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in the news 1952


PART FOUR


Brazil Saucer

Above: One of five pictures claimed taken in Brazil. Story below.


NINETEEN FIFTY-TWO might be remembered for many things, large and small. The election of Dwight Eisenhower as President of the United States. Fifty thousand American families afflicted by polio. The British A-bomb. The first issue of Mad magazine. The theory of the "Big Bang".

But for those of a certain bent, 1952 will also be remembered for the second great 'flying saucer flap' which climaxed with the reports of radar and visual sightings over the nation's capital in late July.

Part of the story of that event-filled year is now available in declassified government files. But for the public back then -- at a time when only one in three families in America had a television set -- the story was mostly found in the newspapers and magazines.

This then is a look back at those stories, as they first appeared in print...




MAY 1 THROUGH JUNE 1, 1952:

Winnipeg, Canada Free Press - 1 May 52



'Saucer' Fever Hits B.C.

VANCOUVER, May 1 -- This year's flying saucer fever now has infected British Columbia.

Reliable citizens of Hammond, a community 30 miles east of here, reported Wednesday they have seen queer things whizzing through night skies of the Fraser Valley for the last six weeks.

The "things" don't answer to descriptions of natural phenomena or conventional aircraft, Hammond citizens say.

Four men on two occasions saw "lights," which were seen later by two of the four separately.

A Hammond post office worker saw a "saucer" in daylight.

Boy Saw Eight

A woman reported she saw a "mass of tiny lights, changing shape in the sky." A Vancouver schoolboy saw eight "saucers."

Hank Harms, wartime R.C.A.F. tail gunner, said he first spotted a "light" March 14.

"The sky was clear. It was as large as a silvery white star, except that it shimmered."

Mr. Harms said he saw a similar sight the night of April 4. There was "something sparky coming out of the back" and it made "a sharp reverse turn impossible for an aircraft."

The R.C.A.F. here said: "No comment."


Albuquerque, New Mexico Tribune - 2 May 52



New 'Fireball' Is Sighted Here

Another "fire ball" was reported seen over Albuquerque last night.

Frank Lenox, 209 N. Madison, said today he saw the brilliant white object moving northward at 11:05 p.m. He saw it from his bedroom window. He said it definitely was not a shooting star.

He said it looked "bigger than a star but not as big as the moon." It did not move as fast as a shooting star, and appeared to veer slightly toward the east.

Flying saucers were reported over the city yesterday between 1:30 and 2 p.m. Eugene Cline, Albuquerque Publishing Company employe, said he saw four objects seemingly playing tag with a formation of Air Force bombers.

Two men working at Sandia Base also reported seeing the objects.

Today, E.E. Redman, commercial photographer said he saw the objects also, but that they differed greatly from the "saucers" he had seen twice before.

Yesterday's objects were "mere pinpoints" in size compared with the saucers, Mr. Redman said. He said they moved with a flicking motion from north to south. One object moved straight up, he said.


Albuquerque, New Mexico Journal - 2 May 52



Flying Saucers Play Tag With Bombers Over City

Flying saucers were sighted over Albuquerque Thursday from two different vantage points, and the reports check in a number of respects.

Eugene Cline, an employee of the Journal composing room, fixed the time at 1:45 p.m. Cline was at Fifth and Iron at the time.

The other report, from workmen erecting an aerial at Sandia Base, fixes the flying objects sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m.

Both Cline and the Sandia men say the objects appeared silvery in the distance, and moved with a tumbling motion.

Cline saw four of the objects seemingly playing tag with a formation of 12 Air Force bombers -- either B-29s or B-50s -- flying west over the city.

The four round objects, shining more brightly than the bombers, appeared to be keeping up to the planes at the same altitude. Cline judged the height by the fact that small clouds which obscured the planes from time to time also obscured the saucers.

"They moved in a tumbling or pitching manner. Then one appeared to be climbing straight up. It then took off in a southerly direction losing altitude at a fast rate. Its speed was twice as fast as any jet."

Cline estimates that the diameter of the saucers would be about one-third the wingspan of the bombers, assuming that they were all flying at the same altitude.

The Sandia men said they saw one come from the west and move south. Then they saw another, come from the north and disappear at about the same point in the sky. Both were very high. They appeared disc shaped.

"But what actually threw me," said one of the men, "was the third one cutting across very low."

It looked like a cylinder, rolling end over end. It was tan colored. "Like a manila envelope," one said.

"We thought it was something different from the first two," one of the Sandia men said, "but when it moved into the distance, it seemed to be silvery like the others."

The bombers were not in the sky at the time that the four watched the aerial objects.

They are hoping that other reports will come in to help dovetail their observations with Cline's.


Kingston, Jamaica Gleaner - 3 May 52



Headline

The new RIDDLE of the UNIVERSE
Rocket Expert Says Flying Saucers Could Come From Mars

ALL types of people have, during the past five years, seen speeding across the skies the strange objects of varying kinds that are now broadly dubbed flying saucers.

They have included housewives, policemen, newsboys, businessmen, typists, airmen, farmers -- men and women drawn from varying walks of life and of varying ages.

They have told of what their own eyes have seen. No more and no less. Most of them, ordinary people, have no specialised knowledge of aerial matters, no special interest, indeed, in aerial matters at all. To them something streaking across the sky is just that. They have seen it, marvelled about it, and naturally described in plain language what they have seen to their relatives and friends.

It is, however, a very striking fact that in addition to these ordinary men and women quite a lot of men with considerable technical background have put flying-saucer experiences on record.

Utterly puzzled

SOME OF THEM are flying men who have ranged the skies in war and peace, men who are well aware that the effects of light and cloud can play strange tricks.

These technical men, whose minds are naturally precise and analytical, have been and still are utterly puzzled by what they know they have seen.

They have probed and mulled over every conceivable theory that can be dug up to give a perfectly normal and natural explanation for these uncanny sky mysteries.

Today they are as baffled as ever having failed to find any real foursquare answer.

They, equally with the laymen, cannot help feeling that there is something extremely odd going on.

One expert who makes no bones at all about expressing his considered view that the flying saucers or whatever one cares to call them might well have Mars as their starting point is German rocket scientist Dr. Walther Riedel.

He has been studying this sort of thing for years. During the last war he was the man in charge of research and development at the centre at Peenemunde where V2 rockets that hit England were brought into being. He now works in Southern California for North American Aviation, Inc., makers of the Sabre Jet plane.

Kept records

TRAVEL between the planets is peculiarly his subject. Years ago he expressed the view that it is certain to come. And for years he has gathered and kept careful records of flying-saucer sightings from all over the world.

He has brought all his expert knowledge to a close study of these happenings. Here, in a special Sunday Dispatch interview, are his conclusions:

"A careful study of all available reports of unexplainable aerial objects has made it possible to weed out approximately 70 per cent as being based on optical illusion, wrong interpretation of known objects, hysteria, suggestion, willfulness, and plain hoax.

"That amounts to some 400 observations, out of a total of more than 1,200 evaluated sightings.

"On the assumption that these 400 are proved, the existence of a family of so far unexplainable aerial objects of high speed, extreme ease of manoeuvrebility, in all space conditions, very intelligent behaviour, and perfect reliability cannot be denied.

Terrific speed

"HUMAN pilots of such vehicles would not withstand the acceleration imposed by certain manoeuvres that have been observed. Flight velocity of several thousand miles an hour in the denser lower part of the atmosphere would give the flying object a skin temperature to withstand, which hitherto unknown materials and still undeveloped refrigeration systems for both skin and cabin would be required.

"Remote control from such long distances that never a slave-master (machine that controls robots) has been sighted, would also necessitate technique of a yet unknown perfection.

