FOREIGN REPORTS

A Survey of Foreign UFO Activity, Public Interest, and Official Attitudes

United States press coverage has sometimes given the impression that UFOs are wholly, or mostly, a native phenomenon. This is completely disproved by the evidence below. Nearly every nation on earth has had reports of sightings from reputable witnesses. Most have had official investigations, usually by military departments rather than scientific agencies. Organizations exist on every continent, privately pursuing the study of UFOs.

Wherever man travels on the globe, UFOs have been sighted. Ships at sea have reported strange objects [For example see Section II; U.S.S. Supply case]. Although not many reports have been made in the polar regions, this is no doubt due to the small populations and lack of opportunity for observations in these areas. It is worth noting that increased population in Antarctica, at scientific bases, has resulted in some reports. Even the natives of remote islands in the South Pacific have reported UFOs.

The following survey is a small sample of thousands of world-wide UFO reports, official statements and significant opinions. The section is divided by geographical regions: A. Western Hemisphere; B. Eastern Hemisphere; C. Oceana and Antarctica.

NORTH AMERICA
Canada has had a history of UFO sightings closely paralleling that of the U.S, Early reports led to acceptance of UFOs as a reality and establishment of a government laboratory to investigate gate them, in the period 1952-53.

On April 16, 1952, RCAF Intelligence "went on record as believing that 'flying saucers' could not be laughed off as optical illusions." The spokesman termed UFOs a "bona fide phenomenon." Dr. Peter Millman, noted Dominion astrophysicist, stated: "We can't laugh off these observations." [1]

In the fall of 1953 the government Department of Transport announced establishment of a flying saucer laboratory designed to prove or disprove UFO reports. The laboratory, with scientific equipment to detect gamma rays, magnetic fluctuations, radio noises, etc., was headed by engineer W.B. Smith, later a member of the NICAP Panel of Advisers.

After the official project was closed in 1954 because of "embarrassing" publicity, Mr. Smith issued a statement: "The conclusions reached by Project Magnet and contained in the official report were based on a rigid statistical analysis of sighting reports and were as follows: There is a 91% probability that at least some of the sightings were of real objects of unknown origin. There is about a 60% probability that these objects were alien vehicles." [2]

Typical Canadian Sightings

July 9, 1957: An attorney in Hamilton, Ontario, with another witness watched a glowing white elliptical object speed overhead from SW to NE, about 9:05 p.m. [3]

December 12, 1957: Capt. J. A. Miller, Trans-Canada Air, Inc. pilot, flying between Toronto and Windsor about 7 p.m., saw a whirling orange oval object at about 2000 feet altitude, moving at "a terrific rate of speed." The UFO flashed across Lake Eric and was seen over a wide area before swinging back over the lake and disappearing. Other witnesses included employees of Windsor airport and police from every detachment in Southern Essex County. [4]

April 12, 1959: Control tower operators at St. Hubert Air Base, Montreal, and many others about 8 p.m. watched a reddish UFO which hovered over the base for several minutes, then darted away to the north. An RCAF spokesman stated: "It was a genuine UFO as far as we are concerned." [5] About the same time residents of north Montreal saw a red UFO, alternately described as round and cigar-shaped, which hovered low over a field, then climbed rapidly emitting "fiery sparks" from the underside.

Later official statements also paralleled U.S. policy. In a 1960 letter to a NICAP member, Group Captain L.C. Dilworth, for the Chief of the Air Staff, RCAF, stated: "The RCAF has recently implemented the JANAP 146 (D) procedure for the re porting of vital intelligence sightings [including UFOs; see Section IX]... Needless to say, the RCAF in concert with American forces is interested in all such reports and evaluation is done on a systematic basis. While the outcome of individual evaluations is not made public, you may rest assured that any threat to the security of Canada or the United States will be reflected in appropriate military plans." [6]

In 1961, RCAF Station Comox, British Columbia, stated in a letter to a NICAP member: "Most UFOB reports terminating at Headquarters are unclassified and there should be no reason to suspect that information on this subject is being withheld from the public. Such phenomena pose no threat to the safety of North America in so far as is known by this Headquarters... Station Comox does not receive directives which apply to the USAF AFR 200-2. This unit, however, does have a reporting guide to be used when phenomena is [sic] reported." (7]

(As in U.S. statements, note the emphasis on assurances that UFOs pose no threat, implying that the inquirer's letter is motivated by fear rather than curiosity.)

In 1961 the Canadian Defense Minister, Douglas S. Harkness wrote a NICAP member that official investigations "have not revealed positive evidence of anything which might affect national welfare and which could not be attributed to possible natural phenomena or mistaken identity." As of 1963, "The Air Officer Commanding Air Defense Command, is charged with the military investigation of Unidentified Flying Object reports. ... Information compiled by the RCAF, pertaining to this matter [UFOs], is not available to the public." [8]

Alaska has had many UFO sightings [See Section X[; Chronology]. In a typical case February 14, 1960, airline employees and others in Nome about 4:40 p.m. saw a silvery tube-shaped object spouting orange flame from the tail, The UFO moved ENE, then curved up and away 'as if it were manned and controlled." Another similar UFO was sighted at Unalakleet the same day, moving rapidly NW and leaving contrails. [9] (Five days later the U.S. Air Force stated the objects were meteors.)

Three USAF F-94 jet interceptors pursued a UFO January 22, 1952 which had been tracked on ground and airborne radar at a northern Alaska radar outpost. [See Section VIII; Radar].

(Alaska, of course, is now one of the United States, and is covered in this Section because of its geographical location).

Mexico: In 1949-1950, during the sighting wave which occurred in that period, there were many press reports of UFOS sighted over Mexico, Example: Los Angeles News, March 14 & 15, 1950, Mexico City (UP) -- Hundreds of persons said they saw four flying saucers over Mexico City, and one at Monterrey. Witnesses included trained aircraft observers and meteorologists [See Section V]

Many additional sightings in past 12 years.

In 1958, Mr. Rafael Aveleyra, Minister of the Embassy of Mexico, Washington, in a letter to NICAP stated: "Please be advised that in accordance with the information just received from my Government, no reports have been received of unidentified flying objects within the area of Mexico, therefore no official investigation has been made." [10]

CENTRAL AMERICA
UFOs have been sighted regularly over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Central America [See December 6, 1952 Gulf of Mexico case; Coast Guard Cutter Sebago case, November 5, 1957, Section VIII; etc.] On January 23, 1959, the New York Times reported that a bright silver unidentified object, which had arced across the sky above the Panama Canal, had been tracked by U.S. radar.

A NICAP member in El Salvador who visited the NICAP office in 1961, informed us that UFO sightings were very common in her country, and that they were a regular topic of conversation, in schools and elsewhere.  

SOUTH AMERICA
The same is true of most South American countries, at least five of which have active UFO organizations. Two, Argentina and Brazil, have treated the subject more frankly and openly than any other nations.

Argentina: A letter to NICAP from the Argentine Embassy dated October 10, 1958, requested information about the structure, scope and aims of NICAP, because "the creation of an agency similar to NICAP, with the same objectives, is under consideration by Argentine Air Force officials." [11]

Strong Argentine interest in UFOS is not surprising considering the well-documented cases which have occurred there. At Cordoba Airport, November 25, 1954, two luminous objects which hovered for nearly an hour were reported by Dr. Marcos Guerci, chief of the meteorological service; Carlos Bassoli, control tower operator; and many others. One UFO was roughly semi-circular, appearing like a disc on edge, the other circular. Dr. Guerci stated he believed he had observed "something foreign to our knowledge," according to the official report released by the Argentine Embassy. [12]

The most recent series of sightings in Argentina (as this is being written) began in May 1902, continuing throughout the year. The incidents included reported landings with resultant markings and stains on the ground, highly maneuverable luminous phenomena, electromagnetic effects, and other typical UFO features. [See Section XII; Argentine Chronology]

On May 22, 1962, UFOs were sighted four times in a period of about 35 minutes by a flight of Navy pilots in the vicinity of Espora Naval Air Base. In one instance, about 7:20 p.m., student pilot Roberto Wilkinson reported that a luminous object trailing his plane lit up his cockpit, and his radio-electric transmission failed as the UFO passed below his aircraft. [13]

Sightings continued throughout the summer, many concentrated around aircraft and airports. Over Floresta District, September 8, 1962, Lt. (j.g.) Juan Jose Vico sighted a "burnished metal" lenticular UFO making smooth and apparently controlled maneuvers, according to the report.

