selected ufo cases
Daylight Discs (DD)
Pilot 'flees' from giant cone-shaped UFO pacing plane
September, 20, 1966 - Near Sebring, Florida, United States
A Winter Haven, Florida, private pilot reported he fled from a giant cone-shaped UFO which kept his plane in shadow for about three minutes on the morning of September 20, 1966. "That thing had not changed in size at all, but was still with me and pacing me. It was still as big as a football field." View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ID: 552
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew
Experienced pilot and passenger sight disc-shaped UFO with dome on top
May, 21, 1966 - Near Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States
An 18,000-hour pilot and his passenger made a clear daylight sighting of a disc-shaped UFO with a dome on top on the afternoon of May 21, 1966 near Willow Grove, Pa. "It was as clear as seeing a Cadillac drifting by at 100 yards," said William C. Powell. Currently active in executive-transport flying, Powell was a pilot for the Dutch KLM airlines, and before that for the U.S. Air Force and RCAF. View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ID: 551
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew
Over 200 students witness saucer-shape object, physical traces left behind (Westall Incident)
April, 6, 1966 - Westall, Australia
More than 200 students and staff from two schools watched as the object landed in a nearby paddock, lifted off and vanished. It was a low-flying, silver/grey shining object, either of classical flying saucer shape or close to it, "a cup turned upside down on a saucer". The UFO appears to have left a circle of scorched grass. View full report
Source: The Age (Australia), October 2, 2005 ID: 591
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Physical Trace, Group Sighting, Children, Witness Photo, Landing, Witness Sketch
Saucer-shaped UFO with dome seen in Western Pennsylvania
October, 1965 - Pennsylvania, United States
"I saw this saucer shaped disc with a dome on top about 500 to 800 feet up in the sky in front of me. It was silver yellow in color and about 30 feet in diameter. It went vertical for about 1000 feet, then made a sharp angle and disappeared at a high rate of speed, 2 or 3 seconds, no noise." View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 765
Case Type: RawReport
Rex Heflin UFO Photographs
August, 3, 1965 - Santa Ana, California, United States
Rex Heflin, an Orange County highway inspector, was at work in a county vehicle at 12:37 P.M when he saw a hat-shaped (disc with dome) object hovering above the road. He grabbed his Polaroid camera and took three photographs of the metallic-appearing object and a fourth of a black "smoke ring" left behind by the object. View full report
Source: STUDIOVNI ID: 253
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Photo
Idaho 'Mining UFOs'
1965 - Spring Creek Ridge, Idaho, United States
Two men were camped on a bluff overlooking a valley. When they awoke in the early morning they noticed a shiny spot on the ore dump of a Spring Creek Mine across the valley. Using the scopes affixed to their rifles, they observed the "shiny object" which actually was one of four which were hovering over the ore dump. Protruding from the top of the objects were four hose-like devices which were inserted into the slag piles and were moving around. View full report
Source: APRO Bulletin, Vol. 22 No. 2 (Sept/Oct 1973) ID: 300
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Portholes/Windows, Multiple UFOs
Immense cone-shaped object crosses low over highway
December, 21, 1964 - Near Staunton, Virginia, United States
Horace Burns, a gunsmith in Harrisonburg, saw an immense cone-shaped object cross low over the highway ahead of him. "It was 125 feet in diameter, at least, and 80 to 90 feet high," he later reported. Its circular, sloping sides rose toward the top in six large, concentric convolutions that decreased in diameter and were surmounted by a dome. View full report
Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ID: 553
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Landing, Physical Trace
Disc-shaped UFO, larger than full moon, seen by police officers and others
September, 26, 1963 - Sunnyvale, California, United States
During the early morning of September 26, 1963, a UFO was sighted by people in scattered locations around the San Francisco Bay area. Officer Galen Anderson of Sunnvale Police Dept. observed the UFO for 45 seconds and submitted a particularly detailed report. This object appeared larger than a full moon, according to Officer Anderson, about basketball size at about 8 feet away. View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall, 1964 (reported in San Jose Mercury News and SF Chronicle) ID: 645
