selected ufo cases
Cases by Decade: 1950s
Cigar-shaped UFO with occupants seen through windows
December, 16, 1957 - Old-Saybrook, Connecticut, United States
I saw that it was a cigar-shaped object, brightly lit and with square portholes, hovering just above my clothesline. I could see men inside. . ." The object was approximately 20 to 30 feet long and dark grey or black in color. It hovered motionless about five feet above the ground. Through its lighted windows Mrs. Starr saw two figures that passed each other, walking in opposite directions. View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ID: 558
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Portholes/Windows
November, 6, 1957 - Merom, Indiana, United States
Rene Gilham, a 33 year-old ironworker, saw that a brightly luminous object was hovering overhead. Gilham estimated its size as 40 feet in diameter, and its altitude as 1000 feet. View full report
Source: Herb Taylor / Ohio MUFON Case Notebook / Project-1947 Discussion List, November 5, 2003 ID: 6
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Physiological Effects
The Levelland Sightings (Texas)
November, 2, 1957 - Levelland, Texas, United States
This case is perhaps the most important concentration of vehicle interference events in the United States. On the evening of November 2, 1957, Patrolman A. J. Fowler, officer on duty at Levelland, Texas, received the first of several strangely similar phone calls. The first was from Pedro Saucedo, who, with companion Joe Salaz, had been driving four miles west of Levelland when a torpedo-shaped, brilliantly illuminated object rapidly approached the car... as the object passed close over the car, the truck headlights went out, and the engine died. Officer Fowler reported that a total of 15 phone calls were made to the police station in direct reference to the UFO. View full report
Source: Dr. J. Allen Hynek, ID: 228
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Vehicle Interference
The RB-47 UFO Encounter
July, 17, 1957 - Gulf Coast Area, United States
An Air Force RB-47, equipped with electronic countermeasures (ECM) gear and manned by six officers, was followed by an unidentified object for a distance of well over 700 mi. and for a time period of 1.5 hr., as it flew from Mississippi, through Louisiana and Texas and into Oklahoma. The object was, at various times, seen visually by the cockpit crew as an intensely luminous light, followed by ground-radar and detected on ECM monitoring gear aboard the RB-47. View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon ID: 665
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar
Astronaut Gordon Cooper Witnesses UFO Landing at Edwards AFB
1957 - Edwards AFB, California, United States
"I had a camera crew filming the installation when they spotted a saucer. They filmed it as it flew overhead, then hovered, extended three legs as landing gear, and slowly came down to land on a dry lake bed! It was a classic saucer, shiny silver and smooth, about 30 feet across. It was pretty clear it was an alien craft." View full report
Source: John Cooke ID: 357
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Famous Person, Witness Photo
The Ubatuba, Brazil Fragments
1957 - Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil
On September 14, 1957, Ibrahim Sued, a columnist for the Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Globo, printed a letter which he had received, concerning a UFO incident. Accompanying the letter were three small pieces of white metal. The writer of the letter described an event in which a "flying disk" exploded over the beach at Ubatuba, in Sao Paulo Province. One of the samples was analyzed and the results showed a 99.99% pure magnesium. View full report
Source: Billy Booth, About.com ID: 829
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Artifact, Crash/Retrieval
Metal artifact found after close encounter on Island of Vaddo, Sweden
November, 11, 1956 - Isle of Vaddo, Sweden
Stig Ekberg and Harry Sjoberg were driving on the Island of Vaddo, Sweden, when they were approached by a flattened sphere shaped object. It settled in the middle of the road, about 100 meters in front of them. After about ten minutes, the object lifted off and accelerated away. At the landing site, the witnesses found a shiny "rock" that was hot to the touch. It was a three-sided piece of metal about the size of a matchbox, and had a heavy weight. Upon analysis, the object was found to be composed of tungsten carbide and cobalt. View full report
Source: Jacques Vallee, in Peter Sturrock, 'The UFO Enigma' ID: 837
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Artifact, Vehicle Interference, Smell/Odor, Physical Trace
Canadian military pilots see and photograph UFO
August, 27, 1956 - McCleod, Alberta, Canada
The witnesses were two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots who were flying in a formation of four F86 Sabre jet aircraft. One of the pilots saw a "bright light which was sharply defined and disk-shaped," that resembled "a shiny silver dollar sitting horizontal." The first pilot to notice the object took a photograph. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI ID: 255