Investigations of the 1962 sightings by military authorities brought forth two statements. Capt. Luis Sanchez Moreno investigating for the Navy, told the press the Navy had been constantly concerned about UFOs since the great wave of global sightings in 1952. Following the sightings by Navy personnel in May 1962, the investigation report released by the Argentine Embassy concluded: "The testimonies of Naval Air Officer pilots and personnel of the Flying Course indicate the existence of abnormal luminous phenomenon." 

One of the operators was radioing landing instructions when the jet Captain suddenly broke in:

"What's that thing at the end of the runway?"

An instant later, the same question came from one of the Argentine airliner pilots. Operator Alora turned and saw a large round object, glowing with an intense fiery light, at the head of runway 1-0-2-8. It had evidently descended while he and Pezzutto were watching the two airliners.

Because of the UFOs' brilliant glow, Alora could not tell whether it had actually touched down or was hovering just above the runway. At the moment he turned, the UFO rose about ten meters, hovering briefly. Then, rapidly accelerating, it took off on a northeast course. Before it disappeared, it was also seen by Operator Pezzutto.

During the 1962 sightings around Buenos Aires, as well as in remote areas of the country, key cases were reported freely on television. Argentina's treatment of the UFO question provides an interesting contrast with the secretive policy of the U. S. Government.

Brazil: UFO activity has been virtually constant in Brazil during the past 10-15 years. The number and quality of sightings has been at least equal to that of the U.S., and since 1952 sightings have been reported much more openly than in this country.

In 1958, the majority of experienced UFO investigators, many of whom had published bulletins or headed small UFO groups, formed the "Comissao Brasileira de Pesquisa Confidencial Sobre Objetos Aereos Nao Identificados (CBPCOANI)," a top level commission to promote scientific investigation of UFOs on an international basis. Members of the Commission include Dr. J. Escobar Faria (Attorney and author), a NICAP Adviser; Dr. Olavo Fontes, (M.D.), adviser to the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), Tucson, Arizona; Prof. Flavio Pereira President (also President of the Scientific Council, Brazilian Interplanetary Society); Cmdr. A.B. Simoes (airline official and writer). Significantly, the Commission includes representatives of the Brazilian armed services. As in Argentina, UFOs are considered an important problem justifying the formation of civilian-military agencies for continuous investigation.

Virtually every large coastal city, military base, and airport of Brazil has been visited by UFOs, and witnesses have included high-ranking officers, public officials and scientists.

A formation of "circular silver-colored" objects, apparently "mechanical" devices, were observed by FAB (Brazilian Air Force) officers and men, as well as airline personnel and civilians, as they sped over Porto Alegre AFB, October 24, 1954. [15]

(SAUCER)

PORTOALEGRE BRA2IL.--THE AIR FORCE BASE HERE REPORTED THAT "CIRCULAR, SILVER-COLORED OBJECTS MOVING AT TREMENDOUS SPEEDS HAD BEEN SIGHTED OVER THE BASE LAST SUNDAY.

A STATEMENT DISTRIBUTED BY THE BASE COMMAND SAID THE PHENOMENON WAS REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE AIR MINISTRY IN RIO DE JANEIRO WITH A REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION.

THE STATEMENT SAID THE BODIES WERE NOT CELESTIAL "BECAUSE THEIR MOVEMENTS APPEARED MECHANICAL AND INTERMITTENT." NO BALLOONS WERE ALOFT AT THE TIME THE BASE ADDED.

"'IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO CALCULATE THE ALTITUDE OR VELOCITY AT WHICH THE OBJECTS MOVED BUT THE SPEED WAS GREATER THAN ANY OF WHICH THE BASE HAS KNOWLEDGE, THEIR GENERAL SHAPE WAS CIRCULAR, SILVER-COLORED AND SHIMMERING."

THE STATEMENT SAID THE OBJECTS WERE OBSERVED BY OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF THE AIR BASE, BY PERSONNEL OF THE VARIG AIRLINE 'AND BY A NUMBER OF CIVILIANS IN THE CITY, BETWEEN 1 P.M. AND 6 P.M. SUNDAY.

10/27-- PA 306P

A startling incident on November 21, 1954, was reported on the front pages of newspapers in South and Central America, and in England, but apparently not in the U.S. A Brazilian airliner in flight near Rio de Janeiro, at night, encountered 19 glowing saucer-shaped objects. The UFOs flew at high speed within about 300 feet of the plane causing a panic among the passengers.

The crew had to act forcibly to calm the passengers and continue the flight safely. [16]

Another extremely important incident, January 16, 1958, was only sketchily reported in a few U.S papers. Near Trindade Isle off the Brazilian east coast, the Almirante Saldanha, an IGY oceanographic vessel, saw and photographed a maneuvering disc-shaped UFO which made several passes over the area [See Section VIII; Photographs]. Marine photographer Almiro Barauna, officers and men on deck, sighted the UFO and Barauna obtained four good exposures of the object. The film was developed on board ship, the witnesses confirming that the Saturn-shaped images (disc with central flange) corresponded to what they had observed.

The impressive evidence created a stir in the Brazilian Congress. At first the Navy was cautious and secretive about the incident, but the President of Brazil, Mr. Juscelino Kubitschek, intervened at the request of a reporter and the photographs were published in the press. [17]

Both airline and military pilots in Brazil have often reported UFOs:

June 30, 1957. An airliner enroute from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro, at 6:30 p.m., encountered a glowing red-orange disc-like object. Capt. Saul Martins later told the press the UFO maneuvered all around the DC-3, pacing it, flying above and below it. One of the many passengers who also witnessed the object was a renowned Brazilian writer, Prof. Aires de Mata Machado Filho. [18]

July 4, 1957. A REAL Airlines plane enroute from Campos to Victoria, capital of Espirito Santo State, was paced by a circular UFO. The pilot, Cmdr. Delgado, said that when his plane and the UFO were passing through clouds, brightly lighted apertures like windows became visible on the object. When they left the clouds, these markings disappeared. The UFO had raised portions on top and bottom. [See Section IX; Patterns].

August 14, 1957. Near Joinville, at 8:55 p.m., a Varig Air lines C-47 enroute from Porto Alegre to Rio de Janeiro was approached by a luminous object. The pilot, Cmdr. Jorge Campos Araujo, said his co-pilot first noticed the UFO pacing the plane to the left. As they watched, the UFO suddenly sped ahead and crossed just in front of the plane. Then it hovered briefly, and dove into the undercast at about 5,700 feet. (The plane was flying at 6,300 feet). At the moment when the strange object hovered briefly, the engines of the airliner began coughing and missing, and the cabin lights dimmed. When the UFO moved away, the aircraft electrical system returned to normal. [See Section VIII; Electro-Magnetic Effects].

