UFO Case Report:

Canadian military pilots see and photograph UFO

Date: August 27, 1956
Location: 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.

Classification & Features

Type of Case/Report: StandardCase
Hynek Classification: 
Special Features/Characteristics: Photo, Military, Pilot/Aircrew

Full Report / Article

Source: STUDIOVNI

August 27, 1956, near McCleod, Alberta, Canada. The witnesses were two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots who were flying in a formation of four F86 Sabre jet aircraft. The planes were flying due west over the Canadian Rockies at 36,000 feet about one hour before sunset. One of the pilots saw a "bright light which was sharply defined and disk-shaped," that resembled "a shiny silver dollar sitting horizontal," situated below the planes but above a thick layer of clouds. It appeared to be considerably brighter than sunlight reflecting off the clouds. The duration of the sighting was estimated to be between 45 seconds and 3 minutes. The first pilot to notice the object reported the observation to the flight leader and then took a photograph on a Kodachrome color slide. This case and this photograph were subsequently analyzed by Dr. Bruce Maccabee (Maccabee, 1996). Maccabee has presented an argument against the propositions that the phenomenon is due either to reflection of sunlight by the clouds or to lightning. From the available data, Maccabee estimates the luminosity of the object (the power output within the spectral range of the film) to be many megawatts. ("Physical Evidence Related to UFO Reports" - The Sturrock Panel Report)

Dr. Bruce Maccabee's analysis is available online in PDF format:
http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/pdf/13.2_maccabee.pdf

Case ID: 255 edit: 255

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