PHILNEWS – The Phillips Petroleum Company Employee Magazine. 1954 Case

 May, 1954

ARE “flying saucers” from outer space?  Phillips Production employees and their families living at South Cole Creek camp, 25 miles east of Casper, Wyoming, can't answer this question, but they do know that they recently observed eight of these “objects” for a period of at least 15 minutes.

    Marge Michaelis, wife of sub-foreman A. L. Michaelis, describes the incident like this:

    ‘My two sons and I had just returned from Sunday school.  It was 11:30 am. As we got out of the car, our neighbor, Bill Eden, called to us, ‘What do you see up there?’ he asked, pointing to the sky.

“Looking to the north, I immediately spotted several extremely shiny round objects.  They looked about the size of a dime and were rapidly moving toward us.  Someone shouted, ‘Saucers!’

“Everyone watched as they came closer.  They seemed to go over, under and around each other in free easy maneuvers, giving the impression of a bubbling motion.  The objects moved.  south, then west, back east and finally drifted to the north.  They appeared to follow an arc, dropping down as they went into the north, then rising and dropping again as they neared us.

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.

Pilot Sees ‘Object’; Was It a F----- S-----?

 Saturday 27 March, 1954
Miami, Fla., Herald

Round and White

The Marines landed in Flying Saucer territory
Friday.

Spotting of a "round, unidentified object, white in color not glowing," was reported by Capt. Dan C. Holland, 33, of 5196 E. Fifth st., Hialeah.

Flying Saucer Story Number 29,119,109

 March, 1954
Fort Worth, Texas, Cross Country NEWS  Vol. 9 No. 8

       (Special to XC News)

MIAMI, Fla.–Flying saucers are real, says Bill Nash, first officer for Pan American World Airways, and offers an explanation why Air Force investigators do not reveal all they know.

      "I am convinced the Air Force has collected hardware from outer space," he told the Greater Miami Aviation Association.  "If it were to reveal possession of these objects or parts of them, it would have to establish proof.

      "I do not believe the Air Force cares to make all its findings public so long as the United States is threatened by unfriendly powers."

Men Report Big Ball In Sky - 1954 Case

 Friday, April 23, 1954
Lumberton, NC, Robesonian

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Six workmen, who had gathered late last night at a rural home near here to ride to work, told a reporter they watched a mysterious gleaming ball over the house for 20 minutes.  One of the men, Les Reatherford, said the ball once dived toward him, and that he had to duck to avoid being hit.

      "If I hadn't ducked it would have hit me sure," said Reatherford.

      The men, all employees of a Reynolds Metal Co., aluminum plant, described the white ball of light as about 10 feet in diameter.  They said it circled the house slowly, stopping for a moment at irregular intervals.

      One of the witnesses said the ball followed the men when they left in a station wagon.

      "We tried to put a spotlight on it," said one of the men, "but every time it would dodge the beam."

      Besides Reatherford, those who saw the object were Harley and Fred Skeets, Tom and Dayton Henderson, and John Vaughn.

Project 1947

Will Film Solve “Saucer” Riddle ?

Monday, Jan. 25, 1954

Melbourne, Australia, The Argus

 A short moving picture taken by a Department of Civil Aviation official in New Guinea may solve the flying-saucer mystery.

      The Federal Government has sent the film to U.S.A. for special processing.

      The film was taken with a telephoto lens at Port Moresby by Mr. T. C. Drury on August 23 last year, when he noticed "a cloud building up as though being formed by vapor trails."

      He said: “Suddenly an object appeared from one side of it and climbed very fast in a roughly northwesterly direction.”

      “It appeared to be some type of very high-speed aircraft, not a civil aircraft.”

      “In any case, from the extreme altitude of the object, it certainly could not have been a civil aircraft.”

Reports On “Saucers” Jam Phones

 Thursday, Jan. 7, 1954

Adelaide, South Australia, Advertiser

MELBOURNE. Jan. 6.

      Flying saucer reports today so blocked the telephone channels of the Civil Aviation Department's traffic control branch in Melbourne that the department had to ask the public for a "let-up."