Cmdr. Araujo described the UFO as "shaped like a saucer with a kind of cupola or dome on top of it. The whole cupola glowed with an intense green light. The flattened base glowed with a less intense yellowish luminosity." [19]

November 4, 1957. Capt. Jean Vincent de Beyssac, flying a Varig Airlines C-46 near Ararangua at 1:20 a.m., noticed a red light to the left. The plane was at 7,000 feet above a layer of stratus clouds. Both Capt. de Beyssac and his co-pilot watched curiously as the light increased in size. When the pilot decided to investigate and started to press his rudder, the UFO suddenly leaped through an arc of about 45 degrees and appeared much larger in size. Capt. de Beyssac went into an 80 degree left turn for a closer look. About midway of the turn, the object began glowing more brilliantly and the pilot smelled smoke in the cabin. While the crew hastily looked for fire, the UFO vanished. It was then discovered that the ADF (direction finder), right generator and transmitter-receiver had burned out simultaneously. [20]

May 27, 1958. Near the Bahia State coast, a Varig airliner piloted by Cmdr. Bittar, was approached by a brightly luminous UFO with ball-like projections on the underside. The object maneuvered under the plane, hovered, then dove toward the sea. [21]

July 14, 1959. A Brazilian Air Force pilot checked on a hovering light observed from the control tower at Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State at the request of the tower operator. After landing, the pilot reported that the unidentified light had followed him for about an hour while he was enroute from Pico do Couto. The control tower operator then fired some flares in the direction of the UFO, and it changed color from white to amber to intense green. Then it turned white again, and darted upwards, disappearing in the darkness. [22]

July 24, 1961. At night in the vicinity of llha Grande, Cmdr. Jose Guilherme Saez, pilot of a VASP Airlines "Scandia" flying at 7,000 feet, saw a luminous object which he first believed was a meteor. "I radioed the Santa Cruz Air Force Base and Sao Paulo airport," Cmdr. Saez stated. "Suddenly the object changed direction, from the left to our right. Then I saw it quite near our Scandia." The object remained visible several minutes. During this time, Cmdr. Saez said, "The UFO did not describe curves, but made angular turns. It moved up and down, back and forth, in all directions." [23] (cf., sighting by Capt. Hull, Capital Airlines, November 14,1956; Section I).

At times, Brazil has been one of the least secretive governments in regard to release of UFO information. High officials have often openly admitted their serious concern with UFOs.

As in the case of several countries, there is evidence that the Embassies in Washington, either yielding to the wishes of the U.S. Government or for political reasons of their own, sometimes debunk the subject in spite of serious official concern of their governments at home. In 1959, Maj. Gen. Antonio Barcellos, Air Attaché of the Brazilian Embassy, wrote a NICAP member:

"The Brazilian Government does not accredit or acknowledge any reports of unidentified flying objects... it considers the question of UFO to be in the same category as that of Santa Claus. Therefore, if anyone in Brazil has ever cited what they consider to be a UFO, they would probably not report to any official agency, but if they did try to make such a report, they would find that it would not be accepted." [24]

The history of UFO reports in the other South American countries is very similar to that of Argentina and Brazil.

In Valparaiso, Chile, October 28, 1959, Juan Fruto (Director of a local Astronomical Association), C. Ventura (civil aviator), and others about 9:15 p.m. sighted a luminous orange concave disc performing evolutions in the sky. [25]

Cases of electro-magnetic effects [See Section VIII] have been noted in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. On January 30, 1958, a lawyer and his wife, near Lima, Peru, saw a circular UFO hovering an estimated 500 meters above the highway. As their automobile passed beneath the object, the car lights went out. Truck drivers and others on the same highway also witnessed the UFO. Passengers on a bus felt an electric shock, and the bus motor failed as the UFO was seen. [26]

A NICAP Subcommittee (investigative unit) is operative in Santiago, Chile, headed by Prof. Juan E. Gatica Salinas, astrophysicist. Other members of the unit are professors of mathematics and physics, and students. The Subcommittee is divided into three groups which make scheduled observations of the sky from different observatories, increasing the chances of obtaining triangulations of a UFO.

In Montevideo, Uruguay, Milton W. Hourcade is one of the directors of the "Centro de Investigacion de Objetos Voladores Inidentificados (C.I.O.V.I.)." The group has investigated and compiled reports in Uruguay for many years, periodically exchanging data with NICAP.

One of the cases investigated by C.I.O.V.I. occurred May 5, 1958, near San Carlos. About 3:40 p.m., Carlos A. Rodriguez, an experienced and reputable pilot, was flying his piper aircraft in the vicinity of Capitan Curbelo Naval Air Base when he noticed a brilliant glowing object approaching his plane. The UFO stopped an estimated 2000 meters away and, according to the report, "it rocked twice in a balancing motion." [ef., Oct. 2,1961, Salt Lake City, Utah, pilot sighting; Section I]. The object was shaped like a child's top, symmetrical above and below. As he closed to about 700 meters, Rodriguez felt intense heat in the cockpit and was forced to open the windows and door of the plane and remove his jacket. The UFO then took off, accelerating rapidly eastward toward the sea, leaving a thin vapor trail. [27]

Venezuela has been the scene of so much UFO activity that as of 1963, according to a NICAP member who visited Caracas, the sight of huge glowing objects lighting up mountain tops around the city was no longer considered noteworthy. Active in UFO investigation around Caracas are Dr. Askold Ladonko (NICAP Adviser) and Horacio Gonzalez Ganteaume (NICAP member). In December 1962 over an unexplored jungle area near famous Angel Falls, a UFO was photographed on 8 mm movie film by

Mr. Ah Diaz. Diaz was aboard a DC-3 plane carrying vacationists on a tour to view the beautiful scenery. Dr. Ladonko and Gonzalez Ganteaume notified NICAP, interviewed Diaz, and encouraged analysis of the film.

During June 1963 a Spanish speaking NICAP member from New York City, Mr. Jose A. Cecin, flew to Caracas and borrowed the original film. Analysis of it currently is being arranged by NICAP. [See Section VIII]. Viewed at the NICAP office by the staff and several members, the movie shows an eerie, brilliant yellow, tear-drop shaped light rising from the base of Auyantepuy Mountain, oscillating back and forth as it accelerates across the mountain, blue sky and clouds.

(During his visit to Caracas, Mr. Cecin was told of an incident in which a prominent citizen was driving through a rural area when he saw a large disc hovering over a field where several peasants were working. He excitedly called their attention to it. "We know about it," they replied casually. "It comes here every day. It doesn't bother anyone.")

Venezuela also has a history of sightings by airline pilots and other experienced observers. An orange light closed in on a Venezuelan airliner at 6:45 p.m., January 2, 1955, in the vicinity of Punta San Juan. When the UFO was at close range, a bright light from it shone into the cockpit of the plane intermittently. [28]

A month later, February 2, an Aeropost Airlines plane was bound for Merida from Maiquetia. At the controls was Capt. Dano Celis; co-pilot was B.J. Cortes. About 11:15 a.m., a round, glowing green "apparatus" approached the plane, rotating counter-clockwise. Around its center was a reddish ring which emitted flashes of brilliant light. Above and below the ring, markings like portholes were visible. Capt. Celis banked his plane toward the UFO. Instantly, the object whirled downward, leveled off, and sped away. During the sighting, Capt. Celis attempted to report the object by radio, but his communication was cut off. [29]

July 2, 1960, near Maiquetia, a Venezuelan Airlines Super-Constellation was arriving from Spain about 3:00 a.m. Flying at 10,000 feet about 20 degrees N, 68 degrees W (near Puerto Rico), the pilot and crew noticed a bright luminous object angling toward the plane at about their altitude. After paralleling the plane for several minutes, the object suddenly shot away at terrific speed. The pilot reported the sighting to the press upon landing. (30]

A Professor of Engineering, Central University, reported a UFO September 15, 1960. Prof. German Alvarez, in Carrizales, Miranda State, watched a luminous object sweep across the sky for about three minutes, after 7:30 p.m. The UFO accelerated in a curved course. Before disappearing behind mountains, it appeared as two objects. [31]

Formations of UFOs, about 16 objects in all, passing from east to west between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. were witnessed by many people in the Parque del Este, Caracas, February 11, 1962. One witness, Sr. Emiro Ayesta, ran to the Humboldt Planetarium in the park where Sr. Carlos Pineda of the Planetarium staff witnessed one of the UFOs. Sr. Pineda described it as "a body giving off a brilliant light, moving at great altitude as if towards the moon." [32]

Scandinavia

The earliest well-publicized UFO reports from Scandinavia were the so-called "ghost rockets" observed in Sweden during the summer and fall of 1946. Military authorities adopted secrecy reminiscent of wartime in dealing with reports of the objects, banning publication of the location of sightings, and requiring newspapers to use the dateline "somewhere in Sweden." [33]

Mysterious fireballs and cigar-shaped UFOs were observed all summer. [34] Finally, in October the defense ministry announced that it had been unable to discover the origin or nature of the "ghost rockets." Of 1000 reports studied, about 80% were attributed to "celestial phenomena." But, the report continued, radar detected some "which cannot be the phenomena of nature or products of imagination, nor be referred to as Swedish planes..." [35]

In May 1954, Mutual news commentator Frank Edwards (now a NICAP Board Member) reported an item from Stockholm:

"Swedish military authorities sent special crews into north Sweden where scores of residents have reported strange glowing objects maneuvering over forests at low altitude during the week of May 10... Military men who have seen the things say they were not planes of any type."

