 presents 1951 UFO Chronology Ruppelt Becomes Chief of Revised Project GRUDGE  Bethune Case, Feb. 10, 1951, off Newfoundland, Canada Created: 2 Jan 2006, Updated 10 Sept 2009 This is an 11-page report on an on-going project involving a
number of people. With
the help of William Wise (Project Blue
Book
Archive), and Dan Wilson (digging out the cases from my checklist), the
task becomes much easier. But
without Brad Sparks' updated list, the Comprehensive Catalog of Project
Blue Book Unknowns, the entire project
would have been impossible. And
our thanks also go to Jean Waskiewicz who created the online NICAP
DBase
(NSID) that helped make it possible to link from the cases to the
reports themselves. This was another important year in UFOlogy. .
Francis RidgeNICAP Site Coordinator: 1951; Iron Triangle Chorwon, Korea
Craft hit soldier with light beam. Jan. 8, 1951; S of Ft. Worth, Texas (BBU 864) 10:45 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Boggus, plus unidentified
drivers and passengers in other cars stopped to watch 2 stationary
groups of red and green lights in triangular formations which then
moved. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)
Jan. 12, 1951; Fort Benning, Georgia (BBU 868)
10 (11:01?) p.m. U.S. Army 2nd Lt. A. C. Hale saw a light
with a fan-shaped wake remain motionless like a star then speed away.
(Berliner; FUFOR Index)
Jan. 14, 1951; Jolon [S of King City or near Salinas?],
Calif. (BBU)
11:40 a.m. Private pilot Rosenburg of Navion 4582K saw 3
rectangular objects with flat tops. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
Jan. 14, 1951; Big Bear Lake, Calif. (BBU)
12:38 p.m. Private pilot Hillman flying with 3 passengers
saw 150 ft circular object at 30,000 ft. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
January 16, 1951; Nr. Artesia, N. Mex.
General Mills personnel tracking a Skyhook balloon saw two disc-shaped objects approach rapidly, tip on edge, circle the balloon, and speed off over the NW horizon. [I] 9:20-9:26 p.m. (CST). Capt. Lawrence W. Vinther, copilot
James F. Bachmeier, passengers AF Colonel and aide, and CAA tower
controller John M. Williams. At 9:20 the 2 CAA tower controllers
sighted light in the W [NW?]. After Vinther's Mid-Continent Airlines
DC-3 took off, he was asked by the tower to look for light, then while
still in a climbing 360° turn at about 1,000 ft they spotted object
to the NNW at about 8,000 ft and 4 miles away that looked like a B-29
fuselage with wings but no engines, which blinked some lights like
running lights. Object came at the DC-3, flew across the nose within
200 ft, they had to turn their heads to follow it then suddenly found
it instantly appeared on the other side again, paralleled them for 2-3
secs, then flew under them and disappeared in 2-3 secs to the NW.
(Battelle Unknown No. 3; cf. NARCAP)
Jan. 21, 1951; Oak Ridge, Tenn. (BBU) 6:20 p.m. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)
Jan. 22, 1951; 50 miles SE [ESE?] of Holloman AFB, New Mexico (BBU) 10 a.m. (EST [sic; PST?] 11 ? a.m.). Pilots Capt. Ernest W.
Spradley of Aerial Photo Lab and Capt. James E. Cocker of All-Weather
Flying Division both AMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, a General Mills
Aeronautical lab project engineer Mr. McAleese [sp?] and an airman,
were flying in a C-47 heading E [ESE?] at about 10,000-12,000 ft and
tracking a Project GOPHER plastic balloon at about 50,000-70,000 ft
when they saw a bright star-like object seemingly next to the
pear-shaped balloon or above and to the side. As they approached and
flew under the balloon they noticed the object descend to the balloon's
level and grow larger in apparent size until about 1/4 to 1/2 the 70 ft
balloon, when it appeared to be round and flat like a dime, milky white
or silvery in color with a clear outline. Cocker and McAleese left the
cockpit went to the astrodome to observe the object. After 3 mins they
saw the object separate from the balloon and head W at high speed,
after about 1 min it emitted a series of 3 bright flashes like
photoflashes at 1 sec intervals and disappeared from sight. (Jan
Aldrich; FUFOR Index)
Jan. 24, 1951; Westover AFB, Mass. (BBU)
10:45 a.m. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)
Jan. 26, 1951; Sea of Japan off coast of South Korea (BBU)
2:05 p.m. Radar tracking of unidentified target at 3,000
knots (3,500 mph). (Jan Aldrich; FUFOR Index)
February 1951
Look magazine article: Dr. Urner Liddel, Office of Naval Research,
stated "There is not a single reliable report of an observation
which is not attributable to the cosmic balloons (plastic "Skyhook"
research balloons)."Feb. 1 [2?], 1951; Johnson AFB, Japan (BBU 886) 5:10 p.m. [?] Pilot and radar operator of F-82 night fighter
saw an amber light make 3-4 360° turns to the right, reverse
towards the F-82 then climb out of sight. (Berliner)
Feb. 10, 1951; off Newfoundland, Canada On the night of the UFO encounter, a four engine Navy R5D transport was flying west over the Atlantic. On this trip the 30-year-old pilot was bringing two flight crews home from special duty in Europe. Including his own crew there were over twenty-five pilots, navigators and flight engineers aboard the transport. The National Archives turned up a number of supporting documents on this case, including Air Intelligence Information Reports by five of the crew members. Although it isn't documented, reports indicate the object was tracked by ground radar. February 14, 1951; Alamogordo, N. Mex.