      They followed an appeal by the department to forget their fear of ridicule and report unusual sights in the sky.

      In the past two days the reports were so numerous that the department had to qualify its appeal.

      It asked that all reports should be made in writing to its public relations section.

News and Views From Everywhere What Next ?

 Monday, November 30, 1953

Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) - The Worker

“Flying Saucers” reported from four Western capitals recently could be reconnaissance patrols from another planet, according to a theory from experts' views.  Major Keyhoe, a leading American investigator of “saucers”, said recently that people on earth wishing to observe another planet would send up a “mother spaceship” from which small patrol craft could be launched.  If attacked by fighter planes from the “other world” they would zoom away out of danger.  This was just as “saucers” picked up on a London anti-aircraft regiment's radar set on November 3 had behaved, said Major Keyhoe yesterday.  That explanation would supply the answer to the saucer mystery.

Traced Course Of Flying Saucer

 Thursday, November 26 1953

Rockhampton, Queensland (Australia) - Central Queensland Herald

LONDON.  November 19—The British War office today officially recognised the flying saucer.

A War Office report said that an anti-aircraft unit in south-east London, on November 3, picked up a signal on its radar screen unit and followed the track of the “object” which appeared “circular or spherical white in colour.”  The object was also seen through a telescope by men of the same unit the same day.

The Air Ministry said tonight that all reports of possible “saucers” were investigated, but in 95 percent of the cases there was a natural explanation.  They were either meteorites or reflections of sunlight or moonlight on aircraft.

More Flying Saucers - ROBERT S. ALLEN

Monday, November 23, 1953
Miami, Florida - Daily News

Washington, Nov. 23 — There is a new of batch significant “flying saucer” developments.  While these mysterious objects haven’t been in the headlines of late, they are still frequently and authoritatively reported throughout the world, and facilities and efforts to fathom them are increasing both in the U.S. and abroad.

Following are important developments that can be published:

The Air Force is preparing another special report on flying objects.

The Navy has established a research agency of its own to study these aerial devices.

“OPERATION UFO” The Official Truth about Flying Saucers BY Captain Walter Karig

 November 22, 1953

The American Weekly

Special Deputy to Chief of Information, U.S. Navy

What are these things we call Flying Saucers, the mysterious objects which have been reported floating, zooming, wobbling and soaring glowingly over our heads these last few years?  Are they optical illusions, guided missiles, maybe Russian, maybe men from Mars?

The Navy and the Air Force reject the popular name, Saucers, as well they might, because it belittles the subject. To those experts, the baffling phenomena are UFOs — Unidentifiable Flying Objects.

It has to be a doggone good unidentifiable flying object to earn the degree of UFO, but the percentage of those that pass the rigid examination runs pretty high. To surmount the test, the UFO has to be seen by persons of proved honesty and objectivity, who are able to report on the Thing's size, apparent shape, luminosity, speed and, if possible, radar return.

“Flying Saucer” Recognized

Saturday, November 21, 1953
Charters Towers, Queensland (Australia) - The Northern Miner

LONDON,  Friday. — The British War Office has officially recognised the flying saucer.

The War Office report said an anti-aircraft unit in south east London on November 3 picked up a signal on its radar screen unit [and] followed the track of the “object” which appeared “circular or spherical white in colour.”

The object was also seen through a telescope by men of the same unit on the same day.

Flying Saucer — Fact or Fancy ? | The Air Line Pilot Magazine

 October 1953

The Air Line Pilot Magazine

In an exclusive article to THE AIR LINE PILOT a well-known author reveals new facts on a controversial subject.

About the Article:

When Capt. Joe Hull's article, “Obituary of the Flying Saucers,” appeared last month, THE AIR LlNE PILOT had no idea of the furor it would whip up.  From letters received from our readers, the subject is obviously far from dead.  "’Give us another article, one for us 'believers,'" was the composite gist of their requests.  This is it.  The author, a freelance writer, has written numerous articles on Flying Saucers and is authoring a forthcoming book, “Flying Saucers from Outer Space.”  This article is based on research and facts compiled in the writing of that book.  It has been cleared by the Department of Defense and contains some facts released to the public for the first time.  This story may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the copyright owner, Henry Holt and Co., New York.