After the crew of a Swedish airliner reported a wingless circular UFO over southern Sweden December 17, 1953, the defense department ordered a full scale investigation. Capt. Ulf Christiernsson, former RAF pilot, said: "It was an entirely unorthodox, metallic, symmetrical and circular object." The UFO was seen speeding over the town of Haessleholm in the main commercial air lane between Stockholm and Copenhagen. [36].

In 1961 Mr. Sven Schalin, aeronautical engineer in Linkoping, became NICAP Adviser for Sweden. In his acceptance letter, Mr. Schalin stated: "UFOs very definitely have been sighted also in this country. A 'flap' seemed to occur around January 1959, the whole period starting perhaps in July 1958 and ending about June 1959. Obviously the Swedish Intelligence Center in Stockholm knows what is going on but the usual debunking policy is strictly followed."

During Operation Mainbrace, extensive naval maneuvers in the North Sea on and about September 20, 1952, UFOs were sighted in the vicinity on several occasions. [See Section XII; Operation Mainbrace Chronology] On the 20th, a silvery disc of metallic appearance was observed passing swiftly over the Allied fleet. Wallace Litwin, an American newsman onboard the aircraft carrier "Franklin Roosevelt," took three color photographs of the UFO. As far as is known, the pictures have never been published and no explanation of the incident was offered.

Norway, Finland and Denmark also have had their share of UFO sightings. During an aerial expedition to take photographs of a solar eclipse, June 30, 1954, Norwegian scientists and others on board three planes observed and photographed two "enormous" silvery discs which gave a metallic glint. [Section I]

In 1958, replying to a NICAP query, the Norwegian Embassy stated: "Our Air Force's UFO material is mainly of security graded nature and cannot be put to the disposal of NICAP." [37]

During the winter of 1958, observers on the Finnish-Soviet border reported circular and cigar-shaped luminous objects maneuvering over Soviet territory near the Arctic Circle. Brilliantly glowing spherical "missiles," some of which moved vertically up and down, also were reported. [38]

While "Operation Mainbrace" was in full swing nearby in the North Sea during September 1952, a shining apparently metallic disc was seen on the 20th by three Danish Air Force officers. About 7:30 p.m., the UFO sped over Karup Airfield, Denmark, disappearing in clouds to the east.

On November 20, 1957, during the rash of UFO sightings in the Western hemisphere [see Section XI] Air Force officers and many civilians near Bernholm, Denmark, saw a UFO flashing red and green lights as it swooped low above the water and over the island. At times the object hovered motionless. No sound could be heard. The Danish newspaper "Famflie-blad" reported the sightings.

September 11, 1956: Allied intelligence experts were reported to be investigating radar sightings of "mysterious objects" which had been tracked for three weeks over the Baltic Sea by a NATO radar station on Bernholm Island, Denmark. The UFOs followed a curved course traveling about 2000-2500 m.p.h. [See Section VIII; Radar]

England

The policy of the British Air Ministry has been identical to that of the U.S. Although claiming their investigations have proved that almost all UFO sightings have mundane explanations, the Air Ministry firmly refuses to release the case histories. When NICAP requested information about specific cases in 1957, the Air Ministry replied: "We regret that we are unable to release any information on the radar sighting at West Freugh in Scotland on 4th April ... We cannot release any information on the B.O.A.C. or the Flt. Lt. Salandin sightings. Air Ministry policy has not changed since those sightings were made." [39]

In a 1963 letter to a NICAP member, the Air Ministry stated: "Because of our defense responsibilities we investigate reports of UFOs as they come in whenever there is sufficient information for this to be done. I am afraid, however, that we cannot undertake to provide details of any particular reports which have been received." [40]

Unofficially, a totally different picture of British opinion is available. Dozens of very active UFO organizations exist in England, many publishing bulletins. The largest and most professional magazine is the "Flying Saucer Review," published in London. The groups exist because of a long history of good UFO sightings in the British Isles, many involving trained observers.

The Royal Air Force, one of the most highly respected air forces in the world, has contributed a number of sightings. One of the most prominent proponents of UFOs in England is Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, head of the RAF fighter command during the Battle of Britain. In a by-line article for the London Sunday Dispatch (July 11, 1954), Lord Dowding stated: "I am convinced that these objects do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nation on earth. I can therefore see no alternative to accepting the theory that they come from some extra- terrestrial source."

"RAF Flying Review," unofficial but authoritative and highly regarded aviation publication in London, has treated the UFO subject seriously and urged a more thorough investigation.

The fact that UFOs were being taken seriously in England was first widely known in 1957. The London Reynolds News reported June 16:

"In room 801 of what was once the Hotel Metropole, Britain's Air Ministry is investigating Flying Saucers - - and that's official... At airfields all over Britain, fighter planes are kept ready to intercept, and if necessary engage, any unidentified flying object within combat range... [the room's] existence was admitted last night by an Air Ministry spokesman. He disclosed that it has been investigating Flying Saucer reports since 1947. 'We have something like 10,000 on our files,' he said."

A few of the reports which have concerned British authorities: Topcliffe, September 20, 1952 (Reuters) -- "A flying saucer entered the eight-nation Baltic area maneuvers "Operation Mainbrace" here today. The RAF base here reported to maneuver headquarters that an unidentifiable silver circular object had been sighted 15,000 feet above the airfield. The object, which appeared five miles behind a Meteor jet fighter [piloted by Lt. John W Kilburn], maintained a slow forward speed before descending in a swinging pendulum motion. Then it began a rotary motion about its own axis and accelerated at an incredible speed in a westerly direction but later turned southeast. It was seen by RAF officers and men on the airfield."

Another AAF pilot encountered a UFO October 4, 1954. Flight Lt. J.R. Salandin of the 604th Fighter Squadron, flying a Meteor jet but of North Weald, Essex, nearly collided head-on with a huge, metallic appearing object; The UFO was shaped like two saucers pressed together, one inverted on top of the other. At the last second, it flipped to one side and streaked past at tremendous speed. Two round UFOs had been sighted speeding between two other Meteor jets in the vicinity just be fore Lt. Salandin's sighting. [41}

An object described as a "bright yellow light varying in intensity some 200 feet from the ground" was reported hovering over London Airport February 26, 1959. (Some accounts called it a "yellow disc.") Control tower operators and other airport personnel saw the object, studying it through binoculars. The official report to the Air Ministry concluded, the object "then climbed away at high speed."

(On March 6, conflicting theories were advanced by Air Ministry and Airport officials. Some believed the UFO was the planet Venus distorted by clouds; others that it was the "nose cone light" of a civilian aircraft).

An Aer Lingus (Irish International Airlines) pilot reported a globe-shaped unidentified object which flew beneath his Viscount May 21, 1962, above southern England. While flying from Cork to Brussels at about 17,000 feet, Capt. Gordon Pendleton and First Officer J.P. Murphy saw the UFO approaching head-on. They estimated the rate of closure at about 1200 m.p.h. The UFO sped past about 3,000 feet below the airliner at close to 700 m.p.h. "I could see it quite clearly," Capt. Pendleton said. "It definitely had no wings. It was brown, appeared to be round and had a number of projections, looking rather like some kind of radio antennae, on its surface. I have never seen anything like it before." [42]

The European Continent

On the Continent, UFOs have been sighted in virtually every country. In Switzerland businessman J.H. Ragaz, publisher of "Weltraumbote," has supported NICAP's investigation as well as publicizing European UFO activity. Many sightings of typical UFOs have taken place in Switzerland.

