presents
  The 1959 UFO Chronology

Operations & Training; UFOs Serious Business
Click here for document, Courtesy of CUFON
 

This is a 9-page report on a project involving a number of people. A lot of the incidents do not yet have active links to reports. Blue Book microfilms are only processed to mid-1952, so it will be some time before we can accomplish that goal. However, this is a comprehensive list for 1959 and will also suffice as a good work and checklist for our team. With the help of William Wise (Project Blue Book Archive), and Dan Wilson (archive researcher), 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. "UFOE" is the NICAP publication, The UFO Evidence (Richard Hall, 1964).

Francis Ridge

Jan. 1, 1959; Newport Beach, California
County Harbor Department guards watched UFO split in four parts; two rose vertically at high speed, one headed SE, one remained stationary. [NICAP UFOE, XII]

Jan. 4-5, 1959; Taft, Calif.(BBU)
11:30 p.m. (PST). Pilots of TWA C-54 and TWA Constellation saw a silver oval object with silver trail flying at 20,000 ft and 10 miles from aircraft [?]. (Project 1947)

Jan. 8, 1959; Nr. Walworth, Wisconsin
Former control tower operator and flight controller saw UFO descend slowly, then speed away like meteor. [NICAP UFOE, V]

Jan. 13, 1959; Pymatunlng Lake, Penna.
UFO hovered over truck causing electrical failure. [NICAP UFOE, VIII]

Jan. 23, 1959; Panama
Bright silver object arced across sky, tracked by U.S. radar. [NICAP UFOE, VIII]

Feb. 4, 1959; Gulf of Mexico
Reddish light sped back and forth across course of Pan American Airways plane, then disappeared at high speed in vertical climb. [NICAP UFOE, V]

Feb. 9, 1959; Imperial Beach, California
Bright UFO with halo filmed. [NICAP UFOE, VIII]

Feb. 16, 1959; Benghazi, Libya (BBU)
9:30 p.m. British military man saw a silvery blue to reddish to dark round object with dome, sharply outlined, with vents of green light, varying brightness, varying speed from hovering to very fast, suddenly disappeared. (CUFOS re-eval.; Jan Aldrich)

Feb. 24, 1959; 13 miles SW of Williamsport, Penna. (BBU)
8:20-9 p.m. American Airlines Flight 139 pilot Capt. Peter W. Killian and First Officer James Dee, on a DC-6B airliner flying from Newark to Detroit, saw 3 lights changing relative position, separation and color (yellow-orange to brilliant blue-white) at the 9 o'clock position to the SSW at 30° elevation. (NICAP UFOE, V, IX, Willy Smith pp. 85-96)

Feb. 24, 1959; Victorville, Calif. (BBU)
10:00-10:15 p.m. Intense white light lit up bedroom, dogs barked as if terrified, witness sighted to the W at about 20° elevation a biconvex dull red object about 25 ft wide with a blunt tear-drop profile approaching rapidly within 10 secs lowering height to about 8-10 ft passing about 80 ft away N of house and veering slightly to NE disappearing from behind; 5 mins later reappeared to W and made a similar pass and at similar intervals 3 more W-NE passes. Object made high-pitched transformer hum, radio static noted. (Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 167-170)

Feb. 26, 1959; London, England
Air Traffic Controllers, others saw a bright yellow disc which hovered for 20 minutes above airport, then climbed away at high speed. [NICAP UFOE, X]

March 10, 195; Grand Bahama Island, West Indies (BBU)
(McDonald list)

March 12, 1959; Duluth-Finland, Minn. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

March 13, 1959; Duluth, Minn.(BBU)
6:20 p.m. (CST). Military aircraft crew saw an object with orange, red, white, green lights, the red lights rotating on the bottom. (Project 1947; McDonald list)

March 14, 1959;. Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota (BBU)
(McDonald list)

March 22, 1959. Ann Arbor, Mich. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

March 25, 1959; N Montana (BBU)
(McDonald list)

March 26 or 27, 1959; Corsica, Penna. (BBU 6317)
12:45 p.m. T. E. Clark saw a dark red, barrel-shaped object, 20 ft long, 6-7 ft high, descend below some trees. (Berliner)



April 13, 1959; Antigo & Madison, Wisc. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

May 2, 1959; Pease AFB, New Hampshire (BBU)
(McDonald list)

May 13, 1959; Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska (BBU)
(McDonald list)

May 14, 1959; Philadelphia, Penna.(BBU)
(McDonald list)