"And flying in close formation while performing evasive manoevres would require at the control panel complete knowledge of the position of the vessel in relation to its neighbours in the formation, of ground obstructions, and of piloted aircraft.

"The origin of such aerial objects is of vital interest for all of us. By far the best solution would be that they carry American insignia and that some of their components are catalogue items from American vendors. Their appearance over United States territory would then be understandable.

No crashes

"But their sometimes very curious behaviour versus American aeroplanes could only then be explained by lack of discipline among the crew of such a top-secret vessel. And the absolute lack of reports of launching, landing, or crash accidents would be difficult to explain. In fact neither is within the scope of probability.

"Furthermore, the erratic appearance of such secretly developed flying objects over various European countries and elsewhere could not be explained at all.

"If Russia possessed such a perfect carrier all the odds are that Stalin and his followers would have shown a still more belligerent attitude towards the West.

"It is more than wishful thinking completely to rule out the possibility -- and in saying this I speak with some knowledge gained from experience of Russian scientific and technical abilities -- but I do not myself believe that the so-called 'saucers' are of Soviet origin.

"Always assuming that such unexplained aerial objects are really in existence, the logical conclusion is that they are of extra-terrestrial origin.

"In view of the extremely long distances to neighbours of our sun in galaxy, it is more logical to assume that they originate from one of the planets of our solar system.

Ferry system

"MARS IS, according to present knowledge, the most feasible source. It offers to its intelligent inhabitants clear skies for astronomical observation, a decent climate and favourable low gravitational force.

"With our moon as a space station such a solar system neighbour may have established astronautical flight centuries ago, appearing more frequently in our visible range only since developing a lunar-earth "ferry system."

There is a top-expert view that can by no means be brushed aside. It has the weight of a life-time study of space and the technical possibilities of conquering it.

To scoff at such a theory as Dr. Riedel advances is easy -- so long as one ignores both his highly specialised knowledge and the logic with which he underpins his conclusions.

And he does not stand alone in advancing the theory that the saucers are not of earthly origin.

Felix W.A. Knoll, who is consulting engineer for Northrop Aircraft, also believes it, for the reasons that --

No human being could withstand the terrific acceleration which has been repeatedly reported, and the astounding manoeuvres the strange craft have performed.

The skin temperature of the craft must in a very short time reach heights which would cause all materials at present known to man, including heat-resistant ceramics, to melt and gasify.

The propulsion systems of the craft leave no vapor trails at high altitudes, as is the case with all internal-combustion engines and all types of jet propulsion.

Air friction at low altitude and during the high speeds reported would burn up man-made aircraft or flying missiles.

Both Riedel and Knoll are members of a civilian body known as the Civilian Saucer Investigation, which has recently been set up by aeronautical experts to make a further probe of the mystery.


Wichita Falls, Texas Times - 3 May 52



Ex-Airman Sees Saucer East of City

Traveling at a high rate of speed, an object resembling a "flying saucer" swept across the sky east of Wichita Falls and disappeared in a matter of seconds in the direction of Lake Wichita Friday morning, according to a retired airman.

Staff Sgt. S.R. Horn, retired, an early-day Wichitan whose 20 years in the armed forces included serving in both lighter and heavier-than-air units as well as with [Illegible] field artillery, saw the objects.

Horn estimates the "saucer" was traveling at least 1,000 miles per hour, "twice as fast as any jet I ever saw," and dropped from an altitude of 4,000 feet to 3,000 feet while he was watching.

He guessed it as "about half the size of a pursuit plane," metal color and bright, shaped like a "saucer" and angled slightly as though banking.

It was in the former airman's vision about five seconds, he said. Horn started to call for someone to look "but it was too late."

Horn saw the object from the home of his brother-in-law, E.V. Turner, at 409 Star Avenue, near the east edge of the city, about 10 a.m.

The retired airman estimates the object was about a mile east of him when he first sighted it.

Horn, who first came here in 1901, is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. L.H. Horn, who were early-day residents north of the city.


Long Beach, California Independent 4 May 52



Flying Saucer Reported Here

What appeared to be a "flying saucer with some form of blue exhaust circling it" was seen about 6:20 p.m. yesterday by the V.M. Hill family, 5225 Maury Ave.

Mrs. Hill said the shiny, circular object seemed to pause in flight over Long Beach and then suddenly "took off and disappeared to the east very fast."

She said it was "very high in the sky" at the time.


Long Beach, California Independent 4 May 52



'Twas 'Flying Saucer,' Australians Report

SYDNEY, Australia, May 4 -- Sunday -- A dozen people reported Saturday they saw a "flying saucer" over the Sydney area and at Parkes, a town 180 miles west of here.

The witnesses described the object as cigar-shaped, well lighted and silent in operation. They reported it flew at an altitude of about 4000 feet and at an estimated 500 miles an hour.

Observers said the "saucer" was bigger than any plane they had seen. They said it had brilliant white lights in front and left a blue trail as it disappeared into a cloud.

Air force, civil aviation officials and meteorologists were unable to give any explanation.


Sydney, Australia Morning Herald - 4 May 52



Headline

Seven Men Report Seeing A "Flying Saucer"

Seven men reported seeing a "flying saucer" over the Sydney area and at Parkes, 180 miles by air west of Sydney, yesterday.

They said it was a cigar-shaped object, well lit, which flew silently and very fast.

R.A.A.F. and Civil Aviation officials and meteorologists at the Sydney Weather Bureau could not give an explanation.

The "flying saucer" was reported over: --

PARKES at 6 a.m. (by one man);

ENFIELD, western Sydney suburb, eight miles from the city, at 6.10 a.m. (by three men);

BELFIELD, adjacent to Enfield, at 6.10 a.m. (by one man);

BEROWRA, seven miles north of Hornsby, at 6.17 a.m. (by two men).

PARKES:

"White Object"

Mr. L. Bailey, of the Parkes radio station 2PK, said he saw a white object, flat at one end and pointed at the other, flying over the town at 6 a.m.

It was about 4,000 feet up and travelling at 450 miles an hour.

Mr. Bailey said he was on his way to conduct the station's breakfast session.

He watched the "saucer" for at least two minutes until it disappeared into cloud. It travelled silently.

BELFIELD:

Fast And High

Mr. G. McKenzie, of Linda Street, Belfield, said he was on his way to work about 6.10 a.m. when he saw a "flying saucer."

"I thought I was seeing things and could hardly believe my eyes but the object passed overhead at about 500 miles an hour and travelling at around 25,000 feet," he said.

ENFIELD:

"Like Ship At Sea"

Three P.M.G. employees said they were on their way to work at Enfield at 6.10 a.m. when they saw an object which appeared to have many lighted windows.

The men are: -- Reg Edwards, of Hawthorn Parade, Haberfield; William Anderson, of George Street, Enfield; and Ken Shippley, of Victoria Road, Burwood.

Edwards, who acted as spokesman for the three, said: "We were in my truck outside the Enfield post-office when we saw the 'flying saucer.'

"It was well to the north of Enfield and travelling north to south.

"It took us a couple of seconds to realise we weren't dreaming.

"We then dashed from the truck to get a better view.

"It was a long thing like an airship or a submarine, and all lit up like a liner at sea.

MADE NO SOUND

"It was at least three or four times larger than a four-engined Skymaster, it made no sound as it flew, and travelled at about 500 miles an hour.

"One thing we were all convinced about, it was definitely not a meteor or any kind of star.

"It travelled across the sky as straight as a gun barrel and appeared to be on a fixed course.