Other small countries, such as Austria, also have experienced UFO activity:

May 15, 1954, Vienna (Reuters) -- Three discs in wedge formation reported by five persons.

December 19, 1954, Vienna (INS) - - Several witnesses re ported UFOs moving at great speed above the capital. "Austrian authorities are reportedly taking these observations seriously. Police received orders to report any strange flying objects."

The "Nederlandse Studiekring Voor Ufologie" has been active for several years in Amsterdam, Holland. Mr. A.F. van Wieringen, a member of its board, is also a NICAP member and correspondent. A recent report investigated by his group involved a Royal Dutch Air Force pilot who chased a UFO January 29, 1962, over eastern Holland. After sighting the object and seeing it on the radar set of the F-86, the pilot radioed his base. He was informed that the UFO was also being tracked by ground radar. Following instructions, he tried to make radio contact with the unidentified object, but there was no response. Arm ing his "Sidewinder" rocket, the pilot tried to close in, but the UFO swiftly pulled away before he could fire, and disappeared within seconds.

On the night of August 6-7, 1952, Will Jansen, a marine engineer and designer, was visiting in Kerkrade, Holland. Just after midnight a disc-shaped craft with visible superstructure swooped down to low altitude, hovered, zigzagged and sped away. A second disc-shaped UFO, similar in outline, was then seen hovering farther away. Finally it tilted up vertically and shot up out of sight. [43]

Numerous UFO sightings in France have been thoroughly investigated and documented by Aime Michel, mathematician and engineer. (Author of "The Truth About Flying Saucers," Criterion Books, N.Y., 1956; and "Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery," Criterion, 1958). Since 1958, M. Michel has joined forces with Rene Hardy, engineer at Drivomatic Laboratories in Paris, and other scientists to form a scientific commission to study UFO reports. Both Michel and Hardy also serve as NICAP Advisers.

On June 13, 1952, a very prominent bright orange-red light hovered in the sky, visible from Le Bourget airport. About 1:00 a.m., after hovering for an hour, the UFO began moving and crossed the sky southwest of the field, accelerating rapidly. Witnesses included M. Navarri, pilot of an approaching plane; M. Veillot and M. Damiens, control tower operators. [44]

At a military meteorological station in Villacoublay, August 29, 1952, a UFO was tracked by theodolite and the observation carefully logged. The object alternately hovered, and moved erratically. [45]

New Yorker magazine, in a "Letter From Paris" column, October 23, 1954 recounts many UFO sightings during the summer and fall of that year. Witnesses included the Mayor of Briancon, gendarmes, sailors, taxi-drivers and other citizens. The European "flap" of fall 1954 is one of the most intense concentrations of UFO activity on record. [See Aime Michel's books, cited above, for details]

At Orly Field, Paris, February 17,1956, a UFO was tracked on radar and seen by an Air France pilot. "They [radarmen at Orly] said the object showed up on radar screens at an estimated speed of about 1700 mph., then hovered at various points over the capital." [46]

Also in Paris, September 26, 1957, an American Embassy officer and his wife watched a reddish-orange elliptical UFO for twenty minutes around 7:00 p.m. The sighting was later reported to NICAP in confidence. [47]

Germany: In 1963, Major Artur W Heyer, air attache at the German Embassy, answered a NICAP member's query: "I have been informed that no information with regard to your questions is available and that there is no official West German Government policy or agency concerning unidentified flying objects (UFOs)." "However," he concluded: "I am sorry to give you this reply and I think your request deals with a matter which has not yet been exploited sufficiently." [48]

Over Furston-Feldbruck November 23, 1948, a bright red UFO was seen by a USAF pilot and tracked by ground and air radar. The UFO was clocked at 900 mph., and climbed 23,000 feet in a matter of minutes, far exceeding the performance of any known aircraft. [See Section VIII; Radar]

London Daily Mail, July 5, 1954: "Berlin is seeing saucers regularly. Allied officials there are investigating the appearance of mysterious objects over the city. German eyewitnesses claim that a formation of three fast-moving objects can regularly be seen whenever the sky over Berlin is clear. The objects, de scribed as "small and disclike," are said to appear between 10 and 11 p.m., at extremely high altitudes."

In recent years, German NICAP members have contributed UFO information to NICAP regularly. Martin Bruckmann, engineering student, at about midnight November 19, 1956 observed seven bright, blue-white elliptical objects in V-formation moving rapidly east to west over Frankfurt. [49J

In Kirchberg, Hunsruck, at 3:30 p.m., May 25, 1958, Gunter Henn (Master of Business Administration) with another person watched a glistening silver object, circular with spoke-like markings. The UFO descended on a slant, them moved horizontally into clouds. [50]

The NICAP Adviser for West Germany, at Wolfsburg, is Dr. Helmut H. Damni, a German-born American citizen currently employed in Germany as a management consultant in engineer ing. He holds the degree of Doctor of Mechanical Engineering. During World War II he served as a systems and field instructor, and design engineer, in the Rocket Division of the German Army.

Dr. Damm took a survey of UFO interest in West Germany during 1962. Results:
* Air Force headquarters at Bonn stated they had no personnel or funds to devote to UFO investigation.
* The German Research Institute for Aeronautics also stated they were doing no work on UFOs, but appeared interested and open-minded in discussing the subject.
* The daily newspaper "Bild" stated it was greatly interested in obtaining more facts and new evidential reports for publication.
* On the whole, Dr. Damm found individuals and agencies poorly informed on the subject.

At least two eminent German scientists who have been employed in the U.S since World War II are outspoken believers that UFOs are space ships from another planet. Prof. Hermann Oberth in 1954 began an American Weekly article (October 24) in these words: "It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another planet." Upon his return to Germany in November 1958, after being employed by the U.S. at Huntsville, Alabama, Prof. Oberth repeated his belief that "very intelligent beings" have been observing the earth for a long time. [51]

Dr. Walter Riedel, former chief designer and research director of Peenemunde rocket center in Germany, directed the Civilian Saucer Investigation of Los Angeles. CSI was the first prominent UFO investigation group in the U.S., publicized by Life and Time early in 1952. Dr. Riedel stated; "I'm convinced saucers have an out-of-world basis." (Another prominent member of CSI was philosopher Gerald Heard, author of Is Another World Watching? Harpers, 1950).

Reports in southern Europe and over the Mediterranean Sea have been as frequent as in any other area of the world. (For example, see New York Times, March 30, 1950, ''More Flying Saucers in Mediterranean, Orient.") The sightings which received the most attention in the press and were best documented, however, were those during the fall 1954 European "flap".

Around 7:00 p.m., September 17, 1954, a large circular object, (shaped like a truncated cone) trailing smoke and making a series of explosive sounds, was observed along a 15-mile stretch above the Mediterranean coast west of Rome. International News Service (INS) reported that an Italian Air Force radar station at Practica Dimare, 40 miles southwest of Rome, tracked the UFO for 39 minutes at an altitude of 3600 feet. The UFO flew slowly at first, then accelerated rapidly and disappeared straight up at great speed.

Mrs. Clare Booth Luce, then U.S. Ambassador to Italy, was among dozens of witnesses to a UFO phenomenon over Rome, October 28, 1954. A luminous round object sped across the sky, followed by a fall of fine cotton-like particles from the sky. Mrs. Luce said: "I saw something, but I don't know what it was." An Associated Press reporter, Maurizio Andreolo, described the UFO as being "like a moon dashing across the sky at fantastic speed... silently." {52]

Several UFOs, some described as spear-shaped and some egg-shaped, sped over Belgrade, Yugoslavia shortly after 6:15 am., October 25, 1954. (The same or similar objects were also seen in Austria and Italy that day.) Witnesses included Vladimir Aivas, aeronautical engineer; Stjepan Djitkol, Air Force Captain; and members of the staff at Zemun Airport.

