DOC217.GIF
DOC218.GIF

DOC 217

SOURCE XXXXXX  reported the following observations at 10:00 am RDT on 4 Aug 50 
                   39° 35' North, 72° 24 1/2' West. 

1.   On 4 Aug 50 at 10 am my ship, while on a heading of 245° true, with a smooth sea and clear weather, visibility 14 miles, barometer reading 30.03, was underway from Walton, Nova Scotia, to an East Coast US port.   I was in the chart room just aft of the bridge when Third Mate, who was at mid-bridge checking the compass, shouted that there was a flying object off the starboard bow.   I immediately ascended the conning tower and by this time the object was on our starboard beam.  It was traveling on a reciprocal course to ours about 50 or 100 feet above the water at an estimated speed of over 25 mph.  From the conning tower I observed it with my binoculars for a period of approximately a minute and a half when it disappeared into the horizon in a north-easterly direction. I would estimate that the closest it approached my ship was one thousand feet and it was an ovular, cylindrical shaped object the like of which I have never seen before.  The object was quite small and I would judge that its diameter was approximately 10 feet.  It had  depth but to what extent I was unable to observe. The object made no noise and as it passed abeam our ship, it appeared to pick up considerable speed.  It was not flying smoothly but impressed me as having a churning or rotary motion.  It had a shiny aluminum color and sparkled in the sunlight. 

2.  I was on the main deck, port side, just forward of the bridge when the Third Mate shouted there was an object on our starboard bow.  I looked off to the starboard and saw an object of elliptic shape looking like half an egg but lengthwise traveling at a great rate of speed on a course reciprocal to our own.  I immediately ran to the stern, port side, and with my glasses was able to observe the object disappearing into the horizon.  From the time I was first alerted to its presence until it disappeared from sight, 15 seconds elapsed.  I believe that it was traveling at a tremendous rate of speed, possibly faster than 500 mph. During the time I saw it, it was approximately 70 feet off the water and I judge it was approximately 10 miles away.  I clearly saw its shadow on the water.  I last observed it off the starboard quarter and it seemed to be increasing its speed and ascending.  It had an elliptic shape and I could clearly see that it had three dimensions.  It wobbled in the air, made no noise, and was a metallic white in color.  The length was approximately six times the breadth and its belly had a depth of possibly 5'. 

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3.  At 10:00 am on 4 Aug 50 as I was checking the compass at mid-bridge through a bridge port hole, I observed a flying object off the starboard bow.  I immediately shouted to the Captain, who was in the chart room and the Chief Mate, who was below on the port deck, of my observation and went out of the flying bridge myself.  The object was approximately 70' above the horizon at a distance of  12 miles.  It came toward us, then ran on a course reciprocal to ours and turned off into the horizon in the northeast.  I clearly saw its shadow on the water. My impression of the object was that it was elliptical, not unlike a Japanese diamond box kite in shape.  I have no idea of its size but the length was about six times the breadth and it had a depth of from two to five feet.  It made no noise and was traveling at a tremendous rate of speed.  As it traveled through the air, it made a spinning or wobbly motion.  After it disappeared in the horizon, I saw it reappear several seconds later, ascending at an even faster speed then when I first observed it.  I have no idea what this object was, I never saw anything comparable to it before,  and it was one of the most frightening experiences I have ever had.  I roughly estimate that the object traveled 25 miles during the 15 seconds I had it under observation. 

Collector's Note:  The Chief and Third Mates were interviewed on 8 August by two Intelligence Officers.  The Captain, who was absent at that time, was interviewed on 9 August by only one of the two Intelligence Officers.  In describing the occurrence, the Chief and Third Mates re-enacted their behavior at the time of sighting, and the period from the time the Chief Mate saw the object abeam until he reached the after deck and saw it disappear off the starboard quarter was timed at 15 seconds.  In laying the angles of observation out on a chart and assuming the object was ten miles distant and taking the size into account, it is evident it was certainly traveling at a very high rate of speed; which approximated 400 to 500 miles per hour. It will be noted that there is a tremendous discrepancy between the Captain's estimate of the speed and the estimate of the two officers which could not be explained as they were very careful in making their statements and asserted that their observations had been correct.  All three men were quite evidently very much upset by the sighting. Aside from the discrepancies, it was quite evident to the Intelligence Officers who interviewed these men that they had certainly seen some very unusual object which they could not identify but was just as certainly not any conventional type of aircraft. 

(This text file was created for the NICAP search engine by Virginia Davey)