selected ufo cases
Cases with Images or Photographs
UFO descends, then speeds away, near Walworth, Wisconsin
January, 8, 1959 - Walworth, Wisconsin, United States
Gordon Higgins, a draftsman who has had two years USAF experience as control tower operator and flight controller, watched a UFO descend and then speed away horizontally. The object glowed bright white, before changing to orange as it sped away, leaving a trail of sparks. View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) ID: 642
Case Type: SummaryReport Features: Witness Sketch
Enormous daytime UFO above Welsh town seen by only one witness
1959 - Milford Haven, United Kingdom
Mr. D. J. Harris, an area insurance agent, was walking down Charles Street in Milford Haven at about 11.00 a.m. when suddenly he heard a sort of whispering sound, and a metallic grey object appeared above the buildings. He describes it as enormous, about 150 feet in diameter. Given that there are usually so many people around the area, we are really forced to the conclusion that no-one saw this UFO except the witness and that, in fact, it was visible only to him. View full report
Source: F. W. Holiday, FSR Vol. 20 No. 2 ID: 598
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Witness Sketch
Two patrolmen see glowing red UFO in New Jersey
December, 20, 1958 - Dunellen, New Jersey, United States
Patrolmen LeRoy A. Arboreen and B. Talada were on night patrol when they saw an object coming from the west. "At first it looked like a red hot piece of coal about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. In a matter of seconds it was as large as a ruler held at arm's length... The body of the object was solid bright red and it gave off a pulsating red glow... The object hovered a few seconds, then made a left turn and again hovered for a few seconds, then went straight up like a shot." View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) from NICAP case report ID: 639
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Police, Witness Sketch
Huge disk hovers over bridge in the Grand Beuch river valley, France, 1958
October, 28, 1958 - Pont-la-Dame, France
Jean Boyer was driving home on October 28, 1958. "I had reached the area of Pont-la-Dame and was ready to climb the stretch of road called "Cote des Egaux," when I saw in the sky, right above Pont-la-Dame, in the valley of the Grand Buech river, a motionless and luminous "disk." ...I believe it was about 200 to 400 meters above the ground. Suddenly, after two or three minutes, some sparks flew as the object rose vertically at a dizzying speed..." View full report
Source: Jacques & Janine Vallee, 1966 ID: 951
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Smell/Odor
The Monon Railroad UFO Incident
October, 3, 1958 - Monon, Indiana, United States
A Monon railroad train crew reported seeing multiple UFOs in north central Indiana. The objects were 40 feet in diameter and about 10 feet thick, and followed the train for over an hour. View full report
Source: Frank Edwards / UFO Casebook ID: 26
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Multiple UFOs
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
Fisherman in Brazil watch UFO with portholes over sea
April, 1958 - Brazil
"When the machine was at a distance of some 40 metres from him and the group of fishermen, and about 15 metres above the water, it began to rock sideways, and then stopped and hung there. It seemed to have three distinguishable parts: the upper half was the colour of aluminium, like an inverted bowl, and on the top of it was a small protuberance or dome." View full report
Source: Gordon W. Creighton, FSR Vol. 10 No. 6, Nov.-Dec, 1964 ID: 624
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Water-Related, Humming, Portholes/Windows
Enormous UFO seen by soldier during Algerian War
March, 1958 - Bouhamama, Algeria
Legionnaire N.G., was on sentry duty at a Foreign Legion camp at Bouahmama during the Algerian War, when he saw an enormous, roundish object descending. It stopped when it was about 35-40 metres above the ground, and began to hover there, motionless and silent. He estimated it to be as much as 350 metres wide. The witness feels that something most unusual happened to him psychologically. View full report
Source: Joel Mesnard, FSR Vol. 19. No. 3 ID: 594
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Military, Physiological Effects
Trindade Island Photographs
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
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
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