By Major Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC, Ret.

IN a recent issue of the Air Line Pilot, Capt Joe Hull predicted that 1953 should mark the end of the “flying saucers.”  After several months behind the scenes at the Pentagon, I believe Captain Hull has been misled like other sincere converts to the theories of Dr. Donald Menzel.

The Flying Saucers Are Still Alive

 

By this rebuttal, I hope to raise from the dead, (where ever Captain Joe Hull has buried them) the flying saucers.

I refer to his article (“OBITUARY OF THE FLYING SAUCERS”) published in the September, 1953 issue of THE AIRLINE PILOT.

Captain Hull has chided all of us who have believed and do believe in flying saucers by his assumption that historians will look upon these “flying saucer years” as, to quote him, “a ludicrous period in World History when men of all nations — but notably America — were agog with excitement over an apparition as nonsensical as the witches of Salem in the 17th Century.”

This attitude more than vaguely reminds me of an article I once read in a 1910 copy of one of the first aviation magazines; a publication called AIRCRAFT.  The article was entitled “Aerial Warfare” (spelled just that way) and was written by Hudson Maxim.  Mr Maxim's theme was “the aerial bomb, dropping from the high air, will never be widely destructive, reports of imaginative writers notwithstanding.”

We were just as stupid in 1926 when we persecuted Billy Mitchell for opposing this unprogressive doctrine, in spite of the fact that in 1921 he blew the hell out of the battleship “Ostfriesland” with 2000 pound bombs.

Obituary Of The Flying Saucers - The Air Line Pilot Magazine

September 1953

By Capt. Joe Hull

When historians compile their chronicles of the 20th century they will record an age of scientific progress unparalleled in the annals of mankind. Of the 2000 years since Christ, none will rate so much attention as that 100 years which brought the world the auto, the airplane, radio and television, wonder drugs, and atomic energy, with either its concomitant wars of dreadful devastation or a jittery world at “peace,” poised precariously on the brink of self-destruction.

But if the scribes are faithful, in their chores they will record six of the most utterly fantastic years — an incredible period for such a modern age — that fell during the exact middle of the century, during which a series of events transpired that will appear so unbelievable as to tax the credulity of the men commissioned to write of them.  Little wonder if they hesitate to set down the account of this ludicrous period in world history when men of all nations — but notably America — were agog with excitement over an apparition as nonsensical as the witches of Salem in the 17th century.

JET PILOT CHASES ODD OBJECT

Naval Aviation News

 April, 1953

Naval Aviation News  April 1953

MCAS Cherry Point—A favorite ready room conversation for Second Marine Air Wing pilots has been the story of the “flying saucer” which recently outsped an F9F Panther jet flying more than 500 mph.

The jet pilot, 1st Lt. Ed Balocco, was on a local night flight from ALF [Auxiliary Landing Field] EDENTON when alerted by Norfolk Navy tower to watch for a silver object sighted from the ground near the North Carolina-Virginia line.

Over Washington, N. C, the VMF-224 pilot said, “I saw what looked like an airplane with red lights which appeared to be below me ....  It moved from below me 10,000 feet vertically in a matter of seconds.”

Balocco said he poured on the coal and could not close on the object at first, then closed rapidly.  At a distance of 10 miles, it looked about a quarter of an inch wide and three inches long to the lieutenant's vision.  From that he considered it a “big” object, the color of white heat and throwing out a glow.  It had what appeared to be two red lights on the left-hand side, flashing and bouncing off the end, inscribing an arc.

Airmen Sight Strange Object Soaring Over North Korea

 Monday, April 20, 1953

Washington, DC - Washington Star

By the Associated Press

SEOUL, Korea, Apr. 20–(Monday.)–AP–Four U. S. Army airmen Sunday reported seeing a small "white, rounded, delta-shaped object" flying at 60 to 80 miles an hour over Communist territory on the Korean western front.

An official intelligence report said the sighting was made north of Pork Chop and Old Baldy hills where heavy fighting has raged the past few days.