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Police, Group Sighting
A Gigantic 'Cigar' Over the Atlantic In 1963
May, 1963 - Over the Atlantic Ocean,
Almost beneath the DC-8, was a gigantic dark grey 'torpedo'. It seemed menacing and frightening, and I had the impression that it was stationary. It was utterly unlike anything that I had ever seen in my whole life. It looked as though made of steel. No portholes or windows were visible. No wings or projections. Nothing but the long perfect torpedo form, with its bullet-shaped head, and the rear end which was cut off sharply andsquarely. View full report
Source: Flying Saucer Review, Volume 46/4, Winter 2001 ID: 139
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew
Disc landing in reservoir, part of series of sightings in New Jersey
September, 15, 1962 - Oradell, New Jersey, United States
A series of New Jersey police sightings after a reported disc landing in a reservoir. The action began on September 15, when two shiny discs were seen by multiple independent witnesses. On September 21, four Hawthorne police officers watched a device with two beams like headlights. Just after midnight, September 24, the same or a similar device was seen over the quarry by over a dozen Hawthorne police officers and the chief reporter of the N. J. State Press, George Della Penta. View full report
Source: Waterufo.net / NICAP UFO Investigator, Oct/Nov 1962 ID: 796
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Police, Water-Related, Multiple UFOs
Disc-shaped UFO hovers, then evades pursuit by pilot
October, 2, 1961 - Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
A grayish disc-shaped object which hovered, wobbling on its axis, then evaded pursuit, was sighted October 2, 1961 at Salt Lake City, Utah airport. Private pilot Waldo J. Harris, a real estate broker, investigated the object in his light aircraft as 8-10 ground personnel at the airport watched. The object was disc shaped, 50 feet in diameter, and 8-10 feet thick. View full report
Source: NICAP / Richard Hall (1964) from NICAP case report ID: 638
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Witness Sketch, Pilot/Aircrew, Group Sighting
The Cressy Cigar (Cigar-shaped object w/ satellite objects witnessed by Anglican minister and wife)
October, 4, 1960 - Cressy, Tasmania, Australia
The Cressy sighting remains as one of Tasmania's best known UFO sightings. The cigar shaped 'mothership' and attendant discs were witnessed by the local Church of England minister, the Reverend Lionel Browning and his wife. The case was investigated by the Royal Australian Air Force, details were taken by the Victorian UFO Society, whilst Prof: James E McDonald interviewed Rev Browning in 1967. View full report
Source: Keith Roberts, TUFOIC (Tasmanian UFO Investigation Center) ID: 897
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Clergy, Multiple UFOs
The Cordoba/Yacanto Argentina Photograph
1960 - Cordoba, Argentina
This sighting is one of the best recorded in Argentina. The witness is a high-ranking officer of the Argentinean Air Force (AAF), who by a fluke was able to obtain a remarkable photograph as supporting evidence of his encounter. Captain Niotti was driving from Yacanto toward Cordoba. He suddenly noticed a rather close and unusual object hovering near the ground and proceeded to take a photo of the object. View full report
Source: Dr. Willy Smith ID: 873
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Photo, Animal Reaction, Vehicle Encounter
Cigar-shaped object hovers near witness in Victoria, BC
1960 - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
The witness, Miss M. I. Footner of Victoria, was walking her dog, when she saw a bright dot of light just over Little Saanich Mountain. The light grew larger and larger, until suddenly the object was "above me and became stationary." The object was cigar-shaped and about 100 feet in length. Later she learned that a friend who lived nearby, Miss Audrey Winderburn, had seen a craft of similar appearance while outside attending to her horse. View full report
Source: Canadian UFO Report, Summer 1970 (credit: UFO*BC) ID: 807
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Body Lights, Silent
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
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
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
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