Two Air Force pilots, while watching a large balloon, saw a flat, round white object hovering at high altitude. [III] Feb. 15, 1951; Sea of Japan off coast of South Korea (BBU)
Early afternoon. Radar tracking of unidentified target at
12,000 14,000 mph. (Jan Aldrich)
Feb. 19, 1951; Near Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenya (BBU)
7:20 a.m. East African Airways Lodestar crew and several
passengers saw stationary silvery elongated object. (Project 1947;
FUFOR Index)
Feb. 19, 1951; Rodeo, New Mexico (BBU)
USAF? C-54 pilot saw a green flare [fireball?] pass his
plane. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
Recognition of Flying Saucers. Document which states, "A flying machine
in so featureless a form as a saucer would probably be one of the most
difficult things to recognize as such, even in ideal observing
conditions."
Feb. 21 [26?], 1951; Durban, South Africa (BBU 896)
4:55 a.m. 3 men in a truck and several other persons, none
named, saw a dark red, torpedo-shaped object with darker center, fly
straight and level. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)
Feb. 26 [25?], 1951; Ladd AFB, Alaska (BBU 897)
7:10 a.m. USAF Sgt. J. B. Sells saw a dull grey, metallic
object, about 120 ft long 10-12 ft thick, hover, puff smoke and speed
away. (Berliner)
March 1951 (exact date unknown), off Cape May, NJ11:30 PM. It was during the Korean War and a naval destroyer was on the alert for bombers coming in from the northeast, east and southeast. It was plotting all aircraft going north and south along the coast and in as far as the Appalachian Mountains. Source reporting said they tracked an object coming in from due east at a speed of 85 to 90 knots and an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. It got within about 30 miles of the destroyer and just stopped and hovered. Source informed the bridge, which informed the captain, and he instructed them to head out toward the object. About half an hour later, when the ship was within 15 miles of the object, the object suddenly took off on a northerly course very rapidly. Its speed was estimated at about 5,000 kms an hour. The object got to within 35 to 40 miles south of Nantucket Island and suddenly went straight up into the atmosphere. Altitude-determining radar tracked the object up to 100 miles above the earth and still going straight up. A report was made to the Pentagon.. March 9, 1951; About 20 miles SE of Tsushima Island, Japan
(BBU)
2:25 p.m. Radar tracking of unidentified target at 3,350
mph. (Jan Aldrich)
March 10, 1951; Chinnampo, Korea (BBU)
9:51 a.m. Crew of USAF B-29 bomber, including scanners and
tail gunner, saw a large red-yellow glow burst and become blue-white.
No further information in files. (Berliner)
March 13, 1951; McClellan
AFB,
Sacramento, Calif. (BBU 907)
3:20 p.m. USAF 1st Lt. B. J. Hastie and Mrs. Rafferty saw a
cylinder with twin tails, 200 ft long and 90 ft wide, turn N at
incredible speed. (Berliner)
March 15, 1951; New Delhi, India (BBU 908)
10:20 (9:50?) a.m. 25 members of a flying club, including
the chief aerial engineer (Floats?) and his two assistants saw a
metallic cigar-shaped object with white exhaust which turned black when
it accelerated to about 1,000 mph and made a large loop. (Berliner;
FUFOR Index)
May 21/22,
1951
AF Intelligence (AFOIN) finally
captures the AMC Intelligence Dept from AF R&D and names the new
unit that is formed, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), also
known as the 1125th Field Activity Group of AFOIN. The first
Chief of ATIC is Col. Frank L. Dunn who displaces Col. Harold W.