AN OFFICER with a front line division who asked not to be identified by name told Associated Press that other luminous objects traveling at super-sonic speeds of 800 miles per hour, had been observed in the Baldy-Pork Chop area and tracked on radar--also within the last few days.

However the official G-2 report made no mention of these other incidents.

Summary of Navy incident over the Sea of Japan involving EME and radar tracking and about 70 aggressive non-firing passes by unknowns

Tuesday, April 14, 1953

by Brad Sparks

April 14, 1953.  Sea of Japan (at 43°07' N, 135°40' E, about 200 mi E of Vladivostok, USSR).  9:23-11:50 p.m. (Japan time UTC+9).  US Navy Pacific Fleet P2V Neptune [probably P2V-3W electronic ferret ELINT spy] aircraft flying at 9,000 ft [and ~200 mph] course 245° observed 2 bright lights flashing in [Morse?] code letter "D."

Lockheed P2V-3W Airborne Early Warning/ELINT Neptune

The 2 unidentified aircraft paced the P2V from a position [radar-tracked] about 12 miles away to a point 170 NM (~195 mi) along its flight path, at 41°45'N, 132°20'E (heading towards N Korea [along course 242° at approx. 10:15 p.m.]), where 3 additional unidentified aircraft joined.  All unidentified aircraft closed to 3 miles when the P2V descended to 2,000 ft.

P2V continued along [great-circle course, bearing now 240°, additional ~76 mi to approx. 41°12' N, 131°04' E] when at 10:43 p.m. the P2V turned [ESE at 115° initial bearing and away from N Korea and the pursuing UFO's] and flew towards [Niigata] Japan to 39°05'N, 136°33'E [latter point ~160 mi from Niigata Air Base, Japan, 37°57' N, 139°08' E, along ~118° great-circle course], descending to 400 ft above the ocean.

At least 5 more unidentified aircraft joined making a minimum total of 10 UFO's.  Night was extremely dark with ceiling and visibility unlimited.  No recognition features seen [no wings, tails, etc.] on the unidentified aircraft despite 100+ separate aircraft Close Encounters to within 400 ft (except what was interpreted as an occasional jet glow).

From 10:43 p.m. until about 11:50 p.m. the P2V was the target of at least "70 aggressive non-firing passes" or "attacks."  UFO tactics were to have one UFO on the P2V's quarter at about 7 miles away.  The other UFO's made "high speed runs," some from abeam of the P2V but most from astern (behind the P2V) all 70 "attacks" passing under the P2V still flying at 400 feet [but now increasing to ~300 mph near max speed to escape attacks].  At least 10 passes were made by 4 UFO's in formation with runs from astern all passing below the P2V, at 400 ft.

Pilot Sees Flying Saucer

Naval Aviation News February, 1953

Naval Aviation News

VC-3 Leader is Only Observer 

VC-3—Four Corsairs from this squadron were flying down to San Diego for a qualification cruise abroad the Valley Forge when Lt. C. A. Johnson saw something that made him come alert.

Like a dutiful flight leader he called his three squadron mates to say “plane 12 o’clock about 20”.  Shortly after he noticed the “plane” was much nearer and heading straight for the flight on an opposite course and below.

     

F4U 5N Corsair in US Navy VC-3 Livery

He called the flight again, and while thus occupied the object passed directly below them “like a bat out of ----!”

Before he could stutter, “Hey, look at the flying saucer!” it was gone.

Bill Boss Claims Flying Saucers No Longer Joke

 Thursday, January 29, 1953

Ottawa, Canada, - Ontario Journal

VANCOUVER, Jan. 29 —(CP)—Flying saucers no longer are a joke to Bill Boss, Canadian Press war correspondent.

Back from Korea, he said in an interview Wednesday that he is impressed with the reports of fighter-bomber pilots telling of flying saucers—disc clusters “or whatever they are called”.

Boss told of reports from “seven independent” pilots on the same day, January 9.

“There is more to this than we all thought", he said.  “I think the story of the discs was the most significant to come out of Japan.”