"We saw it for at least a full minute, and ran to the corner of the street to watch it finally disappear into a bank of clouds.

"I used to think stories about flying saucers were fairy tales but now the three of us are convinced they really do exist.

"We could even see the exhausts at the back of the 'saucer' which looked like jets.

"When you see things like this it kind of makes you wonder how long we all have to live.

"None of us were suffering from hang-overs yesterday morning and no one will ever convince us we didn't see the 'saucer.' "

BEROWRA:

"Due South"

Keith Holmes, 19, dairy farmer, of Turner Road, Berowra, and Gordon Ross, 21, university student, of Crowley Road, Berowra, said the object they saw appeared over Berowra at 6.17 a.m. It was travelling due south at a high speed.

It was well lit and they could see sparks coming from a type of exhaust.

OFFICIALS:

No Known Plane

Officials in the operations room at the Kingsford Smith airport, Mascot, said no known aircraft was in the area at the time the "flying saucer" was reported.

Meteorologists at the Sydney Weather Bureau said there were no meteorological balloons in the area yesterday.

Mr. N. Ward, building merchant, of York Street, Berala, said last night that last Thursday while driving from Punchbowl to Bankstown he saw an intensely bright object flash across the sky.

Last month "flying saucers" were reported over Arizona (April 5), Minnesota (April 10), and Singapore (April 30).

In each case the "saucers" were reported by scores of eyewitnesses who said the objects were "cigar shaped."

"Flying saucers" were reported to have been seen over Bondi and Maroubra on December 17, 1950.

They have also been reported from Maryborough, Queensland, Adelaide, and Canberra.


Palm Beach, Florida Post 5 May 52



'Flying Saucers' Over Australia

SYDNEY, Australia, Mon. May 5 -- Reports of "flying saucers" poured into Sydney today from many parts of Australia, and officials were unable to shed any light on the mystery.

Thirteen persons from four widely separated areas reported seeing a "cigar shaped object larger than any plane" flash across the sky shortly after dawn Saturday.

Two of the reports came from airline pilots. One was from an Air Force officer, veteran of World War II.

Other persons reported today they saw the same object at the same time Saturday over South Coast areas more than 100 miles from Sydney. Other reports came from Central New South Wales, more than 200 miles from Sydney. Some reports came from the Sydney suburbs.

The Royal Australian Air Force said there were no jet planes over the areas where the reports originated.

Scientists said they would bet "100 to 1" that the objects were not man made.


Las Vegas, New Mexico Daily Optic 7 May 52



Spot Flying Saucer

DURANGO, Colo., May 7 -- Residents of this uranium center were puzzled Tuesday by spinning, silver-colored "flying saucers" which were reported to have been hovering over a processing plant here Monday.

More than a dozen persons claimed to have sighted the mysterious metal objects -- some reported seeing two, while others said they only sighted one.

Weather officials here said no weather balloons had been released in the vicinity Monday. Fred Brown, a local brokerage employee, said he saw two "saucers" and declared they "definitely were of metallic structure."

Mrs. Robert Hartzell, a housewife who also spotted a "saucer" over the uranium processing plant, said the sun reflected off the silver-colored object. Two officials of the Vanadium Corp. of America plant, however denied seeing any objects over the plant and said they received no reports of them.


Galveston, Texas Daily News 7 May 52



'Flying Disc,' Or Something, Seen Overhead

A "flying saucer" scare hit Galveston Tuesday night.

Even the Weather Bureau became so excited it sent out a five-city "alarm" to other weather stations to watch for a "luminous, fast-traveling object that is neither comet, star nor airplane."

The Beaumont weather bureau was the first official station to observe it.

San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and Fort Worth also were notified by the local bureau to be alert for the strange object.

It reportedly was moving south over the island at 9 p.m. and "swinging from side to side at the same time."

The Galveston News received several phone calls about the object, and passed on the information to the weather station at the airport.

There observers quickly spotted it, disclaimed it as comet, star or airplane, and notified the other cities.


Corpus Christi, Texas Times 7 May 52



Two Pilots Puzzled
Brightly Lighted Object Sighted in Sky Near Here

An unidentified object, distinguished by its bright lights, about 9 p.m. yesterday passed a Braniff Airlines DC-3 plane inbound from San Antonio. The incident occurred as the plane was over Odem preparing to come into Cliff Maus airport here.

Pilot Bruce Martindale and copilot Don Showman emphasized that they did not know what they had seen. Both were cautious about describing the entire incident.

Apparently no one else here saw the lights.

I wouldn't under any condition say, it was a flying, saucer," Martindale said.

Resembled Blinking Star

The two men surmised at the time that it was a helicopter. At a distance it had resembled a rapidly blinking star, they said.

Helicopters do not fly at night, a Navy spokesman said today.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration control tower log here shows no entry concerning a helicopter in this area. "Of course," a control tower operator said, "there could have been one in the area without us noting the fact."

Showman, the copilot, spotted the object first. He said he watched it remain stationary for about two minutes. The bright light resembled a star on the horizon with dust impairing the visibility, he said. Martindale's attention was called to the sight by Showman.

Bright and Fluttering

The pilot described its first appearance as being "a very bright, fluttering, blinking star." The light appeared to be blinking about 600 times a minute, he said.

Martindale said the light remained stationary for two or three minutes and then began moving northward, passing them.

Distances are hard to estimate at night, Martindale emphasized but said that the object appeared to be at an altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet and was about over the Naval Air Station when he first saw it.

The single light became a collection of possibly a "dozen" as the distance between the aircraft and the light lessened.

Martindale and Showman said they were reminded of a recent magazine picture of a helicopter at night with a light fastened onto the rotor blade.

No great burst of speed was noted by the airline employes.

Moved Northerly

The object, after hovering over the NAS area, moved off in a generally northerly direction.

Showman said that the distance between their plane and the sighted object as it passed on the plane's right was difficult to determine.

The object's speed appeared unexcessive, although if the object was at a great distance the speed would have been very great, the copilot said.

The DC-3 was at an altitude of 1,200 feet and over the Odem fan marker, a radio aid to navigation device which emits energy overhead, at the time of the sighting.

Both men said they were not too concerned with the sighting -- thinking first it was a rapidly blinking star and then possibly a helicopter -- and did not call anyone's attention to it. No one aboard the plane asked them about the occurrence after the flight was over.

The incident took six or eight minutes or so.

Martindale and Showman today are just wondering what they did see.


Baytown, Texas Sun 8 May 52



'Saucer' Is Jupiter

GALVESTON -- A "steady, bright and luminous" object appeared in the sky above Galveston Tuesday night and touched off a flurry of "flying saucer" reports but a Civil Aeronautics administration spokesman said it was only the planet Jupiter making a bid for attention.


Kingston, Jamaica Gleaner 9 May 52



Headline

It is stated by the United States Air Force that all Field Commands 'have been alerted to report unconventional aerial objects,' because --
FLYING SAUCERS ARE STILL FLYING

Flying Saucers are still being seen in various parts of the world, and experts have started a new probe into this most baffling of all mysteries.

THE crew of an American Superfortress bomber which had been out on a night mission over the North Korean battlefront climbed wearily out of their plane at their home airstrip with a very strange tale on their lips.

This night mission had taken them over Wonsan, important war-scarred harbour on the north-east coast. And it was while the bomber was in the air above this port that a queer thing had been spotted against the background of the dark night sky.

It was a spinning disc-shaped object that suddenly loomed into view, an object orange in colour and with small, bluish flames playing about its revolving rim.

The bomber was traveling at some 200 miles per hour. For five minutes the disc, flying above the bomber, kept pace with it on a parallel course. Then suddenly, it was gone, vanishing abruptly into the blackness of the night.