United Press reported from Belgrade, October 27: "Authorities announced today they were making a 'serious investigation' of the flight over Yugoslavia Monday of objects which looked and acted like nothing described in the standard aviation reference books. . . . The reports under investigation were that shiny 'ellipsoidal' objects zipped through the Yugoslav skies trailing bluish tails for about an hour after sunrise Monday. Scientists in astronomical observatories who witnessed the flights concluded that the objects could not have been meteors, and probably were not any form of 'heavenly body'..."

Barcelona, Spain, November 12, 1958 (AP): "A group of scientists here has founded the interplanetary studies center to investigate 'unexplained phenomena in space and unidentified objects in the skies' . . ." The President of the "Centro do Estudios Interplanetarios," Mr. Eduardo Buelta, established contact with NICAP late in 1956 offering collaboration and setting up an exchange of information.

Palma Observatory on the Spanish Island of Majorca (or Mallorca), in the Balearic Islands (off the east coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea) sighted a UFO at 9:33 a.m., May 22, 1960. The report, cabled to NASA in Washington, described a white triangular object about 1/4 the size of the moon spinning on its own axis as it flew on a steady course. NICAP efforts to obtain more information from the Observatory went unanswered. 

The vast African continent has been visited repeatedly by unidentified flying objects showing characteristics similar to those seen all over the world. One of the earliest and most spectacular reports on record concerns the sighting of a huge cigar-shaped UFO which hovered over famous Mt. Kilimanjaro February 19,1951. The UFO was photographed from an Host African Air ways plane flying in the vicinity. After remaining motionless for a considerable period of time, the object suddenly climbed steeply and disappeared. The movie film was developed and reportedly showed a clear and sizeable image of the object, according to the Natal Mercury.

The sighting was detailed in the Nairobi Sunday Post, February 25, 1951, by Capt. Jack Bicknell, pilot of the East African Airways plane. Extracts from Capt. Bicknell's report: "The Lodestar plane left Nairobi West at 7:00 a.m. At 7:20 a.m., the radio officer (D. W. Merrifield) drew my attention to a bright object like a white star hanging motionless about 10,000 feet above Kilimanjaro. My first reaction was to say nothing. We watched it for three minutes. Then we told the passengers about it. One of them had a very powerful pair of binoculars with him and he began to study it. In the meantime, we put a radio message through to Eastleigh describing it. Eastleigh asked us to check whether it was a meteorological balloon. I then examined it for several minutes through the binoculars. . . [At this point the plane had approached to within about 50 miles of the mountain]...

"Through the glasses I saw a metallic, bullet shaped object which must have been over 200 feet long. At one end was a square- cut vertical fin. Its color was a dull silver, and at regular intervals along the fuselage were vertical dark bands. Its whole outline was clear and sharp and there was no haziness about it at all. . . It was absolutely stationary, and remained that way for 17 minutes. . . [Capt. Bicknell states that two passengers were taking photographs at this time]

"Then it began to move eastwards, rising as it did so. It disappeared at about 40,000 feet. . . The machine left no vapor trail, and it had no visible means of propulsion. . . My impression was that it was definitely a flying machine of some kind."

New Yorker magazine, October 23, 1954 reported a UFO sighting by the Administrator of Danane, French West Africa on September 19th of that year. He, his wife, a doctor, and others saw an object described as an "oval flying machine" with a dome, and lights like searchlights.

In populous South Africa, scientists, aviation personnel, police and many others have reported UFO sightings. At the Upington Meteorological Station, Cape Province, December 7, 1954 the Officer-in-Charge, Mr. R. H. Kleyweg, tracked a white semi-circular UFO through a theodolite for about a minute. Then the object began moving too fast to track. "I have followed thousands of Meteorological balloons," Mr. Kleyweg said. "This object was no balloon." [53.]

During the North and South American "flap" in November 1957 [See Section X~, hundreds of people in the Southern Transvaal area witnessed an "enormous" cylindrical UFO. On the night of November 5, the object was observed hovering in the sky. South African Air Force searchlights in Dunnotar pin pointed the UFO, which then "withdrew" behind clouds, according to witnesses. [54.]

At Johannesburg, April 11, 1958, H. F. Daniels (airport instrument inspector) and others watched a reddish-white UFO above the north horizon at night, moving back and forth east and west. "I have worked with aircraft for 18 years," Mr. Daniels said, "and the thing I saw was certainly no conventional plane. The speed was phenomenal and it sometimes became completely stationary, changing color from white to blood red." [55.]

Many other African UFO sightings, some from French air bases and scientific stations, are recorded by Aime Michel.

Because of language difficulties, NICAP has not been able to compile as many reports from the Far East (except in the Australia-New Zealand area), but it is known that UFOs are often seen and that UFO groups exist in most countries. A query to the Nationalist Chinese Government, referred to the Taiwan Weather Bureau, brought the following reply in 1903:

"The Mission for the observation on unidentified flying objects should be assigned to a Military Agency such as National Civil Defense Organization in order to meet the emergencies. The Government will inform the public on the sightings of UFOs when the situation is necessary. . . At present no conclusion on the observation of UFOs has been reached or an official report. . announced to the public." [56.]

An unclassified Air Force intelligence report in NICAP possession describes a U.S. Air Force sighting of a "large round object" somewhere in the Far East in December 1950. A jet pilot experienced radar jamming as he closed on the UFO, and saw it flash away easily outdistancing his jet. [Section 1.]

On September 15, 1954, in Manbhum, Bihar, India Mr. Ijapada Chatterjee (manager of a mica mine) and hundreds of others watched a saucer-shaped object descend to an altitude of about 500 feet. The UFO hovered, then soared upwards at terrific speed causing a tremendous gust of wind. The object was seen over a mine which has supplied beryllium for the U.S Atomic Energy Commission. [57.]

A book entitled "The Mystery of the Flying Saucers Revealed," published in Indonesia in 1961, contains a foreword by the Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Chief Marshal S Suryadarma, which discloses that UFOs have often been reported by Indonesian Air Force personnel. The author is Col. J. Salatun, Secretary of the Indonesian Joint Chiefs of Staff and member of the Supreme People's Congress. NICAP checked with the Indonesian Embassy and verified the positions of both men.

In Japan and Korea, notably during the Korean War, UFOs have often been sighted by U.S. Air Force and other military personnel.

October 15, 1948: The crew of an F-61 night fighter over Japan tracked on radar and saw the silhouette of a UFO shaped "like a rifle bullet" (cf., Mt. Kilimanjaro sighting, above) which repeatedly accelerated out of reach of the fighter. [Section VIII; Radar.]

January 29, 1952: Bright, rotating, disc-shaped UFOs seen by B-29 crews near Wonsan and Sunchon, Korea. [58.]

March 29, 1952: Small shiny disc maneuvered around USAF F-86 in flight north of Misawa, Japan. [Section 1.]

August 5, 1952: Dark circular UFO with bright body light hovered near control tower at Oneida AFB, Japan, sped away, dividing into three sections. [Section VIII; Radar.]

October 13, 1952: Elliptical UFO hovering in clouds near Oshima, Japan, sighted by Major William D. beet, USAF, and his engineer; object sped away after 7 minutes. [Section III.]

December 12, 1962: Five school girls in Amagaski City, at 4:30 p.m., saw a brightly glowing UFO. Asked to draw in dependently what they had seen, all five sketched a Saturn-shaped disc. [59.]

Another hotspot of UFO activity has been the Australia-- New Zealand area. The great number of UFO sightings in this region (about the same southern latitudes as Brazil - Uruguay - Argentina) and the amount of public interest in them can only be suggested in this limited survey of foreign reports. [60.]