Watson, the last Chief of AMC Intelligence Dept, who is left in limbo
later to be transferred out to USAF-Europe, effectively having been
fired by Gen. Cabell, the AF Director of Intelligence. (Brad
Sparks)
March 24, 1951; Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, New Mexico (BBU) 5:55-6:00 a.m. (MST). Project TWINKLE personnel photographed
with a Leica 3c 50 mm camera an unidentified elliptical object with
major axis 8.31 arcmins minor axis 6.343 arcmins (0.1385° and
0.1057°). (Sparks)
March 31, 1951 Project TWINKLE's extended
contract ends. (Brad Sparks)
It's interesting to compare the
August 29, 1950 version of the
script for "The Thing From Another World" with the dialog in the
film as actually released on April 6, 1951. Sometime between August
1950 and the time the film was completed, a pretty interesting detail
was added -- the concept of "radiation-triggered cameras" to
track UFOs. (See report by Joel Carpenter).
April 14, 1951; Yellow Sea (BBU) 1:22 p.m. Radar tracking of unidentified target at 3,755
mph. (Jan Aldrich)
May 22, 1951; Nr. Dodge City, Kansas American Airlines pilot observed maneuvering star-like object. [V] June 1 [May 31?], 1951; Niagara Falls, New York (BBU 925) 4:20 a.m. [GMT?] M/Sgt H. E. Sweeney and 2 enlisted men saw
a glowing yellow-orange, saucer shaped object with arc-shaped
wings, fly straight up. (Berliner)
June 1951
In the first of a number of
visits, LIFE magazine reporter Robert E. Ginna visits the Pentagon and
ATIC to obtain information for what will turn out to be a landmark UFO
article (published in the April 7, 1952, issue). Ruppelt later
recalled that when news of Ginna's imminent arrival was received at
ATIC that "pandemonium" broke out because the anti-UFO biased personnel
left over from Col. Watson's tenure (such as James J. Rodgers and Capt.
Roy L. James) were unprepared to be challenged or exposed to public
scrutiny. (Brad Sparks)
June 1, 1951; Dayton, Ohio
Wright-Patterson AFB official watched disc make sharp turn. [III] July 1, 1951; Seoul, South Korea (BBU)
10:50 [10:20?] p.m. USMC pilots flying 4 F4U5N fighters
with 1st Marine Air Wing saw several bright green spheres [fireballs?].
Ground radar confirmation [?]. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
July 9, 1951; Near Dearing (25 mi
W of
Augusta), Georgia (BBU)
1:40-1:50 p.m. (EST). 1st Lt. George H. Kinmon, Jr., 160th
[117th?] Tactical Recon Wing, Lawson AFB, Columbus, Ga., flying F-51
fighter at 250-270 mph at 8,000-8,500 ft on heading 247° saw high
speed white oval disc about twice size of his plane [or about 75 ft]
[or 10 15 ft?] in head on collision from the direction of the sun
[sun at about 237° azimuth 72° elevation]] suddenly dive
underneath narrowly missing his plane. He turned to pursue but couldn't
find object, then 15 secs later the object made another head on dive at
him, repeated it several times, on last pass climbed upward out of
sight. [Conflicting account to AFOSI states after first dive object
continued to barrel-roll around the plane for 10 mins, then disappeared
under the plane. Pilot states object was 300 to 400 feet from plane and
appeared to be 10 - 15 ft diameter.] Object flat on top and bottom,
white not aluminum. Front view with rounded edges slightly beveled, and
small crater-like spots. Top view as it dived, object appeared round
and spinning clockwise. From front view as object dived observer
noted.. No vapor trails or exhaust or visible system of propulsion.
Described as traveling tremendous speed. He compares its speed to that
of a jet plane. Pilot turbulent wake "bump" when object passed under
plane. Object left the plane a few miles S of Milledgeville, and 15-20
miles from Macon. (Weinstein; NICAP; BB files??)
July 9, 1951; Corona, New Mexico (BBU)
10:30 p.m. USAF Sgt. Meadows, security guard at Corona
Experimental Radar Site, saw red glowing ball about size of full moon
to the W descending into the tree line for 30 secs and afterglow seen
another 10 secs. [Crescent moon was setting in the W about
268°272° azimuth about 10-10:30 p.m. depending on height
of mountains and tree line to the W.] (McDonald files; Jan Aldrich;
FUFOR Index)
July 14, 1951; Holloman AFB,
New Mexico
(BBU)
A UFO which sped near a B-29 was tracked on radar, observed
visually and photographed. [VIII] (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)
July 23, 1951; March Field, Calif.