Their report

TWO PAIRS of eyes had watched it, with fascinating interest, from the bomber. They were the eyes of the central flying controller, alert in his high-up post, and of the equally alert tail-gunner.

They told of what they had seen to incredulous comrades. They told the story in greater detail to Intelligence officers when they landed. The latter, knowing the two men for experienced flyers of the world-war days, were not incredulous, but puzzled. They realised that, with these two men, imagination was not the answer.

They had seen what they had seen from different parts of the plane, and their stories tallied. Both [Illegible] the size of the spinning disc as about 3ft. across, as seen by them. Its actual size, of course, was anybody's guess.

While the Intelligence Officers were wrinkling their brows over this queer report, a somewhat similar story was being listened to at the headquarters of another squadron of Superforts some miles away.

This Squadron had also been out on a night mission. It had taken the bombers over Sunchon, some 80 miles distant from Wonsan. And it was over Sunchon that, from one of the bombers, something that looked like a revolving globe had been spotted.

Just as in the other case, this strange globe had come into the view of the central firing controller and the tail-gunner of the plane. It was orange in colour and had followed the bomber for about a minute. Then it had vanished.

All this happened on the night of January 29 last. Full details of what the four airmen swore they clearly saw have been sent back to the United States Air Force headquarters in Washington and are now being pored over by experts who have probed many hundreds of flying saucer stories over the past four years or so.

One theory, an obvious one perhaps, is that the spinning objects might have been the exhausts of Red night fighters -- sometimes there are luminous exhausts from jet engines that glow orange and blue.

But that is not a theory the experts are prepared to accept out of hand.

The results of their probings over the years had until fairly recently tended to make them skeptical. Today they are inclined to treat these mysteries of the skies as being worthy of rather deep consideration.

In other words, flying saucer stories, however fantastic they may seem to be, have acquired a renewed significance.

The central point, which the experts have found it impossible to dismiss, is that no conclusive explanation has yet been found to account for all the strange things that have been and are still being reported from various quarters of the world.

Since nearly 18 months ago, the Sunday Dispatch concluded its striking investigation into the whole subject of flying saucer happenings up to that time, there have been recorded nearly 20 outstanding instances of queer and inexplicable objects having been seen hurtling across the skies.

The areas from which these reports have been charted have ranged from South Africa to India, from Bangkok to the United States, from Switzerland to British Columbia.

They combine to form a new dossier of strange happenings for which no satisfactory explanation has up to now been evolved and which, on the other hand, cannot fail to open up highly sensational avenues of speculation.

Many seen

THE OBJECTS seen in the sky over this new period have included pale green discs over Switzerland and France last November, green saucers between Rangoon and Bangkok at the same time, a cigar-shaped object seen over New Delhi just over a year ago, and a whole series of plain "flying saucers" seen at widely separated points at different times.

The story of what has been seen over new Delhi is one of the most astonishing flying saucer stories of the past 12 months.

That story begins on the morning of March 15 last year. It was 10:20 by Indian Standard Time when thousands of dwellers in the Indian capital were startled by the sight of a strange object high in the sky which seemed to be encircling the city.

Among those who found their attention riveted on this sight was Mr. George Franklin Floate, the chief engineer of the Delhi Flying Club. With several members of the club he watched the evolutions of the object with fascinated interest.

There was plenty of opportunity for steady observation, for the object was over the capital for a full 20 minutes.

Just vanished

MR. FLOATE'S careful description of it is that it was a "bullet-nosed cigar-shaped object about 100ft. long, with a ring of flames at the end." It was followed by a "thick white streak," and reflected the bright rays of the sun, confirming the watchers' impression that the structure of the object was made of some metal.

It was flying at a height of some had a maximum speed of about 2.000-5.000ft., traveled soundlessly, and miles an hour. [Sic, entire sentence -- an inset in the article notes... A "bullet-nosed, cigar-shaped object about 100 ft. long with a ring of flames at the end" was seen for 20 minutes over New Delhi, India. It was flying at a height of some 5.000 Ft., traveling soundlessly, and had a maximum speed of about 2.000 miles an hour.]

To try and find out more about this strange object it was decided to send up two jet fighters belonging to the Indian Air Force. But the object smartly countered this manoeuvre. As the fighters soared into the air it swiftly gained altitude until it reached a height of about 20,000ft. Then it vanished. One moment it was there, the next it had gone. The fighters returned to their base, beaten.

That night the object appeared again over Allahabad, 400 miles away. It was seen by Mr. Y.R. Bhandarkar, instructor of the local flying club.

Exactly 14 days later the object made another appearance. It was sighted over the Willingdon Aerodrome, the headquarters of the Delhi Flying Club. Mr. Floate was again one of those who watched it.

As before, it was traveling at a height of about 5.000ft., its speed this time being some 550 m.p.h. It was again in sight for a space of about 20 minutes. Then suddenly it climbed "at a tremendous speed and at an angle of about 80 degrees" and vanished, leaving a "whitish swirly cloud trail" that remained visible for 90 minutes.

What was it

MR. FLOATE'S view is that exactly as on the previous occasion, it was the presence of some Indian Air Force planes in the sky that dictated the object's escape.

Twice more has Mr. Floate seen this unexplained sky ship, one being on a night last November, the other occasion being on a night last December. Both times the craft was observed over the headquarters of the Delhi Flying Club. In the darkness of the night the object's tail appeared to be fluorescent.

In Mr. Floate's view then was every indication that the object, whatever it was, was manned. On all four occasions of his observation it came in from the north, turned eastwards and then just vanished.

What was it? They are still discussing that riddle throughout New Delhi and wider afield. So far there is no sign of the answer. Maybe the Defence Minister holds it. Maybe not.

Now let us switch to the southwestern area of the United States, where a fresh mystery of the skies has set thousands of tongues wagging and sharply revived flying-saucer speculation. And much more to the point, is setting a riddle that is puzzling serious scientific brains.

It happened last autumn, when over a period of 13 days, a series of eight bright-green objects which have been roughly described as "fireballs" were seen streaking across the skies of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.

The first obvious explanation is that what had been seen was a shower of meteors. But the carefully gathered facts about this strange display have brought out a number of points which make that ready acceptance of this explanation difficult.

First the number of fireballs seen is very baffling. Dr. Lincoln La Paz, who is head of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico and who has been making a special study of the occurrences, has pointed out "that meteors big enough to penetrate the lower atmosphere of the earth do not as a rule occur in showers, and that what are known as meteor-showers are caused by very small particles which burn out quickly while they are still far above the earth." Then there is the colour. Green meteors, to say the least, are not what the experts would expect.

THERE is, too, the fact that these objects were completely silent as they sped through the air, whereas the passage of meteors would be quite noisy as they approached the earth.

Finally, though some of these objects seem to have hit the earth's surface with a flash brilliant even in broad daylight. Search parties sent out to recover fragments have met with complete lack of success.

Dr. La Paz has gathered a great deal of information about this series of sky mysteries. After sifting it, he has given the Sunday Dispatch this signed conclusion:

"Either the 'green fireballs' are an unconventional type of meteor, unusual as regards colour, extreme brightness, absence of noise, frequency of occurrence and other characteristics, or they are guided missiles -- our own or someone else's."

What link, if any, have these weird fireballs with the spinning discs observed by experienced airmen thousands of miles away in Korea? Or with the "flaming cigars" of New Delhi?

The riddle is there, real and not imaginary. And riddles are not solved by just ignoring them.

Which is why the United States Air Force, which has probed hundreds of flying-saucer stories and dismissed them, has now had second thoughts and turned its technical and scientific experts on to a fresh investigation of something that is baffling and intriguing the whole world.