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Photo, Military, Pilot/Aircrew
Low hovering cylinder-shaped UFO with tube seen in Nashville, TN, 1956
1956 - Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Two eleven-year olds were playing when they heard a strange metallic sound. They looked around and saw a cylinder-shaped craft hovering very still a few feet above a tree. It was 20-25 feet in length. There was writing on the belly of the object, and a long silver tube which protruded from bottom. This tube was "sniffing" the leaves in the tree top. The witnesses watched the object for 3-4 minutes, too scared to move, before running home. View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 767
Case Type: RawReport Features: Sound, Witness Sketch
U.S. Senator Richard Russell Sees disc-shaped UFO in USSR
October, 13, 1955 - Russian Federation
U.S. Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. (D-GA), then chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was on a Soviet train when he spotted a disc-shaped craft taking off near the tracks. He hurriedly called his military aide and interpreter to the window and they saw the UFO, plus another one that appeared a minute later. View full report
Source: UFOs at Close Sight (Patrick Gross) ID: 9
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Famous Person, Witness Photo
The Kelly-Hopkinsville 'Goblins' Encounter
August, 21, 1955 - Kelly, Kentucky, United States
Billy Ray Taylor went out to fetch some water from the Sutton family well, when he saw a large shining object land in a gully about a city block away. A short time later, Carl "Lucky" Sutton and Billy Ray went out to investigate and saw a small 3-to-4 foot creature walking towards them with its hands up, as if surrendering. They later described the creature, one of several encountered that night, as having large eyes, a long thin mouth, large ears, thin short legs, and hands ending in claws. View full report
Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com ID: 524
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Witness Photo
Multiple witnesses observe saucer above road in 1955, UK
July, 17, 1955 - Bexley, United Kingdom
It was July 17, 1955 when Margaret Fry spotted the object as she was making her way to her GP's surgery in King Harold's Way from her home in Hythe Avenue. Mrs Fry described it as saucer shaped with a "blue/silver/grey/pewter texture, yet none of those colours". She said it had three spheres set into its base, one of which "flopped out", landing on the ground at the junction of nearby Ashbourne and Whitfield roads. View full report
Source: The News Shopper, (London, UK), March 7, 2007 ID: 1054
Case Type: PressReport Features: Witness Photo, Humming, Rotary/Spin Motion, Body Lights, Portholes/Windows, Children, Group Sighting, Landing
Navy Sees 'Flying Saucers' on Radar Screen
December, 16, 1954 - Goulburn, Australia
Navy pilot has reported seeing two "flying saucers" flash past him while he was flying over Goulburn, N.S.W. Radar officers at Nowra Fleet Air station picked up the objects on their screen. View full report
Source: Daily Telegraph December 16th 1954 ID: 22
Case Type: PressReport Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military
The 1954 Cennina Landing and Encounter with Humanoids
November, 1, 1954 - Cennina, Italy
Rosa Lotti was walking into Cennina, when she perceived a big vertical spindle, "like 2 cones joined at their bases." From behind this craft emerged two little men 3 ft tall, who approached her with friendly expressions, the older one laughing. They were speaking a language that sounded like Chinese, 'liu, lai, loi." Approaching Lotti, they snatched from her the carnations and one of her stockings. Lotti ran away. A deep hole in the ground was later found at the site. View full report
Source: Sergio Conti, excerpt from FSR (Sept/Oct 1972) ID: 703
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Physical Trace
Engineer observes lens-shaped disc in New York
October, 1954 - Cherry Valley, New York, United States
"It seemed to be a large disc or lens-shaped object, and in comparison with the objects below I estimated it to be perhaps 30 or 35 feet in diameter... It was moving like a wheel sliding sidewise and not rotating, and in perspective presented an elliptical appearance such as any circular object would when viewed from an anglel...The color was gray." View full report
Source: Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, 1964 (NICAP) ID: 1096
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Silent, Scientist/Engineer
The 'Sea Fury' Incident
August, 31, 1954 - Nowra, Australia
One of the most controversial radar visual reports of the fifties occurred on August 31st, 1954. The story leaked out in December, 1954, and made front page headlines. The official navy file on the event remained classified until the Directorate of Naval Intelligence released a copy upon my request in 1982. During his 1973 visit to Australia, Dr. Hynek was able to interview the pilot involved in this famous incident. View full report
Source: Bill Chalker ID: 66
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military