Radar-visual sighting of silvery object circling high above aircraft. [VIII] July 24, 1951; Portsmouth, New Hampshire (BBU 943) 7:10 p.m.? Hanscom AFB Operations Officer Capt. Cobb and
Cpl. Fein saw a greyish 100-200 ft tubular object with many black
spots, 5:1 length/width ratio, with fins at one end, fly 800-1,000 mph
at 1,000-2,000 ft altitude, leaving a faint trail. (Berliner)
July 30, 1951; Selfridge AFB, Mich. (BBU)
5:14 a.m. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)
August 1951 August 1951; Central, N. Mex.
Mining engineer sighted two discs with "portholes." [VI] August 3, 1951; Nr. Pinckney, Mich.
NICAP Adviser saw a glowing, yellowish UFO which moved on an undulating course. [VI] Aug. 8, 1951; NE of Port Clinton, Ohio (BBU)
2:10 p.m. USAF pilot Skelops (?) in flight and ground
witnesses saw a 20 ft dark cigar-shaped object flying at high speed.
(Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
August 11, 1951; Portland, Ore.
Former Air Force fighter pilot observed formation of three discs. [V] Aug. 21, 1951; Sea of Japan E) (BBU)
12:05 p.m. Radar tracking of unidentified target. (Jan
Aldrich)
Aug. 25, 1951;
Lubbock, Texas
Famous Lubbock Lights/Carl Hart photo case. This case may be questionable, but the next one isn't. Aug. 25, 1951; Albuquerque, New Mexico (BBU 955) 9:58 p.m. Sandia Base Security guard Hugh Young and wife saw a flying wing-shaped craft pass overhead at about 800-1,000 ft altitude and 300-400 mph with no sound. Size estimated at 1.5x wingspan of B-36 bomber, or 350 ft. Dark, clockwise stripes on underside, and 6-8 pairs of soft, glowing lights on trailing edge of wing. (Berliner) Capt. Edward Ruppelt:
I almost overlooked the report from the radar station (Larson, see next report) because it was fairly short. It said that early on the morning of August 26, only a few hours after the Lubbock sighting (Albuquerque), two different radars had shown a target traveling 900 miles per hour at 13,000 feet on a northwesterly heading. The target had been observed for six minutes and an F-86 jet interceptor had been scrambled but by the time the F-86 had climbed into the air the target was gone. The last paragraph in the report was rather curt and to the point. It was apparently in anticipation of the comments the report would draw. It said that the target was not caused by weather. The officer in charge of the radar station and several members of his crew had been operating radar for seven years and they could recognize a weather target. This target was real. I quickly took out a map of the United States and drew in a course line between Lubbock and the radar station. A UFO flying between these two points would be on a northwesterly heading and the times it was seen at the two places gave it a speed of roughly 900 miles per hour. This was by far the best combination of UFO reports I'd ever read and I'd read every one in the Air Force's files. Aug. 26, 1951; Larson AFB, Wash.
(BBU)
8:28 [00:28 ??] a.m. [double 8-hour PST conversion?] Two
radars tracked 900 mph unidentified target at 13,000 ft heading NW.
Attempted scramble of F-86 interceptor too late. (McDonald list; FUFOR
Index; cf. Ruppelt pp. 96-98, 108-109)
Aug. 27, 1951; Vandalia, Illinois (BBU) 8 p.m. Private pilot Raymond Williams was on the runway
about to take off when he saw a large blinding orange light to the SW,
radioed the CAA tower but light went out. After takeoff he saw the
object again, noticing it was not an airplane, the light was at one end
of the object and had a small red light on top, and it came directly at
him, circled his plane twice, then headed to W to Greenville.
Williams followed, saw object circle Greenville twice then return E
towards Vandalia. Commercial pilot at 20,000 ft radioed he also saw the
object. (NARCAP; FUFOR Index)
Aug. 31, 1951; Matador, Texas (BBU 962)
12:45 p.m. Mrs. Tom Tilson and 1-2 other women driving N on
Hwy U.S. 70, all apparently of excellent reputations, saw to the W a
pear-shaped object the length of a B-29 fuselage (100 ft), aluminum or
silver-yellow with a port or some type of aperture on the side, move
with smaller end forward, drifting slowly at about 150 ft altitude,
then shot up in a circular fashion and out of sight after a few secs.
(Berliner; McDonald files; Jan Aldrich)
Fall 1951: Korea UFO circled fleet, tracked on 14 ships' radars, departing at over 1000 mph. [VIII] Civilian Instructions For
Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings from
Aircraft, another of the
Intelligence regulations governing reporting in accordance with Joint
Army-Navy-Air Force Publication 146 (JANAP 146). Several versions are
known to have existed from 9-Sept-1951 to 13-May-1955. Presented here
is a text copy of the 10 March 1954 version.