Corsicana, Texas Daily Sun - 10 May 52



Evangelist

7:45 P.M.

Will Man By Science Force God Into Action?

- Can science prolong life, climb into tthe heavens or create life?

- Will God allow creatures of another woorld to invade this world? What does the Bible say about flying saucers and creatures from outer space?


Tokyo, Japan Pacific Stars and Stripes - 10 May 52



Newsmen Get Saucer Photos

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Two photographers maintained Friday they saw a flying saucer over the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro and two Rio newspapers are publishing their photographs as evidence.

An extra edition of Diaro Da Noite carried the photos Friday night and Cruzeiro will publish the photos on Tuesday.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Ed Keffel and Joao Martin took to the radio to tell of how they were at Barra Da Tijuca beach, on the outskirts of Rio, on another assignment when they saw what first looked like an airplane coming head on.

As the weird contraption neared, it looked like a plane flying sideways; and finally, when close enough, the photographers knew it was no known type of plane, but perfectly round, wingless and completely noiseless.

IT REPORTEDLY was "rocking like a slowly falling leaf" as it descended to an altitude of several hundred yards on an approach to the beach from the sea.

Then, according to Keffel and Martin, the "saucer" accelerated and disappeared out over the sea traveling at tremendous speed.

They described the "saucer" as bluish-gray in color and their pictures showed it as looking like a pot lid with a knob-like protuberance in the middle.


Galveston, Texas Daily News - 10 May 52



U.S. Interest Is Shown in 'Disk' Photos

RIO DE JANEIRO. May 9. -- The military attache at the U.S. embassy in Rio De Janeiro examined today negatives of five photographs taken of a "flying saucer" sighted over Rio Wednesday and called them the best he had ever seen of the phenomenon.

Col. Jack Werley Hughes and several Brazilian Air Force officials visited the office of the newspaper "O Cruziero" to study the photographs "shot" by the paper's cameramen, Ed Keffel and Joao Martins. Following publication the pictures will be made available to the U.S. Embassy for study by the American Air Force.

The paper said it is also showing the pictures to the national security council and later to war ministry officials.

Aeronautics Minister of Brazil Nero Moura also expressed "great interest" in the "saucer" photos. The photographers told of how they spotted the object that looked like an airplane coming head-on, while they were at Barra Da Tijuca Beach, on the outskirts of Rio. As the contraption neared, it looked like a plane flying sideways. The photographers then said as it approached closer it was an object -- perfectly round, wingless and absolutely noiseless.

Colonel Hughes expressed special interest in the photographers statement that the "saucer" was noiseless and concerning its tremendous speed. He added:

"The question of flying saucers has been widely discussed with the only basis contradictory statements of people who asserted they saw the saucers, and amateur photographs that only presented spots in space. I have no doubts on the authenticity of the photos taken by Keffel and Martins. I have made minute examination of the negatives and the photos and there is no trick in them."


Mansfield, Ohio News Journal - 12 May 52



Fireballs Fall; No Fragments Found
Mystery Blast Rocks Seattle - Was It Meteor?

BULLETIN CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A Harvard University scientist, Dr. Fred L. Whipple, said today the giant meteor which swirled 8,000 feet over western Washington State and exploded with a roar ever Seattle could have wiped out the city of 500,000 if it had been a little lower in the sky.

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Responsible observers believed today that a blinding blast which rocked this city of 500,000 persons may have been an exploding meteor, but talk of "flying saucers" and "guided missiles" could be heard on any street corner.

Meanwhile, the military was deep in a thorough but closemouthed investigation. An intelligence officer at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma said an official statement may be released later today.

Thousands of startled residents were awakened at 1:30 a.m. yesterday by the blast which "rumbled like a freight-train." The eerie, blue-white light was seen at an estimated elevation of 2,000 feet and was visible 60 miles away.

The explosion occurred directly over North Seattle and was witnessed by many persons, including Northwest Airlines Pilot Bert Carlson. He said he first sighted "an object" as he prepared to land at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

"It was at about 7,000 feet when it suddenly shattered into eight pieces which looked like chain lighting. Fireballs trailed to the earth," he said.

Sidney Howick, a weather observer at the airport, described it as a "sort of lights-on, lights-off thing. It lasted two seconds at most. Everything turned blue." He also said he saw fireballs falling to the earth.

J.H. Pruett, Pacific regional director of the American Meteor Society, said it could have been a huge meteor, "but if it was a meteor, the estimated altitude of the explosion was far too low." He said meteors normally explode more than 10 miles above the earth.

United Press staff correspondent Peter Hayes was returning to Seattle from Bellingham, 60 miles to the north, when he saw the flash from the highway.

"It lit up the whole sky over the city with a bluish hue," he said. It looked like lightning but somehow you knew it wasn't lightning."

All observers agreed the mysterious object was traveling from southwest to northeast when it blew up.

Despite the force of the blast, there were no reports of damage and no fragments of the "thing" have been recovered.

In Los Angeles Edward Sullivan, president of the "Civilian Saucer Investigation Society," said the explosion was the third of its kind to occur within the country during the past year.

He said a similar object rumbled over Sharon, Penn., May 30, 1951, before exploding, and explosions were felt over both El Paso and Dallas, Tex., later in the year.


Seattle, Washington Post-Intelligencer - 12 May 52



Map

LINE OF FLIGHT -- Shown on this map is the path and the bursting point of the aerial object that flashed over Western Washington early Sunday. As the map shows, the object, apparently a meteor, traveled from south to north and burst into fragments at the point indicated on the map. position was determined by eyewitness reports from an airliner and various ground observers. After bursting, fragments of the object traveled to the northwest into an area not covered by the map. Dotted lines and arrows indicate direction of sight of eyewitnesses who established approximate locations of the burst.


Air Force Checking Presumed Meteor That Shook Seattle
Not Seen On Radar

Astronomers throughout the nation, and the United States Air Force, guardian of the skies, displayed keen interest Sunday in the fiery object that flashed across the Seattle area in the blackness of the early morning, then exploded violently.

Scientists who make a study of phenomena of outer space concluded the fiery object was a large meteor that streaked through the earth's blanket of air and disintegrated into flaming streamers.

However, the Air Force has become interested in all sky visitors since it is charged with the job of keeping a radar watch of all things, natural and man-made, that pass overhead.

Checking Data --

As eyewitness accounts of the strange light and following blast came in from widely scattered parts of Western Washington astronomers expressed the opinion that an unusually big fireball had been destroyed aloft in spectacular manner.

Col. T. Allan Bennett, commanding officer of the 25th Air Force Defense Division, McChord Air Force Base, also leaned toward the theory that the object which exploded at 1:26 a.m. was a meteor. But he said his office is making a thorough check of eyewitness reports and is anxious to recive them.

Bennett said he doubted that the object could have been an aircraft of guided missile.

None of the radar installations in the Pacific Northwest network picked up the object on their screens, he said.

Angle --

Asked if the speed of the object may have eluded the radar, Bennett said that the angle, rather than speed, probably was what caused it not to show as a "blip" on the radar scopes.

"If it was a meteor, it was probably coming nearly straight down. That would make it very difficult to track. The indications might be so insignificant that radar wouldn't pick it up," he said.

Request --

Bennett asked that anyone finding a "strange" piece of material report it to his organization at McChord.

Bennett said that the ground observer phase of the air defense setup is not at present on a 24-hour basis, and said no ground observers had reported seeing the flash.

The two-second blast, a tremendous blue-white flare, caused no ascertainable damage, but police, fire department and newspaper switchboards were jammed by hundreds of anxious calls from suddenly-awakened persons.

