Created January 19, 2006
NICAP Site Coordinator


The 1956 UFO Chronology______________________________________________________

Jan. 11, 1956; Wurtsmith AFB, Mich.(BBU)
5:40 p.m. (MST) F-89D. Culpepper and Complaer. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)


Jan. 18, 1956; Itazuke AFB, Japan (BBU)
1 [10?] a.m. Air crew sighting of white round balloon-shaped object traveling at high speed, no trail. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)


Jan. 24, 1956; Wheelus AFB, Tripoli, Libya (BBU)
1:52 p.m. (GMT) (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

Feb. 2, 9, 21, 1956; Camp Irwin, Calif. (BBU)
(McDonald list)
Feb. 7, 1956; Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi (BBU)
8 a.m. (CST) (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

Feb. 11, 1956; S of Japan (BBU)
7:15 p.m. MATS C-124 air crew sighting of a yellow or amber object at 1,000 knots (1,150 mph). (Project 1947)

Feb. 12, 1956;  38 miles SW of Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada (BBU 3969)
11:25 [10:55? 11:10?] p.m. (AST). USAF F­89D pilot Bowen and radar observer Crawford saw a green and red object rapidly circle the jet, and tracked on radar. No further details. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)

Feb. 15, 1956; Riverside, Calif. (BBU)
8:40 [12:40?] p.m. USN pilot Taylor flying aircraft saw a cigar-shaped brown object on a straight level course. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)

Feb. 17, 1956; Paris, France
Large UFO tracked on radar at Orly Airport, observed by airline pilot as red light source. (UFOE, V)

Feb. 18, 1956; N of Montelimar Airdrome, France (BBU)
8:20 p.m. 3 USAF C-119 crew, 780th Troop Carrier Sq, saw a round dot change color every 30 secs from white to red to green. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)

Feb. 18 [17?], 1956; Orly Airport, Paris, France (BBU)
10:50 [8:20?] p.m. Air France pilot De Vaux of DC-3 and radio operator saw large  red blinking light flying erratically, tracked by ground radar. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)

Feb, 19, 1956; Houston, Texas (BBU 3977)
6:07 a.m. (CST). Crew of Eastern Airlines Super Constellation saw intense white light, moving 4-5 times the speed of the airplane, evaded by the pilot. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)


March 2 [5?], 1956; Spokane, Wash. (BBU)
4:40 p.m. (PST). Stoner. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

March 5, 1956; Honolulu, Hawaii
UFO formation photographed. (UFOE, VIII)


April 4, 1956; McKinney, Texas (BBU 4050)
3:15 p.m. Capt. Roy Hall, U.S. Army (Ret.), Charles Anderson and others saw fat, oblong, stationary object with two lines around its middle through a 6-inch telescope and a 55-200x telescope. (Berliner)

April 5, 1956; Almy Pond, Newport, Rhode Island (BBU)
12:30-12:35 p.m. (EST). USN Underwater Ordnance Test Station physicist Mrs. Genevieve Mathison and her 3 children from the front door of their home saw a circular silver object with no trail or sound descending from 45° elevation in the N down to 0° elevation on an approaching path, with a receding 135° maneuver [?] and disappearing by whirling into the haze. (Jan Aldrich)

April 6, 1956; 5 miles E of McKinney, Texas (BBU)
Mitchell and another man saw a 6 ft silvery, balloon­shaped craft land in a field 300 ft away from them. They stopped their car to investigate, but the object took off at fantastic speed. (Vallée Magonia 379; FUFOR Index)

10:15 p.m. (EST) Capt. Raymond E. Ryan, First Officer William Neff, flight attendant Phyllis Reynolds, and passengers, took off in an airliner from Albany heading N then nearly due W (about 280° True) at 260 mph and 6,000 ft N of Schenectady when a brilliant white light about 2-3 miles away was spotted about 90° to the left appearing like an airliner heading in to land at Albany. The white light moved about 90° to dead­ ahead position about 8-10 miles away at high speed estimated at about 800-1,000 mph where it changed color to orange and seemed to block the airliner’s path or risk collision, disappeared briefly, reappeared as an orange light again but standing still ahead of the airliner to the W. Airliner contacted Griffiss AFB, Rome, NY, where controllers asked pilot to turn lights off and on to help identify aircraft and was told airliner was seen and the orange UFO to the S. Airliner was ordered to maintain course to follow the UFO to the W, skipping its scheduled landing at Syracuse after nearly 30 mins of following the object. Promised fighter jet interception was not seen. Object disappeared at high speed to the NW (or N) towards Oswego, NY. (UFOE, V, IX; McDonald list; NICAP website)

April 16, 1956; Henderson, North Carolina (BBU)
5:00 a.m. FBI agents Richards and another, driving on Route 1, just before dawn, saw a top-shaped object as large as the road pass over their car, no sound. (Vallée Magonia 381)

April 28, 1956; Near Newport (?), England, UK (BBU)
8:30 p.m. Lockheed/Curtis-Wright technical rep and JCS scientific consultant and his wife saw bright white star increase in brightness in the E for 10+ secs at “high altitude,” dim to medium dull red, then move from E to W roughly 3°/sec, dimming after 30 secs of travel to dull red, accelerating to “enormous speed,” wobbling as it disappeared. (Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 91-92)


