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selected ufo cases

Daylight Discs (DD)

Sighting by zoologist and UFO researcher Ivan T. Sanderson

October, 2, 1958 - Near Blairstown, New Jersey, United States

Shortly after 5:00 p.m., noted Zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson observed a disc- shaped UFO maneuvering over the Delaware Water Gap. The flat disc looped back and forth, appearing sometimes edge-on (as a very thin line), sometimes oval to circular. It vanished once, but quickly reappeared, and continued its rapid gyrations, finally speeding away to the west.  View full report

Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964)   ID: 643
Case Type: SummaryReport    Features:  Scientist/Engineer, Witness Sketch

Strategic Air Command officers watch UFO with satellite objects

September, 8, 1958 - Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska, United States

At SAC headquarters in 1958, a group of officers, airmen and missile engineers observed an elongated UFO with satellite objects for about 20 minutes. According to the report filed by Major Paul A. Duich, USAF (Ret.), "all except a few of the airmen were seasoned, veteran flyers or highly trained missile engineers. We concluded that what was seen by all was no conventional vehicle, nor was it an atmospheric phenomenon."  View full report

Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) from NICAP case file   ID: 641
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Military, Group Sighting, Witness Sketch

Trindade Island Photographs Featured Case

January, 16, 1958 - Trindade Island, Brazil

Trindade, a small rocky island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean 600 miles off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, was the site of one of the most impressive photographic cases in UFO history.  View full report

Source: STUDIOVNI / Jerome Clark (CUFOS)   ID: 254
Case Type: MajorCase    Features:  Photo, Water-Related, Military

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

Circular object, appearing as a flaming ring, seen by architect

April, 26, 1954 - Newburyport, Massachusetts, United States

Russell M. Peirce, architect, reported a circular object which made a right-angle turn. "I was standing at the rear of the local High School building talking with two friends... Suddenly we all heard a very loud deep roar as of many motors... The object as I first saw it appeared as a flaming ring. The color was a little on the whitish tone but also had some suggestion of the orange-yellow of the common flame of burning wood, say."  View full report

Source: NICAP / Richard Hall, 1964 (from NICAP case file)   ID: 646
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Sound, Witness Sketch

Ellsworth Air Force Base UFO Incident

August, 5, 1953 - Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, United States

Shortly after dark on the night of twelfth [sic], the Air Defense Command radar station at Ellsworth AFB, just east of Rapid City, had received a call from the local Ground Observer Corps filter center. A lady spotter at Black Hawk, about 10 miles west of Ellsworth, had reported an extremely bright light low on the horizon, off to the northeast.  View full report

Source: Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, Former Director of Project Blue Book   ID: 41
Case Type: MajorCase    Features:  Radar, Pilot/Aircrew, Military

Round, metallic object near Livermore, California

1953 - Livermore, California, United States

John B. Bean was a flyer with 17 years experience. "it was perfectly round and had a metallic sheen somewhat similar to that of aluminum with a satin finish... It also began to climb at the most terrific rate of ascent that I have ever witnessed."  View full report

Source: Richard Hall, UFO Evidence, 1964 (NICAP)   ID: 1103
Case Type: StandardCase

Lac Chauvet UFO Photos Featured Case

July, 18, 1952 - Lac Chauvet, France

Andre Fregnale, an engineer and photographer, walked around France's Lake Chauvet taking pictures of a UFO that came out of the Northwest sky. The photographs have been scrutinized by many experts and all have found them to be real shots of a real UFO.  View full report

Source: STUDIOVNI   ID: 256
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Photo

The Nash-Fortenberry Sighting (aircraft encounter with formation of UFOs)

July, 14, 1952 - Virginia, United States

A Pan American World Airways DC-4 was on a routine flight from New York to Miami. The crew included Captain Koepke, First Officer William B. Nash and Second Officer William H. Fortenberry. Suddenly, they noticed six bright objects in echelon formation streaking toward them at tremendous speed. They had the fiery aspect of hot coals, but of much greater glow.  View full report

Source: Tom Tulien, Sign Historical Group   ID: 92
Case Type: MajorCase    Features:  Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo, Multiple UFOs