As in many other countries, UFOs are "officially" non existent. A 1963 letter to a NICAP member from A. B. McFarlane, Secretary, Department of Air, Commonwealth of Australia states: "From time to time reports of unidentified flying objects are received and investigated by the Royal Australian Air Force, but details of individual investigations have not been made public.". .The letter goes on to quote a 1960 speech in Parliament by Minister for Air, Hon. F. M. Osborne: "Nearly all UFO reports] are explainable on a perfectly normal basis. . . only three or four per cent cannot be explained on the basis of some natural phenomenon, and nothing that has arisen from that three or four

percent. . . gives any firm support for the belief that interlopers from other places in this world or outside it have been visiting us." [61.]

The New Zealand Embassy in 1963 said their government had never stated any policy on UFOs and that "a policy on this subject has never been warranted."

In mid-December 1954 a Royal Australian Navy pilot was flying back to Nowra air base after dark when "two strange air craft resembling flying saucers" took up formation with him. The pilot called Nowra air control, whose radar showed three objects flying together. The pilot identified himself by moving according to pattern. Upon landing, the pilot said the two UFOs were much faster than his Seafury fighter. [62.]

As a result of hundreds of similar UFO reports, there are a number of UFO groups in Australia. NICAP member Peter E. Norris, an attorney in Melbourne, heads the Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society, which publishes "Flying Saucer Re view" (not to be confused with a publication of the same name in London).

On October 16, 1957 Air Marshal Sir George Jones sighted a UFO resembling a balloon with a white light on the bottom, except that it sped past silently at an altitude of about 500 feet "Nothing can shake mc from my belief in what I saw," he said. Interviewed by Mr. Norris, he admitted he had no explanation for the sight ing. Sir George Jones is the former Commander-in-Chief of the RAAF.

During the November 1957 "flap" in the western hemisphere, Australia also was flooded with sightings. Mr. Norris reported that "during early November UFO reports came from all Australian states except Tasmania."

The most prominent UFO organization in New Zealand is Civilian Saucer Investigation headed by Harold H. Fulton, a Sergeant in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Mr. Fulton is now a NICAP Adviser. C.S.I. publishes a bulletin named "Space Probe," however, it has recently been suspended while Mr. Fulton has been on a tour of active duty with the RNZAF. Over the years, Mr. Fulton has contributed dozens of good cases to NICAP and actively publicized serious UFO evidence in his country.

A National New Zealand Airlines plane was enroute to Auckland, N.Z., from Wellington on the night of October 31, 1955. At the controls was Capt. W. T. Rainbow. The co-pilot was S. G. Trounce. A bright object, changing color repeatedly, came from behind the plane on a parallel course, flew alongside, passed the plane and disappeared in the distance. Capt. Rainbow estimated the UFOs' speed at about 850 mph. The strange object, unlike any aircraft, pulsated in colors of red, yellow, orange, and blue.

One of the potentially most important pieces of evidence for UFOs is a secret motion picture film purporting to show a saucer-like UFO climbing steeply over Port Moresby, New Guinea. The film was taken August 31, 1953 by Mr. T. C. Drury, Deputy Regional Director of Civil Aviation. According to Reuters news agency, the film was sent to Air Technical Intelligence Center in Dayton, Ohio, for analysis. The USAF analysis report has never been released. 

UFOs have been sighted at sea, in the islands of the major oceans, and in Antarctica. Reports from ships' officers are of unusual interest because they are experienced sky observers, familiar with the stars and planets and other astronomical and atmospheric phenomena.

A well-qualified scientific observer aboard an ice-breaker in Admiralty Bay, Antarctica, sighted a luminous object which divided into two parts while flying on a level course below an overcast. This phenomenon was observed by Rubens J. Villela, Brazilian meteorologist, March 16, 1961. [Section VI.]

Two objects "like small moons" were observed June 18, 1957 about 150 miles off San Francisco. Capt. C. 0. Wertz, Roy Melton, electrician, and other crew members of the freighter "Hawaiian Fisherman" at 8:00 p.m., watched the objects pacing the freighter. Then 15 minutes later a third UFO joined the first two, making a V, and followed the ship. [63.]

A missionary, and four natives in a separate location, in the Fiji Islands witnessed a circular white UFO which descended and hovered about 20 feet above the sea during the night of October 8, 1957. The UFO was revolving and gave off a blinding beam of light as the natives approached it in their boat. The natives reported seeing a man-like figure on top of the object. [64.]

Trans-Oceanic pilots have often sighted strange aerial phenomena, but are reluctant to talk about their experiences. Capt. Willis T. Sperry, American Airlines pilot whose plane was circled by an elliptical UFO May 29, 1950 [Section V.1 stated in 1951:

"I have talked to just as many pilots who have seen strange occurrences while flying and have not reported it, as have re ported the incident. The ones who did not report it feared adverse publicity. . . Several P.A.A. [Pan American Airways] pilots have seen unexplained objects far from land - one near Australia, several between the mainland of California and Hawaii, and two that I talked to out there [in the Far East] said they saw an object close enough so they could describe it in some detail. ."[65.]

The sighting of a formation of UFOs east of Hawaii by the crews of several aircraft July 11, 1959 was reported widely by Associated Press, United Press International and Hawaiian news papers. NICAP interviewed several of the civilian witnesses; the crews of Air Force planes were not available.

Capt. George Wilson, Pan American Airways, gave the following account: "While flying a Boeing Stratocruiser at 20,000 feet on a 224 degree heading [about 900 nautical miles northeast of Honolulu] a large and bright light appeared on the horizon at 11 o'clock position [58W]. The large bright light was flanked by 3 or 4 smaller lower magnitude lights in a line below, behind and to the left of the main vehicle. The lights passed from 11 o'clock to 10 o'clock position, the formation made an abrupt right turn and disappeared to the south."

The co-pilot, Richard Lorenzen, and Flight Engineer Bob Scott, also saw the UFOs. Lorenzen commented that "the rate of closure with us was much greater than any I had ever experienced before. It was not until the object turned that I was able to distinguish the smaller lights associated with it."

First Officer D. W. Frost, on another Pan American flight in the vicinity, reported essentially the same phenomenon. The UFOs were also observed by Air Force bomber crews, a Slick Airways plane, and a Canadian Pacific airliner. Capt. Lloyd Moffait, pilot of the Canadian airliner, told the press: "You can take it from me they were there. I never saw anything like it in my life and there are four of us who saw the same thing at the same time."  

For about 10 minutes at 7:00 a.m. (Honolulu time), September 21, 1961, two airliners and a U.S. ship at sea observed a UFO simultaneously. The object passed overhead, apparently at extremely high altitude, angling southeasterly above the North Pacific. (See map.)

Reports from the Federal Aviation Agency, and the U.S. Navy Oceanographic Office publication "Notice to Mariners," establish the following facts.

At 1700 Greenwich Mean Time, the S.S. Iberville, north and east of Midway Island, noticed a white object about 20 degrees above the NW horizon. Its apparent angular size was about I degree (twice the apparent size of the full moon). For about 10 minutes, the UFO was observed passing over the ship headed southeast. As it neared the ship's meridian, it resembled a huge halo with a bright object in the center. The apparent size in creased to over four times the size of the full moon. [See Notice to Mariners report, reproduced below.]

At the same time, a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) airliner about 800 miles northeast of the ship saw the object overtake the plane. From a steep angle above the plane, the UFO continued southeasterly and disappeared over the horizon. Capt. H. F. Griffin described the UFO as "like a large smoke ring about 2 degrees in diameter [about 4 times the size of the full moon]." He said the center of the ring was clear sky, and once a star was visible through it. A ray of light seemed to project downward from the object.

A Pan American Airways plane, about 400 miles southeast of Capt. Griffin's position, confirmed the report. The pilot re-

ported a doughnut-shaped object moving easterly about l0 degrees above the horizon. [66.]

The Soviet Union announced a few days later that they had successfully test fired a multi-stage carrier rocket over the pacific (exact date not on record). However, the reported size of the UFO was far too large to be explained as a rocket payload.