May 8, 1956; Aliquippa, Penna. (BBU)
9:48 a.m. (EST) (McDonald list)

May 22, 1956; 58 miles NW of Monroe, Louisiana (BBU)
11:05 p.m. (CST) USAF officer Earl D. Holwadel, piloting T-33 jet, and an unnamed officer in the back seat during a night flight heading 50° at 18,000 ft, saw a bright light due E, then saw it again in the E at 11:15 p.m. Holwadel banked right to the SE somewhat behind the object now seen in the SE at great distance. Object suddenly came straight at them at high speed passing in front of the T-33 at about 225 ft away under the "nose" of the object, no jet wash, on a heading of 330° when the object flashed an intensely bright white light from a "greenhouse-shaped dome" or cockpit window at its front end that lit up the canopy of the T-33. Object about 30-40 ft long, elliptical in shape, shorter than a C-47 but wider, a small steady red running light in the center, with no wings, only stubby protrusions extending 3-4 ft and 25 ft long on each side, bottom surface like steel with ribs extending down 2-4 ft with a wave-like appearance. Object moved away then returned at high speed on a W course with "fantastic" maneuverability never changing flight attitude at any time. (NARCAP; McDonald list; Hynek-CUFOS files)


June 2, 1956; Newton, Mississippi (BBU)
10:51 p.m. Military pilot of Convair T-29 saw white-green light on parallel course at 5-7 miles [distance?]. (Project 1947)

June 6, 1956; Banning, Calif. (BBU 4127)
5:30 [4:30?] a.m. Mr. Bierman saw a thin disc with a small dome, shimmering silver, hover about 300 ft away at 100 ft height then zoom up. [Crossed  the road slowly, turned, crossed the road again behind the car and vanished suddenly. ??] (Vallée Magonia 383; FUFOR Index)


June 29, 1956; Los Angeles to San Diego, Calif. (BBU)
5:10 p.m. (PST). (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)


July 6, 1956; Euclid, Ohio (BBU)
9:37 a.m. (EST). (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

July 17, 1956; Otis AFB, Westover, Mass. (BBU)
11:42 p.m. (EDT). USAF jet fighter pilot saw a white­yellow circular object that reversed course. (McDonald list; Weinstein; FUFOR Index)

July 19, 1956; Hutchinson, Kansas
Naval Air Station reported tracking "a moving unidentified object" on radar, observed visually by state police as "teardrop shaped" light source. (UFOE, VIII) Noticeable maneuvers of UFO "vertically and horizontally over a wide area of the sky" mapped by Wichita Eagle.

Aug. 8, 1956; 20 miles S of Quartzsite, Ariz. (BBU 4270)
11 p.m. (MST). Attorneys W. B. Buttermore and J. W. Smith saw a blue-white pulsating light fly fast, straight and level. (Berliner; FUFOR Index)


Aug. 8, 1956; Quartsite ( 20 mi. south of), Arizona (BBU 4270)
11 p.m. (MST). Attorneys W. B. Buttermore and J. W. Smith saw a blue-white pulsating light fly fast,
Aug. 10-11, 1956; Duncanville AFS near Dallas, Texas (BBU)
12:05/12:20 p.m. (CST). McConnell. (Jan Aldrich; McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

Aug. 13, 1956;  RAF Bentwaters, England, UK (BBU)
9:55 p.m. Extremely high speed radar-visual approximately 18,000 mph E-W radar track of brilliant white light, from about 30 miles E to 30 miles W passing directly over the radar site, “streaked under” C-47 at 4,000 ft near base. Radar track provides height-finding data confirming extremely low altitude, roughly 2,000 ft, also estimated by ground visual observers. (Sparks)

Aug. 13-14, 1956; RAF Lakenheath, England, UK (BBU)
11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Radar-visual of hovering-darting objects that outmaneuvered Venom NF-3 jet interceptor beginning at 12:01 a.m. Later attempted intercepts at about 2-3 a.m. were unsuccessful. (Sparks)

Aug. 16, 1956; Near Azores (BBU)
1:45 a.m. [2:30 a.m. GMT?]. Capt. Dennis and crew of Eastern Airlines DC-4 Flight 49, flying at 4,000 ft en route to New York heading W, saw a bright white light to the W pass within 40 ft from above and below [multiple passes?]. Pilot took evasive action. (NARCAP; Weinstein; FUFOR Index)

Aug. 17, 1956; SSW [of] Spragueville, Maine (BBU)
(McDonald list)


Aug. 20, 1956; North Bend, Oregon (BBU)
10:15 p.m. (PST). Camillo. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

Aug. 21, 1956; Wyoming-Montana
Cat. 11. Dumbbell-shaped UFOs approached plane. J. Gordon Campbell observed ... objects while flying between Sheridan, Wyoming, and Billings, Montana. Mr. Campbell is president of a Minneapolis machine tool and industrial supply company. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., a dark elongated object with knobs at each end rapidly approached his plane, hovered, then sped away. Seconds later, four similar objects maneuvered near his plane). (UFOE, VII)