Scientist Reports Sighting Disc

April, 25, 1952 - San Jose, California, United States

Directly over a building across the street was a small, metallic-looking disc, tilted at about a 20 degree angle and rotating around a vertical axis, wobbling "like the motion of a disc in a water meter". The distance was estimated to be about 50 ft, and the disc appeared to be 4-5 feet in diameter  View full report

Source: NICAP, Dr. James McDonald   ID: 34
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Scientist/Engineer

F-86 intercepts and shoots at saucer-shaped UFO

1952 - United States

In the summer of 1952 a United States Air Force F-86 jet interceptor shot at a flying saucer. This fact, like so many others that make up the full flying saucer story has never before been told... The object was definitely round and flat saucer shaped. The pilot described it as being "like a doughnut without a hole."  View full report

Source: Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, 'The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects' (Credit: NICAP.org)   ID: 1024
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Pilot/Aircrew, Military, Radar

Puerto Maldonado Photograph (Cigar-shaped object with trail photographed in Argentina)

1952 - Puerto Maldonado, Peru

On July 19, 1952, the attention of Customs Inspector Sr. Domingo Troncoso was called to a very strange cigar-shaped flying object over the river area. The big dirigible-shaped craft was flying horizontally and fairly low in the sky, passing from right to left from the observers position. It was leaving a dense trail of thick smoke, vapor, or substance on its wake. The object was estimated to be over a hundred feet long.  View full report

Source: Wendelle Stevens / B.J. Booth / Mark Cashman   ID: 876
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Photo, E-M Effects

Squadron of Discs Over Atomic Test Site

October, 1951 - Nellis Air Force Base, Yucca Flat, Nevada, United States

Formation of 18 silvery, rotating, disc-shaped objects, each one with a dome, come down over a nuclear test site, hover for 10 to 15 minutes, and then depart, at an angle, vanishing out of sight in seconds."  View full report

Source: NICAP, Walter Webb   ID: 35
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Military, Nuclear Facility

Cigar-shaped UFO over Mt. Kilimanjaro witnessed by pilot and passengers

February, 19, 1951 - Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

In 1951 a huge cigar-shaped UFO, which hovered over the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro, was photographed from an East African Airways plane flying in the vicinity, and witnessed by the crew and passengers. 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.  View full report

Source: NICAP / Richard Hall, 1964 (citing Nairobi Sunday Post, Feb. 25, 1951)   ID: 648
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Pilot/Aircrew, Group Sighting

McMinnville, Oregon UFO Photographs Featured Case

May, 11, 1950 - McMinnville, Oregon, United States

Two of the most notorious UFO photos of all time were taken on a farm near Mcminnville by a farmer named Paul A. Trent. Beyond many such cases, these two photos have withstood the test of time--through generations of researchers.  View full report

Source: STUDIOVNI   ID: 258
Case Type: MajorCase    Features:  Photo

Airline pilots observe fast-moving, disc-shaped UFO over Arkansas

March, 20, 1950 - Stuttgart, Arkansas, United States

Chicago & Southern Airlines Capt. Jack Adams and First Officer G. W. Anderson, Jr., were flying a commercial DC-3, when they saw an object approaching the airliner at high speed. It appeared to be circular (disk-shaped), with a diameter of approximately 100 feet. The bottom side appeared to have 9 to 12 symmetrical oval or circular portholes. Capt. Adams estimated the speed to be in excess of 1000 mph.  View full report

Source: U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report #14 (Battelle Institute Study), 1955   ID: 677
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Pilot/Aircrew, Portholes/Windows, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo

The Farmington UFO Armada

March, 17, 1950 - Farmington, New Mexico, United States

"Fully half of this town's population still is certain today that it saw space ships or some strange aircraft -- hundreds of them zooming through the skies yesterday. Estimates of the number ranged from & quotes several to more that 500. The objects appeared to play tag high in the air. At times they streaked away at almost unbelievable speeds."  View full report

Source: Farmington Daily Times, March 18, 1950   ID: 880
Case Type: PressReport    Features:  Multiple UFOs, Group Sighting, Mass Sighting