Many believed, after the blast, an earthquake had rocked the Pacific Northwest.

After hearing descriptions of the object, trained observers agreed the visitor was a meteor, drawn by earth's gravity from deep space, to blow itself to pieces as friction from the atmosphere heated it to extreme temperatures.

More susceptible viewers guessed the object to be a "Russian bomb," a guided missile, or a "flying saucer."

At least four competent observers had grandstand views of the "fireball." They were the pilot and co-pilot of an airliner, coming in for a landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a United States Weather Bureau observer there and a central tower operator.

Pilots Saw It --

Capt. B.C. Carlson and Co-Pilot Earl Perry, flying a Spokane-Seattle shuttle for Northwest Airlines, said the meteor first flared at 1:32 a.m. by his watch and burst into flaming fragments at about 8,000 feet.

Carlson said:

"We were approaching Hobart on a due west course at 7,000 feet. The flash progressed from south to north across our course, apparently between us and the airport."

Perry and Carlson said no shock wave was felt in the plane.

But, from the observation roof at the airport, Weather Observer Sid Howick traced the course of the ragged banners of flame and felt a "different shock wave" about 2 to 2½ minutes after the first burst of light.

From the airport control tower, Airway Operations Specialist Robert Wiley laconically noted in the Civil Aeronautics Administration logbook:

"Observed very brilliant blue light at 1:32 a.m. (PDT). Appeared light all of airport and originate from northeast direction. Land tremor (explosion) followed about 2 minutes afterward."

Over Wide Area --

The flare was seen and the blast was felt in all sectors of Seattle, and surrounding communities. The State Patrol reported the blast was felt in Everett, Tacoma and Bremerton.

Typical of hundreds of Seattle residents jarred out of sound sleep were Mrs. G.V. Rooney, 519 N. 6th St., who said "The windows rattled and we thought the house was coming down."

J.T. Skelly, 7125 – 44th Ave. S.W., who described the rumble that followed the flash as a "five-shock wave that shook my house."

Saw Flash --

From the window of his Mercer island home, Guy L. Bettinger, 7424 W. Mercer Way, saw what he described as a "tremendous flash." He said:

"The light seemed to go straight up, like a huge electric arc -- something like when a transformer explodes. The apex of the light seemed to be about as high as Mount Rainier.

"I thought right away there had been a terrific explosion. I braced for a shock. It seemed like 1½ to 2 minutes before the shock wave hit.


Lyman was standing at a window in his home, 16838-19th Ave. S.W., when the flash blinded him momentarily.

Reacting quickly, he went to work with watch and compass. These were his observations:

The flash came at 1:24 a.m. by his watch. It was of 9 seconds' duration. The normal brightness of the flash was maintained for 4 seconds. in color it was a mercury or magnesium blue, with no trace of a greenish hue.

The flash was followed by a deep, shaking tremor which lasted 12 seconds. The tremor started 2½ minutes after the flash. This would put the explosion 30 or 31 miles away. The flash was 21 degrees above the horizon and 18 degrees east of north.

"The tremor had a deep, deep sound like somebody down in the furnace," Lyman said.



Kingston, Jamaica Gleaner - 12 May 52



'Flying saucers' seen in France

LA ROCHE SUR YON, Western France, May 11 -- Two "flying saucers" were reported here last night. Several residents said that at about 6 p.m. they saw a flat object, oval in shape and lit from within, flying noiselessly through the sky. It was joined by another such object, the witnesses declared, and the two then disappeared over the horizon.


Central Region, France La Nouvelle Republique du Centre-Ouest - 12 May 52



[No Headline]

LA ROCHE-SUR-YON, NANTES. May 11, 1952. -- Saturday, around 06:30 p.m., a girl of La Roche-sur-Yon, Miss Ferre, was puzzled by an object evolving in the sky. The object, of spherical form and white color, was similar to an electric sphere, rotating. Fearing an illusion, Miss Ferre called her mother and a neighbor. These three people then saw the ball, which came from the south, to move towards the east. Little by little, the color of the sphere appeared to become yellower, but the object maintained its glowing appearance, without however letting any trace behind it nor producing any noise. Suddenly the sphere went up at a vertiginous pace and joined a point which appeared motionless, very high in the sky and which none of the witnesses had noticed hitherto. The two objects then quickly disappeared.


Racine, Wisconsin Journal Times - 12 May 52



Cowboys in Space Suits

(New York Herald-Tribune)

It is a bit sad to learn that the cowboy suit is gradually giving way to the space-man's uniform in the favor of the young men of the nation. The space man is very much with us these scientific days; he is riding the skies on flying saucers and seeking out evildoers on the asteroids with all the intrepidity of the Lone Ranger galloping down on the stagecoach robbers in the gulch.

His influence has become so powerful that the members of the Boys' Apparel and Accessories Manufacturing Association, meeting in solemn conclave in New York, have decided to emphasize space suits in their fall lines. Just what the new suits will look like is not disclosed. Undoubtedly they will include such necessary accoutrements as ray-guns, anti-gravity shoes, antenna caps and magnetic belts. You simply can't get along in space these days without these things. Parents doubtless will also hope that the new suits are made of sturdy material, for there is no telling what sort of ruckus a young space man is likely to get himself into.

The cowboy suit, of course, has not exactly passed out of the picture altogether. An atomic-ray gun may be more lethal than a sixshooter, but it doesn't look as meaningful. Furthermore, space uniforms will also suffer from their lack of red neckerchiefs which can be easily transformed into masks. All in all, it is likely that many wearers of cowboy suits are going to wait patiently for the new fad to pass, secure in the knowledge that justice and the basic virtues will triumph just as resoundingly as they did on the Western plains of long ago.


Sydney, Australia Morning Herald - 12 May 52



When The Flying Saucer Descends

After a lull of some months on the flying-saucer front, a new and even larger rash of these swift and brilliant objects has broken out in the heavens. Those seen over Sydney could be caught only by the flashing eye -- and the soaring imagination -- but in Brazil they do these things better.

When a saucer swooped over Rio de Janeiro, press photographers were waiting, finger on trigger, and triumphantly "shot" it.

One explanation of all this to-do about flying saucers is that in a scientific age the public curiosity demands a constant stimulus. The ceaseless flow of domestic gadgets is evidence on the point. But neither these nor the wonderful processes and inventions that emerge almost monthly from the laboratory and the engineering workshop will satisfy the human lust for scientific mystery which was first provoked, on a mass scale, by H.G. Wells.

There is more in this sky-searching, however, than a desire to be mystified. The temptation to identify any "flash" in the upper air as a flying saucer-although, as described, it may be shaped more like an airborne elephant -- may often have its origin in a vague dread of things to come.

Years of war, followed by an even longer period of international tension, have developed an apprehension, almost subconscious, that someone is "up to something" somewhere. In that mood we are apt to see more than is good for us. When one day a flying saucer actually descends, and the Martian generalissimo disembarks with his ultimatum, it will be almost a relief!


Cumberland, Maryland Evening Times - 13 May 52



Looking Sideways
by Whitney Bolton

...Which, in turn, moves us to the mysterious green fireballs of Korea and New Mexico and to a serious question regarding the still giggled-at flying saucers.

It has never been publicly stated, but I hope some ranking officer of the Air Force has had the good sense to issue an order forbidding any service pilot from shooting down and destroying a flying saucer. I hope it, but I doubt it, because as sure as anything the first one that tarries long enough for a fighter pilot to get a bend on it is going to go down in flinders and we not only will lose all chance of calm, intelligent investigation but, also, we might have an interplanetary squabble on our hands.