Sept. 6, 1951; Claremont, Calif. (E of Hwy 66?) (BBU 964)
7:20 p.m. (GMT?). S/Sgt W. T. Smith and M/Sgt L. L. Deuel
(?) saw 6 orange lights in an irregular formation, fly straight and
level into a coastal fog bank. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)
Sept. 9, 1951; About 50 miles off coast of North Korea (BBU)
6:50 p.m. Radar tracking of multiple unidentified targets at
900 mph. (Jan Aldrich)
Sept. 10, 1951; 3 miles NE of Asbury (Sandy Hook), New
Jersey (BBU)
11:35-11:37 a.m. (EDT) USAF pilots Lt. Wilbert S. Rogers and
Major Ezra S. Ballard flying in a T-33 at 20,000 ft from Dover AFB,
Delaware, to Mitchel AFB, New York, on a NNE course at 450 mph saw a
silvery metallic discus-shaped 30-50 ft object to their 11 o'clock
position below their altitude viewed against the Sandy Point area and
silhouetted against the ground. Rogers immediately turned left and
descended to intercept the object which then banked, revealing its flat
round profile, no appendages, no trail, and curved in more tightly on
the turn than the T-33, covering an estimated 30-50 n. mi. in 2 minutes
(about 1,000-1,500 mph), and seen projected against the ground near Red
Bank and Freehold, New Jersey, as the T-33 descended to 17,000 ft,
accelerated to 550 mph and covering about 120° of its 360° turn
during the sighting. The object passed within about 8,000 ft distance
of the T-33, descending from about 12,000 to 5,000 ft and headed at
high speed out to sea near Pt. Pleasant at about 120° heading until
disappearance. (Sparks)
Sept. 13, 1951; Goose
Bay, Labrador (BBU 969)
9:30 [10?] p.m. AST (+-0100Z). Two GCA operators observed
what
appeared to be three targets
on the PPI (Plan Position Indicator) scope. Warner B. Maupin and Cpl
John W. Green, both assigned to 1932nd AACS Squadron, Goose AB, were on
duty at the local GCA trailer at the request of the pilot of a C-54,
No. 5527, inbound from Westover AFB, Massachusetts. They arrived at the
GCA trailer and turned the equipment on and were awaiting further
instructions from the pilot of C-54 or the tower when the following
sequence of events took place. (See report and reference to an
attached photo on NARA-PBB89-1203). (Berliner;
McDonald files; Jan Aldrich)
Sept. 17 [16?], 1951; 3 miles NE of Marion, Ohio (BBU)
12:17 p.m. Cessna pilot Grover saw a black swept-wing object
at 2,800 ft in near collision with his aircraft. (Project 1947; FUFOR
Index)
Sept. 17, 1951; Hudson Strait to Baffin Island, Canada (BBU)
10:20-11:55 p.m. (EST). USAF B-36 radar operator Major Paul
E. Gerhart and navigator Major Charles J. Cheever on a flight from
Goose Bay, Labrador, to Resolute, North West Territories, heading NW at
208 knots (239 mph) over Hudson Strait, picked up radar interference
which came from an unidentified aircraft at relative bearing 130°
(E) at 28 n. mi. (32 miles) heading away. Anti-jamming device on the
APQ-24 radar was turned on at 11:20 p.m. but did not affect the jamming
on the radar scope. At 11:35 jamming covered 120° of the right side
of the radar scope and then an unidentified aircraft was seen visually
on the right side of the B-36, which was then at 18,000 ft at
65°40' N, 71°40' W (over SW Baffin Island). Object had
"unconventional running lights" all white instead of red-green, with
twin white flashing tail lights, traveling about 30 knots faster than
the B-36, crossed the front from right to left heading 334° true
towards the NNW, and was in view about 20 mins [to a distance of about
12 miles]. While the object was still visible, at 11:50 p.m. the B-36
autopilot and APQ-24 radar set went out, the latter returning after a
few mins about when the object disappeared. ECM operators S/Sgt. Donald
E. Jenkins and S/Sgt. Doty T. Larimore on 2 B-36 flights from Goose to
Resolute while still over Labrador the next day detected carrier wave
signals at several frequencies and some radar like pulses at other
frequencies, all below 1,000 MHz. (Jan Aldrich; cf. Hynek UFO Exp ch.