May 14, 1959; Des Moines, Iowa
UFO hovered, sped away. [NICAP UFOE, XII]

May 18, 1959; Greenbush, Kansas (BBU)
(McDonald list)

May 21, 1959; 8 miles E of Rapid City, South Dakota (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 3, 1959; Genoa, Italy (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 3, 1959; Nr. Bloomington, Indiana
Torpedo-shaped UFO hovered, dove out of sight. [NICAP UFOE, XII]

June 9, 1959; Manassas-Roanoke, Virginia (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 11, 1959; Henderson, Nevada
Security officers observed a formation of four disc-like objects. [NICAP UFOE, VII]

June 16, 1959; SE of Meridian, Mississippi (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 18, 1959; Pacific bet. Hawaii and Calif. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 18, 1959; Forest Park, Illinois (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 18, 1959; Stephenson-Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 18, 1959; Enon, Ohio. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 18, 1959; Lyons, Colo. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 18, 1959; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (BBU 6400)
9:30 p.m. A. Cavelli and R. Blessin, using 7x binoculars, saw a brown, cigar-shaped object come from below the horizon (close to the witnesses) ascending to 40°-50° above the horizon. (Berliner)

June 22, 1959; South China Sea S of Macao, China (BBU)
6:46 a.m. USAF pilot and gunner of RB-66 saw 4 groups of 8 dark round objects heading SW. (Project 1947; McDonald list)

June 25, 1959; S of Taegu, Korea (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 26, 1959; Boianai Mission, Papua New Guinea (BBU)
6:45-7:20, 8:28-9:10, 9:20-9:30, 9:46-10:10, 10:30-10:50 p.m.  Father William Gill plus 38 others.  Platform shaped object with "men" on top appeared in the sky above Venus (which was to the W at 297° azimuth, 32° elevation initially, but set before 9:06 p.m. below the mountains), with electric blue spotlight, about 500 ft away at 300-400 ft height (object shined light on broken cloud cover at 2,000 ft altitude known from nearby mountains). Men and spotlight disappear at 7:20 and object disappears into clouds, reappears at 8:28 without "men" or spotlight but joined by 2rd, 3rd and 4th objects at 8:29, 8:35 and 8:35-50, coming and going through clouds.  Main "mother ship" "large, clear, stationary," gives red light and disappears overhead into cloud at 9:10, reappears at 9:20, moves across sea to Giwa [to the NE?] appearing white-red-blue disappears at 9:30.  Overhead objects reappears 9:46, hovering, disappears behind cloud 10:10, reappears in gap between clouds 10:30, gone at 10:50.  [Further sightings June 27 and 28, 1959].  (Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 216-223, etc.) 2 hrs 11 mins 39 witnesses 5 Full Moons 

June 27, 1959; Dunville, Virginia (BBU)
(McDonald list)

June 27, 1959; Boianai Mission, Papua New Guinea (BBU)
6:02-6:30 p.m. Object returned from previous night with 2 others, one to the W and one overhead. Father William Gill and another waved their arms and "men" on the main object waved back; to the waving of a torch the object moved back-and-forth laterally. [Other sightings June 26 and 28, 1959.] (Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 216-223, etc.)

June 28, 1959; Boianai Mission, Papua New Guinea (BBU)
6:45-11 p.m. Father William Gill [and others?] saw up to 8 lights at varying heights. [Prior sightings June 26 and 27, 1959.] (Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 216-223, etc.)

June 30, 1959; Patuxent River NAS, Maryland (BBU 6409)
8:23 p.m. USN Cdr. D. Connolly saw a metallic gold, oblate-shaped object, major/minor axis ratio 9:1, with sharp edges, fly straight and level. (Berliner)

July 3, 1959; Needles, Calif.(BBU)
(McDonald list)

July 4, 1959; South China Sea S of Macao, China (BBU)
7:43 a.m. USAF pilot and gunner of RB-66 saw a group of 18 cream-colored oval objects flying at 36,000 ft. (Project 1947; BB files??)

July 5, 1959; South China Sea S of Macao, China (BBU)
7:18 a.m. USAF pilot and gunner of RB-66 saw 5 oval objects flying at 36,000 ft. (Project 1947; BB files??)

