Five Citizens Back Marine On Sighting Flying Saucer - 1954 Case

 Sunday 4 April, 1954
Miami, Fla., Daily News

By LARRY BIRGER

Miami Dally News Staff WriterCaptain Holland

       Spotting a “flying saucer” is one thing.

       Making your friends believe it is quite another, a Marine flier  who “saw” the first one this young spring season has discovered.

       But even though most of his buddies are skeptical, Capt. Robert Holland, 32, has received “fan mail” from five citizens who are certain the pilot’s eyes haven’t gone bad.

       Holland several days ago spotted a “strange object” about 25,000 feet up over the ocean east of Fort Lauderdale, and quickly reported it to his superior officers.

Expected Ribbing

       “I’d never have reported it if I didn’t believe there was something in the sky,” he explained, “because I knew I’d be in for a big ribbing.

       “Two pilots have told me that on another occasion they saw what they thought was a saucer but didn’t report it because of the razzing they knew would come.“

       Fortunately, Holland’s wife already believed in flying saucers before her husband did, so he didn’t have any trouble convincing her he’d seen the real thing.

'Something Up There'

       “She really believed in them,“ Holland related.  “But I didn’t until I saw one.  It didn’t look like a saucer, but there certainly was something up there.“

       Holland, in drawing what he saw, described the “strange object“ as a round, silvery-white ball with a golden platform circling the lower half of it.

       “The thing was flying away from me, at double my speed.  I called to the other pilots in the formation, but it was gone before they could spot it,” he said.

Nothing Like It

       In his more than 2,800 flying hours, the captain, who won six battle stars and two Distinguished Flying Crosses in the Korean War, said he’d never seen anything like it.

       “I don’t have the slightest idea what it was. I’d sure like to know, though,” he said.

       “As soon as I hit the ground the ribbing began. Some of the fellows have kept it up, but after I reported it to Washington, most of the razzing stopped.

       “I’ll bet there are quite a few of them out here now that believe I saw one.“

Others Saw It

        Since the incident, five persons in the vicinity of Fort Lauderdale have written Holland saying they saw something in the air the same day.

       “An old lady of 68 wrote me,” the captain said.  “'People thought I was crazy’,” she related, “‘until they saw the story in the paper.  Now they believe me’.”

       A school teacher said that her students saw something, and an elderly man wrote the same thing, Holland added.

       “Maybe we’re not so crazy after all.“