7, case RV-11)
Sept. 18, 1951; Empire AFS, Mich., Elkhorn AFS, Wisc.,
Finland AFS, Minn. (BBU)
4:35-5:31, 7:10 a.m. Air Defense Command sites P-34 &
P-31, P-69, respectively. USAF CPS-6B and CPS 5 radar tracks of
6,000 mph (intermittent?) targets. (McDonald files; Jan Aldrich;
Grudge Rpt 1; FUFOR Index)
Sept. 23, 1951; Nr. Long
Beach
Airport to Camp Pendleton, and March AFB, Calif. (BBU)
9:25 a.m. (PDT). 2 F-86 jet interceptors were
scrambled from George AFB, near Victorville, Calif., then vectored by
air defense GCI radar to [a target?] at 33°50' N, 118°40' W
(off the coast about 30 miles W of Long Beach Airport), where the jets
circled and headed E toward Long Beach when an object was seen at 12
o'clock high position at 7:55 a.m. in a left orbit at about 50,000 ft
above the F-86's, appearing to be a bright silvery aircraft with highly
swept back 45° wings; [the F-86's tried to climb to intercept the
object but it climbed away in response]. Another 2 F-86's were
scrambled from George AFB at about 8:00 as the first 2 were running low
on fuel and were released to return at 8:10-15 when the 2nd flight
arrived. The 2nd pair of F-86's was vectored by GCI radar to 33°20'
N, 117°30' W (Camp Pendleton), arrived there at 8:10 at 43,000 ft
[and circled?], spotted the object at 1 o'clock high back to the N
toward Muroc/Edwards AFB appearing at about 50,000-55,000 ft in a
controlled orbit right and left, appearing as a swept wing aircraft
[that sped up when the F-86's tried to close] and the object was found
near March AFB, Riverside, to the NNW but they broke off intercept
because of low fuel at about 8:20-25, landing at 8:45. 3rd flight of 2
F-86's scrambled [at about 8:45??] from George AFB [?] saw the object
shortly after takeoff seeming to be heading S as F-86's made climbing
turns up to 43,500 ft under the round silvery object [at 55,000? ft
over the San Bernardino Mtns. ?] until breaking off intercept at about
9:25 a.m. [A 7th F-86 was scrambled to the S toward Long Beach but the
UFO was gone.] (GRUDGE Rpts. 1 and 2; Ruppelt pp. 94-5)
Fall 1951; In air space over Korea Ground/air radar incident (NICAP) Oct. 2, 1951
In a dramatic 10 a.m. conference
in the office of the AF Director Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Charles P.
Cabell, the ATIC officers who investigated the Ft. Monmouth UFO
sightings and radar tracking, Lt. Col. Nathan R. Rosengarten (Chief,
Aircraft & Propulsion Branch, Technical Analysis Division, ATIC)
and Lt. Jerry Cummings, gave a briefing to Cabell and his top staff,
plus representatives of Republic Aircraft, including a Mr.
Brewster. Cabell at the end is very upset at the dismissive
reassurances he had been hearing from some of his nay-saying anti-UFO
senior officers and explodes in anger, "I've been lied to, lied to,
lied to! I want it to stop! I want answers, good
answers." Cabell orders an overhaul of the UFO program at
ATIC. (Brad Sparks)
Oct. 2, 1951; Columbus, Ohio (BBU 980)
6 p.m. Battelle Memorial Institute physicist Howard Cross
saw a bright oval with a clipped tail fly straight and level, fading
into the distance. (Berliner)
Oct. 3,
1951; Kadena
AFB,
Okinawa
(BBU 984)
10:27 (8:27?) p.m. Radar operators Sgt. M. W. Watson, Pvt.
Gonzales and another Sgt. saw a large, sausage-shaped blip [arc shape
due to radar display?] tracked at about 4,800 mph. (Berliner; FUFOR
Index)
Oct. 7, 1951; A few miles off coast of Honshu, Japan (BBU)
7:37 p.m. Radar tracking of unidentified target at 420 mph.
(Jan Aldrich)
Oct. 9, 1951; 5 miles E of Terre Haute, Indiana (BBU)
1:42 [1:43?] p.m. (CST). CAA Chief Aircraft Communicator Roy
Messmore at Holman Municipal Airport saw a flash on the distant SE
horizon then a growing pinpoint of a rapidly approaching object
appearing as a silvery "flattened tennis ball" when directly overhead
disappearing to the NW [or SE??] after traveling from horizon to
horizon in 15 secs, no sound or trail. Sighting by pilot Charles Warren
at 5,000 ft flying W from Greencastle, Ind., to Paris, Ill., located E
of Paris (about 15 miles NW of Terre Haute) at 1:45 p.m. CST of silvery
"flattened orange" appearing stationary at first to the left rear (SE?
or E? towards Holman Airport?) for a few secs (or longer?) then Warren
banked in a tight left turn to pursue the object when it suddenly
picked up speed and headed off NE towards the S of Newport, Ind.