Aug. 22, 1956; Bornholm, Denmark (BBU)
8:50 p.m. (GMT). (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

Aug. 27, 1956; nr. Fort McCleod, Alberta, Canadian Rockies
7:20 PM, MDT (about 20 minutes before sunset). A Royal Canadian Air Force pilot was flying nearly due west over the Canadian Rockies near Ft. MacCleod, (49.5 degrees latitude, 113.5 degree longitude). He was flying at 36,000 ft (about 11 m) in the second position (far left side) of a formation of four F-86 Sabre jet aircraft. While approaching a large thunderhead (cumulonimbus) at a ground speed of about 400 kts (740 km/hr) he saw, at a much lower altitude, a "bright light which was sharply defined and disc-shaped" or "like a shiny silver dollar sitting horizontal" (See report above link, Bruce Maccabee).

Aug. 27, 1956; Juniata, Penna. (BBU 4348)
9:55 p.m. Mrs. R. S. Pope saw a bright disc with a clear dome fly vertically, then N. A very cold breeze seemed to emanate from the object. (Berliner)



Sept. 4, 1956; Dallas, Texas (BBU 4379)
9 p.m. USMC T/Sgt. R. D. Rogers and family saw a large star, changing to red color, remain stationary for 20 mins, then move W at 200 knots (230 mph). (Berliner)


Sept. 13, 1956; S Calif., near Santa Barbara (BBU)
9:35 [9:34?] p.m. United Airlines Flight 459 crew saw a star-like object stationary then moving. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)

Sept. 14, 1956; Highland, North Carolina (BBU 4399)
1 a.m. Scaly, N. Car., policeman O. S. Gryman saw 14 yellow-to-red round objects with tremendous exhaust fly in a vague formation from SW to E to NE and back again, while swooping up and down. (Berliner)

Sept. 25, 1956; Grand Rapids, Mich. (BBU)
4 p.m. Cessna pilot Marcus saw 2 delta-shaped objects flying S under the right wing. (Weinstein; CUFOS files; FUFOR Index)


Oct. 1956; Oslo, Norway
Cat 3. Motorist felt "prickly sensation", wristwatch magnetized when UFO flew in front of car and hovered over pad.

Oct. 9, 1956; Little Easton, Essex, England (BBU)
6:55 p.m. (GMT). USAF witness Pollock. (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)

Oct. 17 [18?], 1956; Wheelus AFB, Tripoli, Libya (BBU)
10:17 p.m. (GMT). (McDonald list; FUFOR Index)






Nov. 9 [?], 1956; Destin, Florida (BBU)
7 p.m. (EST). USAF pilot flying RF-84F with 3242nd Test Group saw a long narrow object with a series of bright orange lights. (Project 1947; FUFOR Index)


Nov. 14, 1956; SE of Jackson, Alabama (BBU)
10:10-10:12 p.m. Capital Airlines Flight 77 pilot Capt. W. J. Hull with 3 million miles and 17 years' flight experience and author of anti-UFO skeptical article "The Obituary of the Flying Saucer" in The Airline Pilot magazine (Sept. 1953), with copilot FO Peter MacIntosh were flying from New York to Mobile, Ala., in a Viscount airliner at 300 mph descending at 10,000 ft, when they saw a brilliant bluish-white light (mag. -7) descend in a steep downward angle diagonally (about 45°?) from left to right from WSW at azimuth 315° to dead ahead SSW at 205° azimuth 30°-40° elevation where it stopped at the same or slightly higher altitude. Hull radioed Bates tower near Mobile to look for object, then at that moment the object began a series of maneuvers for 30 secs, rising and falling, darting back and forth, instant 90° turns, then hovered motionless again at same/slightly higher level. When Bates field radioed again the object began another series of  "crazy gyrations, lazy 8's, square chandelles" with undulating motion, then shot out to the S over the Gulf of Mexico in a steep climb at "fantastic speed" until it disappeared. (Condon Committee Unexplained case, CR pp. 127-9; Hynek-CUFOS­ Willy Smith files; NARCAP; UFOE, I)

Nov. 16, 1956; Lemon, S. Dakota
Cat. 3. Railroad phones, automatic block system "mysteriously dead" as UFO passed over railroad yards.


Nov. 30, 1956; Charleston AFB, South Carolina (BBU 4543)
12:48 p.m. USAF aerial navigator Maj. D. D. Grimes saw an unspecified object fly at an estimated 100 ft altitude over water. No further details. (Berliner)



Dec. 17, 1956; Itazuke AFB, Japan (BBU)
4:20 p.m. 2 USAF pilots flying F-86D interceptors saw a golden brown round object flying at 1,500 knots (1,700 mph), strong interference on airborne radar. (Weinstein; FUFOR Index)


Dec. 31, 1956 [Jan. 1, 1957?]; Guam (BBU 4577)
2:10 a.m. USAF 1st Lt. Ted Brunson, flying an F-86D jet interceptor, saw a round, white object fly under the jet, which was unable to turn as sharply as the object. (Berliner; FUFOR)