The saucers haven't fired at any of our boys at any time and I trust we don't fire at them when the moment of revelation finally comes.


Postville, Iowa Herald - 14 May 52



As I See It
by C.W.D.

There is a reliable report of a family in this locality seeing flying saucers recently in a cloudless noontime sky. They report the flashing objects dipping and gliding across the sky in formation, in singles, pairs and etc. Seems as though the phenomena is becoming more widely observed and subject to less jesting by officials who are at a loss to explain the objects.


Hopewell, New Jersey Herald - 14 May 52



Of Cabbages and Kings
by Ellsworth Gossling

According to Life Magazine, there's a good chance that the flying saucers and all the other kindred phenomena that have been seen in the skies in the last few years are from some point outside this earth.

For the sole purpose of proving that human nature doesn't change, the majority of the people pooh-pooh the idea. The knowledge that sane, intelligent scientists in this country are laying the groundwork for future flights to the moon and thence to Mars and points unknown, sways them not.

Those who bar the thought of visitors from another world are as backward in their thinking as the dolts who ridiculed Columbus for saying the world was round. No doubt the American Indian got an awful jolt the first time he saw a white man with his own eyes, but the paleface was real.

There is no question that these strangers represent a race far superior to ours in intelligence. The weird craft they travel around in, and the high speeds at which they zip along are sufficient proof of that.

To my thinking, these flying saucer people furnish the best illustration of the exciting age in which we live. Who they are, where they come from and what their intentions, only time will tell. I only hope I'm around when we learn the answers.

Of course, there's bound to be trouble the first time they try to make a personal contact with us earth-people. Some trigger-happy Brass is certain to order his men to shoot one down. At this point, the Saucer crews will turn their diablotzic ray guns on us, and they'll have the earth to themselves.

There are other perils awaiting the visitors from space, however. Think of the strain on interplanetary relations if some Washington Windbag got wound up in a three-hour welcome speech!

They would be in for some eyebrow raising sights, too. After seeing the Nation's Capital at work on a typical day, they'd be amazed at how the country prospers under such a handicap. They'd wonder, of course, why it takes so many to govern so few.

The Saucer people would probably buy a lot of souvenirs like any tourists. Among other things, they'd purchase some of our newest jet planes to sell to antique dealers when they get home.

If they're really of a higher plane of intelligence than we are, they'd be highly amused at our keeping armed forces in existence, and shocked at the state of international relations. When they learn of the Kremlin's ambition to rule the world, they'll probably ask, "But why does anyone want to rule a mote of universal dust?"

To get back to their first visits on earth: Our psychologists will find the final proof of the unchanging quality of human nature in the way we first greet them. No doubt many of us will have the sense to extend a cordial welcome to them. Others, however, will follow the same line that New Guinea headhunters used on the first missionaries.

The present generation -- especially we Americans -- think we're pretty smart. All we need is a visit from these strangers to whittle us down to our proper size.

That's enough about the controversial flying saucers for now. Next week I'll print the real, true-to-life, authentic, completely fictional report of Saucer Pilot Empty to his superior on the planet Zoosh.


Cairns, Australia Post - 14 May 52



Flying Saucer At Bunderberg
Report By Fishermen

BUNDABERG, May 13.- Three men, employees of the Bundaberg Foundry, while fishing on Monday night, sighted a bright object in the sky, which they later described as a "flying saucer." The three men were Ron Corrogan, Des Dahl and Ted Rayner.

They saw a silvery, near oval-shaped object travelling at a great speed across the sky. They said that the object appeared to be travelling in an easterly direction at a height of 3000 to 4000 feet. The object was about the same size as an aeroplane and was like a football in shape.

The three men said that they saw it for about 10 seconds before it completely disappeared They assert that it was not a falling star or a meteor


Hobart, Australia Mercury - 15 May 52



Flying Saucer Over Portugal

LISBON, Wed. -- A shining flying saucer was reported to have been seen yesterday over Alcobaca, 80 miles north of Lisbon.

It was cigar-shaped and was flying northwards trailing a smoke track.

Two flying saucers were reported last night flying across French Morocco from west to east. These were said to have left greyish misty trails.


Massillon, Ohio Evening Independent - 17 May 52



Flying Saucer Stories Anger Astronomers

DELAWARE -- A noted astronomer last night, rapped the knuckles of magazine editors who print stories suggesting flying saucers are spaceships.

DR. OTTO STRUVE of the University of California observatory made his views known at the annual gathering of about 40 central Ohio persons interested in studying the stars.

"The scientists ought to resent it when a popular magazine sets itself up as a scientific expert," he told the gathering at Perkins observatory near here.

"At all times there are phenomena in the universe that scientists cannot explain," he said. "There's no proof the flying saucers are coming from Mars or from behind the Iron Curtain."

Articles in several magazines have suggested that perhaps inhabitants of other planets have been getting a close look at the earth for many years by whizzing past in flying saucers.


Tangier, Morocco Espana May 22, 1952



Flying Saucers In Spain And North Africa

Barcelona, 21 May -- As I crossed Jose Antonio Avenue on my way to the newspaper office, I saw a strange object flying at high speed from the direction of Prat Airport, about 2,000 meters above ground, and leaving a wide smoke trail. It did not look like an aircraft (neither Prat nor Sabadell airport admitted any knowledge of the object), and unlike the so-called flying saucers, it was proceeding in a straight line, without emitting flashes of light or revolving on an axis. The object seemed to me to be rocket-shaped, and the smoke came out of two points close together, merging into a single streak.

My colleagues at the office saw the smoke but not the object. Over Badalona, about 10 kilometers-away, the object stopped trailing smoke, disappeared for a few seconds, and reappeared, again emitting smoke, several kilometers farther away. The newspaper office was soon flooded with telephone calls from people who had seen the object. A friend of ours took the picture of the smoke trail. -- Valentin Garcia

Note from CIA file on article : The picture shows a diagonal stripe of diminishing width and lighter in shade than the sky over the dark bulk of a building cornice. It is attributed to Francisco Andreu. The caption says that the picture was taken "on 17 May," although the report is dated 21 May.


Alberta, Canada Lethbridge Herald - 26 May 52



Picked up in passing

...Giuseppe Belluzzo, 75, who claimed he designed "flying saucers" in the Second World War, died in Rome. He was minister of national economy under Mussolini and in 1905 designed the first steam engine to be built in Italy. He said he designed the "flying saucers" as a possible weapon but that Hitler and Mussolini turned down the idea.


Statesville, North Carolina Daily Record - 29 May 52



More Flying Saucers Seen

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Two observers said today high-flying lights hovered silently over this seaport town last night, then swept off southward at 50,000 feet, leaving no trail.

F.L. Mier, an Atlantic Coast Line employe, said the spots hovered at about 50,000 feet in the air for about seven minutes shortly before 8 p.m. Mier said they split apart and flew away slowly southward.

Ray Wyche, state editor of the Wilmington Morning Star, said he saw the two buff-colored lights in the northwestern sky and he does not believe they came from airplanes.

Wyche said they were definitely formed and looked about the size of a baseball held several feet from the eyes. He said they stayed together for several minutes and then broke apart and flew away to the south. They made no sound and left no trail in the sky, he added.

Civil Aeronautics Administration officials said the lights may have been caused by refueling Air Force planes in the vicinity.


Statesville, North Carolina Daily Record - 29 May 52



Down In Iredell...

TWIN WORLD -- Recurrent reports of "flying saucers," the latest coming from Wilmington, bring to mind an intriguing theory some pseudo-scientist has thought up in explanation of the phenomenon.

