Point, Newfoundland, Canada. 1:30 p.m. Witnesses: three local employees, including Kaeel and Alexander, of the Air Force Base. A dark, barrel-shaped object with a pole down from it into the water, flew at 3-5 m.p.h. and 15-20' altitude for 5 minutes.
August 25, 1950 · 8:00 PM
Unexplainedapprox
approx. 250 mi. SW of Bermuda (29' 40' N., 67* 28' W.). 8 p.m. Witness: B-29 radarman S/Sgt. William Shaffer. Radar observation, plus possible blue streak 3 minutes later. B-29 followed unidentified target, then passed it at l/4-mile distance, target followed for 5 minutes, then passed B-29 and sped away. Total time of tracking: 20 minutes.
August 20, 1950 · 1:00 PM · CIRCLE
UnexplainedNicosia, Cyprus
Nicosia, Cyprus. 1:30 p.m. Witnesses: USAF MATS liaison officer Lt. William Ghormley, Col. W. V. Brown, Lt. col. L.w. Brauer. One small, round, bright object flew fast, straight and level for 15-20 seconds.
August 4, 1950 · 10:00 AM · CYLINDER
Unexplainedapprox
approx. 100 mi. SE of New York City (39' 35' N., 72' 24.5' W.). 10 a.m. EDT. Witnesses: Master Nils Lewring, Chief Mate Jacob Koelwyn, Third Mate, of M/V Marcala. One 10' cylindrical object at 50-100' altitude, flying with a churning or rotary motion, accelerated at end of 15 second sighting.