Second Officer William C. Ash of the American 5.5. Iberville, Capt. M. 0. Vinson, Master, reported the following:

"At 1700 O.M.T. on September 21, 1961, while in let. 31~~O' N., long. 175'30' E., a few minutes before morning twilight, a white opaque mass about twice the size of a full moon appeared in the northwest at an elevation of about 20'. It continued to climb toward the zenith and at about an elevation of 40' the mass opened gradually to appear as a huge halo with a satellite in the center having very nearly the brightness of a first magnitude star. By the time it reached the zenith it had more than doubled in size reaching its maximum at the zenith and then diminishing as it proceeded to the southeast. As it diminished it continued to decrease In size hut did not appear to shrink into a corona as it had appeared but rather faded out completely at an elevation of approximately 20'. The entire mass was in view for approximately 8 to 10 minutes."

Weather partly cloudy, wind NW force 2, slight sea and small NW swell temperatures: dry 74 degrees F., wet 67 degrees F., sea 79 degrees F.

About 150 miles south of Goose Bay, Labrador, above the North Atlantic, another BOAC pilot observed UFO activity June 30, 1954. Capt. James Howard described the sighting to the London Sunday Chronicle:

"I had taken off from Idlewild airfield New York at 5 o'clock... headed northeast across the St. Lawrence River. . . It was 9:05 p.m. Labrador time and we were about twenty minutes' flying time northeast of Seven Islands when I first sighted the thing."

The UFO first appeared as a "dark blob" in the distance, similar to a flak burst, with smaller objects around it. "As near as l can describe it," Capt. Howard said, "it was something like an inverted pear suspended in the sky." The object was to the port side of the Stratocruiser, in a westerly direction.

Capt. Howard pointed out the UFO to his co-pilot, Lee Boyd, and they noticed that it was moving on a course parallel to the plane. The smaller objects were stretched out in a line, in front of and behind the larger object.

Anticipating the questions that would come when he reported this, Capt. Howard counted the smaller objects several times. "Six. Always six. Sometimes there were three stretched out in front and three behind. Sometimes five stretched out in line ahead and only one behind."

To rule out a flight of normal aircraft, Capt. Howard radioed Goose Bay. A minute later they replied: "No other traffic in your area." When he described the UFOs, Goose Bay said they would send a fighter to investigate.

As the pilots continued to watch, the large UFO appeared to change shape. "It turned into what looked like a flying arrow - an enormous delta-winged plane turning in to close with us." The object appeared to grow larger, as if coming closer, but then changed shape again and seemed to hold its distance. Now it appeared more flattened and elongated, as the smaller objects continued to maneuver around.

The other members of the crew crowded forward to watch: George Allen, navigator; Doug Cox, radio officer; Dan Godfrey, engineer; and Bill Stewart, engineer. They all saw it, as did the stewardess Daphne Webster and many of the passengers.

The navigator lined the UFOs up with the window frame, and reported that they pulled ahead of the plane once, then dropped back. This reduced the possibility that the "objects" actually were some kind of illusion.

In a short time, the fighter pilot called in and said he was about 20 miles off at higher altitude. Capt. Howard confirmed that the UFOs were still pacing his plane. When the fighter pilot asked how they looked, Capt. Howard turned to look again. The small satellite objects had suddenly vanished. He asked the navigator what had happened. Allen replied: "It looked to me as though they went inside the big one."

At that moment, the remaining UFO began to diminish rapidly in size, apparently moving away at terrific speed. In a matter of seconds, the UFO diminished to a pinpoint, then disappeared. Eighteen minutes had elapsed since the first sighting.

Capt. Howard called it "the strangest eighty-mile journey of my life."

When they landed at Goose Day, the crew was interrogated by a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer.

"It was a solid thing," Capt. Howard concluded. "I'm sure of that. Maneuverable and controlled intelligently - a sort of base ship linked somehow with those smaller attendant satellites.

It must have been some weird form of space ship from another world."

1. Ottawa Journal
2. Copy of statement on file at NICAP
3. Report on file at NICAP
4. Windsor Daily Star; December 13, 1957
5. United Press International; April 13, 1959
6. Letter on file at NICAP
7. Letter on file at NICAP
8. Statements by Wing Commander William M. Lee, Director of Public Relations, RCAF, on file at NICAP
9. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner; February 16,1960. Anchorage Daily News; February 16, 1960. Anchorage Daily Times' February 15, 1960
10. Letter on file at NICAP
11. Letter, signed by Lt. Col. Arnoldo C. Tesselhoff, Assistant Air Attache, on file at NICAP
12. Stringfield, Leonard H., Inside Saucer Post. . .3-0 Blue. (Privately published: 4412 Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1957), p.83 CRIFO Newsletter, June 1955, L. H. Stringfield, Ed.
13. Official report from Argentine Embassy, on file at NICAP
14. C.I.F.E. has twenty counselor members, among them Army, Navy and Naval Air Force officers on active duty. Collaborating members include directors of astronomical and astronautical centers.
15. 15. Keyhoe, Donald E., Flying Saucer Conspiracy. (Henry Holt, 1955), p.212
16. Ibid., p. 26. London Dafly Sketch, November 22, 1954

126

17.  Diairo de Sao Paulo; February 22, 1958
18.  Diatro Popular; July 7, 1957
19. APRO Bulletin- September 1959. Brazilian newspapers; August 20, 1957
20. Pilot interviewed by Cmdr. A. B, Simoes, Sao Paulo, Brazil
21. 0 Estado de Sao Paulo May 28,1958
22. Report officially logged at airport and relayed to Brazilian Air Force. Obtained for NICAP by J. Escobar Faria, Adviser in Sao Paulo
23. Report obtained by J. Escobar Faria, Sao Paulo
24. Letter on file at NICAP
25. El Mercuno; October 28, 1959
26. El Universal; January 31, 1958
27. Report on file at NICAP
28. APRO Bulletin; April 1955
29. Keyhoe, Donald E., op. cit., p.249
30. Ultimas Noticias; July 3, 1960
31. Report on file at NICAP
32. El Universal' February 13, 1962
33. New York Times; July 28, 1946
34. See New York Times; August 11, 1946; Associated Press; August 11, 1946; Stockholm Aftenbiadet; August 13, 1946
35. New York Times; October 11, 1946
36. United Press; December 18, 1953
37. Letter, signed by Col. 0. B. Engvik, Air Attache, on file at NICAP
38. Christian Science Monitor; January 29, 1959
39. Letter on file at NICAP
40. Letter on file at NICAP
41. RAF Flying Review; July 1957, London Illustrated News; December 2, 1954
42. Irish Times; May 22, 1962. Reuters News Agency; May 22, 1962
43. Letter to CSI of Los Angeles, on file at NICAP
44. Michel, Aime, The Truth About Flying Saucers. (Criterion, 1956), ppg. 165-166
45. Ibid., p. 169ff
46. Los Angeles Times; February 19, 1956
47. Report on file at NICAP, available to Congressional investigators
48. Letter on file at NICAP
49. Report on file at NICAP
50. Report on file at NICAP
51. United Press International; November 7, 1958
52. Associated Press; October 28, 1954
53. Natal Mercury (Durban); January 28, 1955
54. New Zealand Herald- Novembet 7,1957 (Datelined Johannesburg)
55. Johannesburg Sunday Times; April 13, 1956
56. Letter, signed by Kenneth T. C. Cheng, Director of Taiwan Weather Bureau, on file at NICAP
57. Information obtained by Rev. Albert H. Baller, NICAP Board Member, from Indian newspaper
58. Life; April 7, 1952. Newsweek; March 3, 1952
59. Report and sketches published in Japan International UFO Investigation, J. I. Takanashi, Editor; Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan. (8-9-2, Sakurazuka-Higashi)
60. For additional data on UFO sightings in Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand, see: Maney, Charles A. & Hall, Richard, Challenge of Unidentified Flying Objects (Willard Courts #504, Washington, D.C. 20009); Chapter 3, "Recent Sightings in the Pacific."
61. Letter on file at NICAP
62. Auckland Star; December 16, 1954 (N.Z.P.A., Reuters)
63. San Francisco newspapers; June 19, 1957
64. Manila Bulletin' November 6, 1957
65. Popular Science; August 1951
66. Reports on file at NICAP