He has come up with the idea of a twin world, having the same physical aspects and traveling in the same orbit as ours but always remaining on the opposite side of the sun and hidden from us.

Thus, inhabitants of this twin globe have in recent years mastered space travel and have been reconnoitering our own globe in "flying saucers."

We do not know whether there is any reliable scientific method of proving or disproving this theory; but we do know that it would be possible for a twin of the earth to be locked in an orbit the same as ours and floating around in the universe on the opposite side of the sun.

We have somewhat of a comparable situation in our own moon. Its revolutions are timed exactly with each trip around the earth so that it always presents the same face to us. If such a pattern exists between the moon and this earth, it would well exist between this planet and another.

One problem, however, always brings on another. If we concede the "flying saucers" may carry visitors from another planet, even a twin of ours beyond the sun, then we must show some concern whether these visitors are benign or evil. And the answer to that question carries implications beyond the garden variety of thinking


Galveston, Texas Daily News - 30 May 52



A Reader Writes:
Aircraft From Another World

By Frank Laugben

On May 7, The Galveston News published on its front page a report that on the night of May 6 the observers at the Galveston airport weather station saw a luminous fast-traveling object moving through the sky which they said was definitely not a comet, a star, or an airplane.

I have never heard of a man-made airplane that was luminous, presumably like figures on a radio-lite clock. This object was also seen by weather bureau observers in Beaumont, 80 or 90 miles away.

Very Bright

It must have been pretty high, and very bright, and also quite large, to have been visible that far off.

This moving luminous aircraft went south from Galveston. That could have been in the direction of Brazil.

The very next day, on May 7, at Rio de Janeiro, two newspaper photographers saw and photographed a moving object in the sky, in broad daylight, which was "perfectly round, wingless and absolutely noiseless."

It passed over their heads only "several hundred feet" above the ground.

Picked up Speed

It looked, in the photos, like a pot lid with a knob in its center. It curved its course, picked up "great speed" and headed out to sea.

The INS at Rio cabled to the United States under date of May 8 that the object had been photographed at Rio "yesterday". In other words, on May 7.

Obviously not Meteor

It was obviously not a meteor, because as it approached the photographers closely, it looked like a plane flying sideways. Meteors don't look like that!

It was obviously not a plane, because it made no sound at all, whereas man-made planes of any type make a deafening roar.

This "thing" was only "several hundred feet" above the heads of the observers. Also, the "thing" was really there. Five photographs were taken of it.

From the Denver "Post", Sept. 21 and 22, 1950:

On the night of Sept. 20, 1950, near Denver, competent and reliable observers saw nine "meteors" racing through the night sky in formation, parallel to the earth.

Zoomed Upward

In front of their eyes, seven of the nine "meteors" zoomed upward vertically in perfect formation and were out of sight almost instantly, so great was their speed. Do meteors do that?

Obviously a meteor can travel only in a straight line. They do not race along in level flight and then zoom straight upward away from the earth. These things did.

One astonished eyewitness was State Senator Dan Thornton who soon after that became the governor of the state.

Man-Made Planes?

Those nine fiery objects (that is what the paper called them) streaked along on a course over four western states and their speed was computed by professors and scientists to have been between 3400 and 9000 miles an hour. Do man-made planes do that?

Further, those fiery objects were heading east at Boise but curved their course to where they were heading south at Trinidad. Could a meteor do that?

Those were piloted aircraft, flying at a speed of from 3400 to 9000 miles an hour.

From the magazine "Popular Science", May 1952:

Reliable Observer

It quotes this from a 1904 issue of the United States Monthly Weather Review: In the year 1904, the U.S. Monthly Weather Review published a report from a Lieut. F.H. Schofield of the United States Navy.

You could call an Annapolis-trained man a competent and reliable observer. On board a navy vessel at sea, Lieutenant Schofield and two of his crew saw three "meteors" hurtling toward his ship from the north-west.

"Their angular downward motion was very rapid," he says. In other words, they dived down toward his ship. As they approached the ship "they suddenly soared upward," (having no doubt seen enough), and soon "appeared to be moving directly away from the earth."

In other words, they were going straight up.

Could a meteor do that?

Piloted Craft

Those things were piloted craft. It was the year 1904. There were no airplanes in 1904.

The magazine article states that the distinguished German rocket designer, Dr. Walther Riedel, is convinced that these (aircraft) are evidence of visitations from some other world.

By any thinking person, no other conclusion can be drawn.

There must be another world, an inhabited sphere, which is far more advanced than this one. They are, incredible as it may seem, sending their creatures over to look at us in circular luminous aircraft that are propelled by some force we know nothing about, absolutely silently, and at speeds of at least 3400 miles an hour.


Anderson, Indiana Herald - 31 May 52



Aussies See 'Saucers'

MELBOURNE -- "Flying saucers" like those reported seen in the United States have been reported by Australians in New South Wales and Victoria.


Marseille, France Le Meridional - 1 Jun 52



Luminous Object Seen Over Mallorca

Colmar. -- Yesterday evening, at approximately 23 h. 30, Mr. Kurt Folt, night watchman of a transport company, in Colmar, and his assistant, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky, in the north of Colmar, a disc of white color which was moving at a great speed from East to West, leaving behind red-bluish trails.

The guard and his comrade are formal in affirming that the disc, which took the direction of Friburg, disappeared a few moments afterwards behind the Haut Koenigsbourg, and that it had the shape of flying saucers that they had seen reproduced in a weekly magazine.


Santa Fe New Mexico New Mexican - 1 Jun 52



Club Calendar

SATURDAY
The Flying Saucer Club of Los Alamos will meet in the Canyon School gymnasium at 8:30 p.m. Hosts for the evening are Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Hunter and Mr. and Mrs. John Yount.






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Notes:

1. Many of the foreign publications quoted in this series come from translations provided within CIA documents of the time, now released under the Freedom of Information Act. A lesser number, primarily French publications, come from the (now-defunct) French site Ufologie.net.

2. Selected documents from Air Force Project Blue Book files relating the Wichita Falls, Texas report are available here.

3. The Colorado mines of Vanadium Corp. of America were a prime domestic source for the uranium used in the United States' atomic bomb projects, producing 75 percent of the uranium used in the first generation of atomic bombs.

4. Selected documents from Air Force Project Blue Book files relating to the Korean reports are available here.

5. The Daily Gleaner article stating "green meteors, to say the least, are not what the experts would expect" is a mis-statement of Dr. LaPaz's point that the fireballs' particular shade of green, resembling the burning of copper, had theretofore been unreported.

6. The aerial explosion over Seattle was investigated and presumed to be a meteor, but there is an interesting letter relating to it, which can be read here.

7. Selected documents from Air Force Project Blue Book files relating to the India reports are available here.

8. The authenticity of the photographs taken in Brazil by Ed Keffel are much in dispute, partly because they were purportedly offered to Life magazine for $25,000 (a significant amount at the time). Whether the offer came from the photographer or whether it came from the publication for which he was working is unclear. Despite the claim in the Galveston Daily News story that "the pictures will be made available to the U.S. Embassy for study by the American Air Force", according to Blue Book Status Report Number 7 the negatives were never received by the Air Force. All five photos and some background can be found at NICAP here, with more background here.

9. The precise nature of the "Flying Saucer Club" at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is unknown. Los Alamos was the primary research center for nuclear weapons in the United States, housing some of the world's finest physicists. But it was also a compact community of over 8,000, with housing, schools, stores, churches, bowling, etc. There were many "social" clubs at Los Alamos, and in the tenor of the times the "Flying Saucer Club" may well have been a goof name for one such.









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The Arrival

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