(Berliner; cf. Ruppelt pp. 112-3; GRUDGE Rpt 1)
Oct. 10, 1951; 10 miles E of St. Croix Falls, Wisc. (BBU)
10:10 a.m. Private pilot (Kaliszewski? General Mills Aero
Labs?) saw a cigar shaped object cross the sky, dive slightly, level
off, then accelerate. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
Oct. 11, 1951; Minneapolis, Minn. (BBU 989)
6:30 a.m. General Mills Aeronautical Labs balloon
researchers, including aeronautical engineer J. J. Kaliszewski,
aerologist C. B. Moore, pilot Dick Reilly in the air, and Doug Smith on
the ground (also Dorian and Zuckert). Flight crew saw the first object,
brightly glowing with a dark underside and halo around it. Object
arrived high and fast, then slowed and made slow climbing circles for
about 2 mins, and finally sped away to the E. Soon they saw another one
(at 8:30 a.m.?), confirmed by ground observers using a theodolite,
which sped across the sky. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)
Oct. 16, 1951; W of Whidbey Island NAS [S of Port Angeles?],
Wash. (BBU)
11:01 a.m. USAF pilots flying 3 F-94 fighters and USN ground
personnel saw a round medium-grey object at high speed and high
altitude, no sound. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
Oct. 18, 1951; 140 miles from Tsingtao, China over Yellow
Sea (BBU)
3 a.m. [2:33 a.m.?] Gregory and other USN crew of PBM
Mariner type BD-5 saw long orange-red conical flame change to
white-orange. Airborne radar tracking [?]. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
Oct. 21, 1951; 20 miles E of Battle Creek, Mich. (BBU)
12:50 p.m. [10:25 a.m. CST?] Private pilot N. Manteris
flying Navion aircraft (s/n N21424) at 4,000 ft saw a silver oval domed
disc shaped highly polished object closing at high speed on
collision course at about 3,000 ft, pass underneath his plane, he
turned 180° to pursue but it was gone. No trail or vents, upper
surface had an indentation for a crown or dome. (Project 1947; McDonald
list; GRUDGE Rpt 1; NARCAP)
Oct. 21, 1951; North Truro, Mass. (BBU) 11:18 to 11:22 PM local time (22-0418Z to 22-0422Z) An
unidentified target was picked up on the Plan Position Indicator
CPS-6B radar set. The returns were "sausage shaped" and the target was
moving on a ESE course at a speed of approximately 1800 knots at an
unknown altitude. AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT, IR-47-51E
states, the possibility remains that the object may have been an
unconventional flying object. (Dan Wilson, McDonald
files; Jan Aldrich; FUFOR Index)
Oct. 22, 1951; North Truro, Mass. (BBU) At 7:30 a.m. to 7:32 a.m. local time (1230Z to 1232Z, 22 October 1951), radar operators detected an object on a course west and then to the south. The speed of the object was 2400 knots.The length of the observation was 2 minutes. A message from the 32nd Air Division stated, the individual echo returns and the appearance of the track substantiated the probability of these radar pickups being of a flying object rather that some kind of radar interference or malfunction. (Dan Wilson, McDonald files, Jan Aldrich, FUFOR Index). October 22,
1951
Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, new
chief of revised Project GRUDGE, the Air Force
UFO investigation.
Nov. 1, 1951 - AFM
50-12, Ground Observer's Guide
Nov. 2 (7?), 1951; Arizona [New Mexico, Texas, Okla.] (BBU) Green fireball. (LIFE Incident 10; [FUFOR Index?])
Nov. 2, 1951; 30 (35?) miles N of Mojave, Calif. (BBU)
11 p.m. Bromley and another forest observer in a canyon saw
a 30 ft disk shaped flying object in the SW, 10 ft thick,
blue green, well-defined, surrounded with a glow of same color.
Stopping their jeep, they signaled to the object, which approached
within 10 [?] ft, flew away, seemed to play with them, vanished "like a
magician's trick." (Vallée Magonia 85; FUFOR Index)November 7, 1951; Lake Superior
Steamship Captain and crew watched elongated orange object with six glowing "portholes" speed towards Ontario. [XII] November 9, 1951
After 7 sightings of green fireballs in 11 days Dr. Lincoln Lapaz,
Institute of Meteorics, said: "There has never been a rate of
meteorite fall in history that has been one -fifth as high as the
present fall. If that rate should continue, I would suspect the
phenomenon is not natural. . . (they) don't behave like ordinary
meteorites at all." (Associated Press)November 10, 1951; Albuquerque, N.M.