Employees of aeronautical laboratory see metallic, disc-shaped object

May, 24, 1949 - Rogue River, Oregon, United States

An employee in the supersonic laboratory of an aeronautical laboratory and some other employees of this lab, were by a river, 2-1/2 miles from its mouth, when they saw an object. The time was about 1700 hours on May 24, 1949. The object was reflecting sunlight when observed by naked eye. It was of metallic construction and was seen with good enough resolution to show that the skin was dirty.  View full report

Source: Dr. Bruce Maccabee / U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report 14 (Battelle Study), 1955   ID: 728
Case Type: StandardCase

Electrician and wife in Indianapolis see domed disc shaped object

July, 31, 1948 - Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Vernon Swigert, an electrician, was standing by the bathroom window of his home when he first sighted an object. He ran to his kitchen where he pointed out the cymbal shaped or domed disc object to his wife. It was about 20 ft across, and 6-8 ft thick. Total time in sight was approximately 10 seconds, during which the object flew on a straight and level course from horizon to horizon, west to east.  View full report

Source: U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report #14 (Battelle Institute Study), 1955   ID: 675
Case Type: SummaryReport

The Chiles-Whitted Case

July, 24, 1948 - Montgomery, Alabama, United States

Another one of the famous airline sightings of earlier years is the Chiles-Whitted Eastern Airlines case. An Eastern DC-3, en route from Houston to Atlanta, was flying at an altitude of about 5,000 ft.. near Montgomery. ...The object was some kind of vehicle. They saw no wings or empennage, but both were struck by a pair of rows of windows or some apparent openings from which there came a bright glow "like burning magnesium."  View full report

Source: Dr. James E. McDonald, U.S. House Hearings, 1968   ID: 116
Case Type: MajorCase    Features:  Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows

Disc Zooms Down Snake River Canyon, Idaho

August, 13, 1947 - Snake River Canyon, Idaho, United States

A farmer and his two sons, were at his fishing camp on August 13, 1947. He noticed an object some 300 feet away, 75 feet above the ground. It was edge hopping, following the contour of the ground, was sky blue, about 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet thick, and had pods on the side from which flames were shooting out. It made a swishing sound.  View full report

Source: Twin Falls Times News, (Twin Falls, Idaho) August 15th, 1947   ID: 415
Case Type: PressReport

United Airlines Flight 105 pilots witness formation of disc-shaped objects

July, 4, 1947 - Emmet, Idaho, United States

On the evening of July 4th at Boise, Idaho, Captain Smith was walking up the ramp to board his plane, flight 105, for a trip to Seattle when someone mentioned the massive wave of saucers taking place all day over the northwest. Captain Smith joked: "I'll believe in those discs when I see them." Shortly after takeoff five disc-like objects, one larger than the rest, approached Captain Smith's DC-3 head on.  View full report

Source: James McDonald, Statement to US Congressional Hearings/UFO Symposium, 1968   ID: 723
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Interaction/Reaction, Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo, Multiple UFOs

The 1947 Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting Featured Case

June, 24, 1947 - Near Mt. Rainier, Washington, United States

The modern phenomena of UFOs and “flying saucers” began in Washington state on June 24, 1947, when Kenneth Arnold spotted nine mysterious, high-speed objects “flying like a saucer would” along the crest of the Cascade Range near Mount Rainier. His report made international headlines and triggered hundreds of similar accounts of “flying saucers” locally and across the nation.  View full report

Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com   ID: 511
Case Type: MajorCase    Features:  Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Sketch, Witness Photo, Multiple UFOs

Photo of UFO over busy street in China, 1942

1942 - Tiensten, China

Young Japanese student Masujiro Kiryu, going through his fathers scrapbook of photographs fron the China Campaign, just before World War II, discovered a strange cone-shaped object in the sky above a Tsientsien Street. A number of people in the street are looking up and two are pointing up at the object.  View full report

Source: Wendelle Stevens, reposted on UFOArtwork.com   ID: 259
Case Type: StandardCase    Features:  Photo
Cases per page:  8   16   24