July 9, 1959; Bahamas (BBU)
(McDonald list)

July 11, 1959; N Pacific, 800 n.mi. from Hawaii (BBU)
6:02 a.m. Pan Am Boeing Stratocruiser pilot and crew saw a big bright light followed by 3-4 smaller lights. (NICAP UFOE, X; Project 1947; McDonald list)

July 12,1959; Nr.Ridgecrest, California
Electronics mechanic at China Lake U. S. Naval Ordnance Test Station saw three disc-like UFOs which alternately hovered and moved at high speeds over desert to the Southwest. [NICAP UFOE, IV]

July 13,1959; Blenheim, N. Z.
Domed disc descended, hovered. (NICAP UFOE, XIV)

July 14, 1959; New Delhi, India (BBU)
(McDonald list)

July 14,  1959--Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State
Luminous object followed FAB (Brazilian Air Force) B-26, hovered near airport.   [NICAP UFOE, X]

July 25, 1959; Irondequoit, New York (BBU 6446)
1 p.m. Technical illustrator W. D. Neva saw a thin, crescent moon-shaped object, with a small white dome in the center, fly at tremendous speed. (Berliner)

July 28, 1959; Corpus Christi, Texas (BBU)
(McDonald list)

July 28, 1959; E of Florida (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Aug. 2, 195;. Washington, D.C.
(McDonald list)

Aug. 3, 1959; Silver Springs, Maryland
(McDonald list)

Aug. 10, 1959; Goose AFB, Labrador, Canada (BBU 6462)
1:28 a.m. RCAF pilot Flt. Lt. M. S. Mowat, on ground, saw a large star-like light cross 53° of sky. (Berliner)

Aug. 13, 1959; Bet. Roswell and Corona, New Mexico (BBU)
Jack H. Goldsberry, former USN PBY, flying Cessna 170 from Hobbs to Albuquerque, N.M., at 8,000 feet, noticed halfway between Roswell and Corona, that his Magnesyn electric compass suddenly moved around a slow 360° rotation in about 4-5 secs, and his other standard magnetic compass was spinning wildly. About this time, he saw 3 small gray slightly fuzzy elliptical objects in close echelon formation passing in front from left to right and around his plane at a distance about 450 to 600 ft and a speed of about 200 mph. Magnesyn compass followed the objects' position as they circled the plane, and after one full circle they disappeared to the rear, then both compasses settled back to normal. CØ controller at Albuquerque canceled his flight plan and ordered him to land at Kirtland AFB, where he was interrogated by a USAF major. (NARCAP-NICAP-McDonald; BB fıles??)

Aug. 14, 1959; NE of Hawaii (BBU)
7:53 p.m. (AHDT). Military pilot saw a very bright white light change color to red as it moved into [?] the sunlight. (Project 1947)

Aug. 16, 1959; Macon and Forsyth, Georgia (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Aug. 19, 1959; 80 miles E of U.S. [?] (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Aug. 19, 1959; Elburn, Illinois (BBU)
9:30 p.m. (CDT). Airline pilot saw a string of 3-4 white lights seemingly part of one object. (Project 1947)

August 24, 1959; Nr. Emmitsburg, Maryland
Planet-like UFO hovered, took off straight up. [NICAP UFOE, XII]

Aug. 28, 1959; Charlotte Island, Canada (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Sept. 5, 1959; Naha, Okinawa (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Sept. 7, 1959; Wallingford, Kentucky (BBU)
Walter Ogden. 15-ft burned mark left by object on takeoff. (McDonald list; Loren Gross 1959 SUPP) Bluish disc-like UFO low over ground, observed by mail carrier, rose suddenly and sped away; left stained ring on ground. [NICAP UFOE, XII]

Sept. 10, 1959; Camp Kinser, Okinawa (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Sept. 13, 1959; Gills Rock, Wisc. (BBU 6506)
1:05 a.m. R. H. Daubner saw a round yellow light, with 8 blue lights within it, and 5 larger red lights, fly very fast vertically while making a pulsating jet noise. (Berliner)

Sept. 13, 1959; Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana (BBU 6507)
4 p.m. At least 2 control tower operators and the pilot of a Mooney private airplane saw a nearly motionless white, cream and metallic pear-shaped object, with a trail under it. Attempted intercept by USAF T-33 jet trainer failed. Ground radar tracking [?]. (Berliner; Project 1947)

Sept. 15, 1959; Kadena AFB, Okinawa (BBU)
7 a.m.-1 p.m. 3 USAF personnel radar tracked multiple green objects, and sighted 4-5 mins a silvery object tilted downwards visible only when lit by a rotating beacon light and which moved slowly on a straight path in the direction of the winds. (CUFOS re-eval.; Jan Aldrich)