The eighth fireball in 13 days was seen here and as far away as Wyoming. (United Press) Nov. 18, 1951; Washington, D.C. (BBU) 3:20 a.m. Crew of Capital Airlines Flight 610 and Andrews
AFB senior air traffic controller Tom Selby saw an object with several
lights, follow the DC-4 for about 20 mins [miles?] then turn back, with
ground radar tracking [?]. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)
Nov. 24, 1951; Mankato, Minn. (BBU)
3:53 p.m. One of 2 USAF pilots flying P-51 fighters flying W
at 25,000 ft, 210 knots IAS, Capt. William Fairbrother, saw a white 8
ft flying-wingshaped object hovering then pass 100 ft over and
100 ft to the left of his fighter, he immediately turned 180° to
follow but could not find object. (Project 1947; NARCAP; FUFOR Index)
Nov. 24, 1951; Coopersville, Mich. (BBU)
5:34 (5:25?) p.m. (CST). Capital Airlines Flight 94 pilot
and ground observer(s) saw a large round object flying at 500-1,000 ft
height at about 1,000 mph. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)Nov. 24, 1951; Selfridge AFB, MI 6:20 p.m. (DST???). UFO and Radar Outage. 2320Z to 2325Z. Two men at Selfridge AFB, Michigan sighted a large oblong and brilliantly lighted object moving at a rapid rate of speed with no apparent audible sound. Object was reported as having a red exhaust. At 2320Z, for an unexplained reason, Selfridge AFB radar ceased operation. Nov. 26, 1951; 25 miles E of Milwaukee, Wisc. (BBU) 4:25 a.m. (CST). Capital Airlines DC-3 pilot Schroeder saw
an orange ball of fire with blue tail flying on a level trajectory.
(Project 1947; FUFOR Index)
Dec.1951; NW of Peru, Nebraska (BBU)
3 a.m. Mr. Barry from Lincoln driving to Indiana saw a blue
light in the NW, vanish to the SE. He missed a turn, went back toward
Auburn, when NW of Peru he saw an orange glow in the sky from a
cauldron-shaped object on the ground, about 40 ft from the road. He
stopped to examine the 30 ft diameter cast-iron object, with a row of
10-inch round windows 1 ft from the top, glowing orange; on the other
side a blue flame like glow. No noise, no sign of life or activity, no
antenna or protrusion. Witness drove away. (Vallée Magonia 86;
FUFOR Index)
Dec. 7, 1951; Oak Ridge, Tenn. (BBU 1021) 8:15 a.m. AESS guard J. H. Collins saw a 20 ft
square object, white-grey but not shiny fly above ridge to the clouds
and back again twice, taking 30 - 40 seconds each time. (Berliner;
FUFOR Index)
Dec. 7, 1951; Sunbury, Ohio (BBU 1023) 4:30 p.m. Amateur astronomer Carl Loar saw a silvery sphere through telescope; 2 specks sighted at sides, object seemed to explode was then replaced by a dark cloud and many specks. (Berliner) Dec. 19, 1951
(approx.)
Ruppelt gives his first briefing
to the new AF Director of Intelligence, Maj. Gen. John A. Samford (who
replaced Gen. Cabell Nov. 1), and his top staff, including his
right-hand man the new Assistant for (Intelligence) Production, Brig.
Gen. William Garland. Ruppelt reveals that his preliminary
analysis of UFO sighting patterns has uncovered a disturbing
correlation of unexplained sightings around nuclear weapons labs and
highly-classified nuclear stockpile sites and some SAC strategic air
bases. Gen. Samford orders ATIC to conduct an exhaustive
statistical study to verify Ruppelt's findings, using the newly
established ATIC Project WHITE STORK contract with the research
think-tank Battelle Memorial Institute (which eventually spent $100,000
on the study, Subproject PPS-100, which does confirm Ruppelt's
pattern). (Brad Sparks)
The 1951 directive which outlined reporting procedures to be used in
Project Blue Book (1952) was AFOIN-C/CC-2, subject: "Reporting
Information on
Unidentified Flying Objects." (Pg. 59 of Project Grudge Report No. 3,
31 Jan 1952) Not believed to be adequate to cover all phases of the project, it
was to be revised. (Francis Ridge)
xxx Dec.
12, 1951; Hastings, MN
1:50 [3:50?] p.m. (CST). USAF 133rd FI Wing pilot Donald K. "Deke" Slayton [future NASA astronaut] flying P-51 fighter at 10,000 ft at 280-300 mph heading back to Holman Field saw a 3 ft white (or gray) object at 1 o'clock level position looking like a kite at first, then like a weather balloon then 2 revolving discs [?], he overflew it within about 1,000 ft, turned left 180° to pursue and found it flying away from him, then it made a sudden 45° climbing left turn, accelerated and disappeared. In 1980 Slayton estimated angular size as grapefruit at arm's length or about 11° but size/distance data indicate about 0.2°. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index; Richard Hall) |
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