Sept. 24, 1959. Near Redmond, Oregon.(BBU)
About 4:55 a.m. (PST). Redmond Police officer Robert Dickerson saw a strange bright light [white ball­ shaped?] rapidly descending north of the airport then stopped and hovered several hundred [200?] feet above ground for several mins where it lit up the juniper trees below. He drove toward it on the Prineville Hwy then turned toward the airport, when the object turned orange [reddish-orange?] and moved rapidly to [dive and hover?] about 10 miles NE of the airport at about 3,000 ft [height? altitude?  Redmond is at 3,000 ft elevation MSL]. Dickerson arrived at the airport to report sighting in person at 4:59 a.m. at Redmond FAA Air Traffic Communication Station. FAA Flight Service Specialist Laverne Wertz, Dickerson and others viewed object through binoculars. FAA station reported UFO to Seattle Air Route Control Center at 5:10 a.m., which in turn reported it to Hamilton AFB, Calif., which scrambled 6 F-102 jets from Portland [?] to intercept UFO. FAA station observers saw object hover and emit long tongues of red, yellow and green light which extended and retracted at irregular intervals. As F-102’s approached the object from the SE [?] it turned into mushroom shape, emitted red and yellow flames from lower side and ascended rapidly, disappearing above scattered clouds at about 14,000 ft [altitude? height?]. [Object’s departure forced one F-102 to swerve to avoid collision, another nearly lost control from UFO’s turbulent wake; tracked on F-102 airborne radars but jets unable to intercept.] Object reappeared about 20 miles S of Redmond at about 25,000 ft. Seattle Center reported at 6:20 a.m. radar contact with object about 25 miles S of Redmond at 52,000 ft was made by USAF ADC radar site at Klamath Falls, Ore., which tracked a large 300-400 ft[?] target and vectored B-47 and F-89 aircraft to identify. Redmond FAA controllers lost sight of object. Seattle FAA reported at 7:11 a.m. that Klamath Falls radar still tracked object at 25 miles S of Redmond but varying altitude from 6,000 to 52,000 ft. (Fran Ridge/NICAP UFOE, V)

Oct. 1 [or 3rd or 4th week?], 1959; Telephone Ridge, Oregon (BBU 6534)
9:15 p.m. Department store manager C. A. Cissman saw a bright light approach, hover about 30 mins, then take off and disappear in 2 secs. (Berliner)

Oct. 2, 1959; Seattle, Wash. (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Oct. 4, 1959; Quezon, Philippines (BBU 6538)
9:25 p.m. USN Lt. C. H. Pogson and CPO K. J. Moore saw a large round or oval object, changing from red to red­ orange, fly straight and level. (Berliner

Oct. 6, 1959; Lincoln, Nebraska (BBU 6543)
8:15 p.m. Selective Service Lt. Col. L. Liggett and wife saw a round, white-yellow light make several abrupt turns at high speed. (Berliner)

Oct. 7, 1959; Nr. Forrest City, Arkansas
Kentucky Air National Guard pilot chased glowing object. [NICAP UFOE, V]

Oct. 12, 1959; Washington, Georgia.(BBU)
(McDonald list)

Oct. 19, 1959; N of Langley AFB, Virginia (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Oct. 19. 1959; Plainville, Kansas (BBU 6563)
9:25 [10:25? EST] p.m. Capt. F. A. Henney, engineering instructor at USAF Academy, flying a T-33 jet trainer, saw a bright yellowish light on collision course with the T-33, the pilot avoided it and the light dimmed. (Berliner; Project 1947)

Oct. 20, 1959; Key West, Florida
Navy enlisted men watched two UFOs rendezvous, speed away. [NICAP UFOE, IV]

Oct. 21, 1959; Warsaw, New York (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Oct. 22-23, 1959; Near Loring AFB, Maine (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Oct. 26, 1959; Toccoa, Georgia (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Oct. 28, 1959; Valparaiso, Chile
Astronomer, others, observed maneuvering orange disc. [NICAP UFOE, X]

Nov. 3, 1959; Utica, New York (BBU)
6:55 p.m. (EST). USAF pilot of T-33 with 4039th Strategic Wing saw a round a stationary round yellow-white object move away, disappear, then reappear. (Project 1947)

Nov. 5, 1959; Montauk AFS, Long Island, New York (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Nov. 18, 1959; S of Crystal Springs, Mississippi (BBU 6600)
6:25 p.m. J. M. Porter saw a row of red lights fly slow, then accelerate immensely. (Berliner)

Dec. 18, 1959; S Victoria Island, Canada (BBU)
(McDonald list)

Dec. 23, 1959; W of Albuquerque, New Mexico (BBU)
(McDonald)