1951
Jan. 8, 1951; South of Ft. Worth, Texas. 10:45 p.m.
Witnesses: Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Boggus, plus unidentified drivers and passengers in other cars stopped to watch. Two groups of red and green lights in triangular formations were stationary and then moved.
Jan. 12, 1951; Ft. Benning, Georgia. 10 p.m.
Witness: U.S. Army 2nd Lt. A.C. Hale. One light with a fan-shaped wake remained motionless like a star about 20 minutes and then sped away.
Jan 16, 1951; Artesia, New Mexico. Time unknown.
Witnesses: Two members of a balloon project from the General Mills . Aeronautical Research Laboratory, the manger of the Artesia Airport, and three pilots. The balloon crew was observing their 110′ balloon at an altitude of 112,000′ when a dull white, round object was spotted. It appeared larger than the balloon but made no movement. Later, the balloon crew and the others saw two objects from the airport; flying side-by-side, they circled the balloon and flew away to the northeast. The second observation lasted about 40 seconds. Note: there is confusion over the date of this case, with some USAF records showing it as 1952; however, 1951 appears to be correct.
Feb. 1, 1951; Johnson Air Base, Japan. 5:10 p.m.
Witnesses: pilot and radar operator of an F-82 night fighter. One amber light made three or four 360* turns to the right, reversed toward the F-82 and then climbed out of sight.
Feb. 21, 1951; Durban, South Africa. 4:55 a.m.
Witnesses: three men in a truck, several other persons, none named. A dark red, torpedo-shaped object with darker center, flew straight and level.
Feb. 26, 1951; Ladd AFB, Alaska. 7:10 a.m.
Witness: USAF Sgt. J.B. Sells. One dull grey, metallic object, estimated to be 120′ long and 10-12′ thick, hovered, puffed smoke and sped away after 1-1.5 minutes. Note: may have been Feb. 25.
Mar. 10, 1951; Chinnampo, Korea. 9:51 a.m.
Witnesses: crew of USAF B-29 bomber, including scanners and a tail gunner. A large red-yellow glow burst and became blue-white. No further information in files.
Mar. 13, 1951; McClellan AFB, California. 3:20 p.m.
Witnesses: USAF 1st Lt. B.J. Hastie, Mrs. Rafferty. A cylinder with twin tails, 200′ long and 90′ wide, turned north and flew at incredible speed. Two minutes.
Mar. 15, 1951; New Delhi, India. 10:20 a.m.
Witnesses: 25 members of a flying club, including the chief aerial engineer and his two assistants. One metallic cigar-shaped object with white exhaust which turned black when it accelerated to an estimated 1,000 m.p.h. and made a large loop. Seven minutes.
June 1, 1951; Niagara Falls, New York. 4:20 a.m.
Witnesses: M/Sgt H.E. Sweeney, 2 enlisted men. One glowing yellow-orange, saucer-shaped object with arc-shaped wings, flew straight up. Seen for 30-40 seconds.
July 24, 1951; Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 7:10
Witnesses: Hanscom AFB Operations Officer Capt. Cobb, Cpl. Fein. One 100-200′ tubular object, 5 times long as it was wide, with fins at one end, and colored greyish with many black spots. Flew 800-1,000 m.p.h. at 1-2,000′ altitude, leaving a faint swath. 20 seconds.
Aug. 25, 1951; Albuquerque, New Mexico. 9:58 p.m.
Witnesses: Sandia Base Security Guard Hugh Young and wife. A flying wing-shaped craft passed over their heads at an estimated 800-1,000′ altitude with no sound. Size estimated at 1.5 times wingspan of a B-36 bomber, or 350′. Dark, chordwise stripes on the underside, and 6-8 pairs of soft, glowing lights on trailing edge of “wing“. Speed estimated at 300-400 m.p.h., object seen for about 30 seconds.
Aug. 31, 1951; Matador, Texas. 12:45 p.m.
Witnesses: Mrs. Tom Tilson, one or two other women, all apparently of excellent reputations. One pear-shaped object with a length of a B-29 fuselage (100‘), aluminum or silver with a port or some type of aperture on the side. It moved with smaller end forward, drifting slowly at about 150’ altitude, then headed up in a circular fashion and out of sight after a few seconds.
Sept. 6, 1951; Claremont, California. 7:20 p.m. (not really clear).
Witnesses: S/Sgt W.T. Smith, M/Sgt L.L. Duel (?). Six orange lights in an irregular formation flew straight and level into a coastal fog bank after 3-4 minutes.
Sept. 14, 1951; Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. 9:30 p.m.
Witnesses: T/Sgt W.B. Maupin, Cpl. J.W. Green. Three objects tracked on radar. Two were on a collision course, then one evaded to the right upon the request, by radio, of one of the radar operators! No aircraft were known to be in the area. A third unidentified track then joined the first two. More than 15 minutes.
Oct. 2, 1951; Columbus, Ohio. 6 p.m.
Witness: Battelle Memorial Institute graduate physicist Howard Cross. One bright oval with a clipped tail flew straight and level, fading into the distance after 1 minute.
Oct. 3, 1951; Kadena, Okinawa. 10:27 p.m.
Witnesses: radar operators Sgt. M.W. Watson and Pvt. Gonzales and one other Sergeant. One large, sausage-shaped blip tracked at an estimated 4,800 m.p.h.
Oct. 9, 1951; Terre Haute, Indiana. 1:42 p.m.
Witness: CAA Chief Aircraft Communicator Roy Messmore at Hulman Municipal Airport. One round silver object flew directly overhead, reaching the horizon in 15 seconds. Note: a very similar incident happened 3 minutes later near Paris, Illinois (15 miles NW) and was also listed as “unidentified” for several years, but was eventually reclassified.
Oct. 11, 1951; Minneapolis, Minnesota. 6:30 a.m.
Witnesses: General Mills balloon researchers, including aeronautical engineer J.J. Kaliszewski, aerologist C.B. Moore, pilot Dick Reilly in the air, and Doug Smith on the ground. The flight crew saw the first object, a brightly glowing one with a dark underside and a halo around it. The object arrived high and fast, then slowed and made slow climbing circles for about two minutes, and finally sped away to the east. Soon they saw another one, confirmed by ground observers using a theodolite, which sped across the sky. Total time first object was seen was 5 minutes, second was a few seconds.
Nov. 18, 1951; Washington, D.C. 3:20 a.m.
Witnesses: Crew of Capital Airlines DC-4 Flight 610, Andrews AFB Senior air traffic controller Tom Selby. One object with several lights followed the DC-4 for about 20 minutes and then turned back.
Nov. 24, 1951; Mankato, Minnesota. 33:53 p.m.
Witnesses: USAF or ANG pilots W.H. Fairbrother and D.E. Stewart in P-51 Mustangs. One milky white object shaped like Northrop flying wing (broad, slightly swept-back wing with no fuselage or tail). Estimated 8′ span. Flew straight and level for 5 seconds.
Dec. 7, 1951; Sunbury, Ohio. 4:30 p.m.
Witness: amateur astronomer Carl Loar. One silvery sphere seen through a telescope. Two specks sighted at sides, object seemed to explode and was replaced by a dark cloud and many specks. 30 minutes.
Dec. 7, 1951; Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 8:15 a.m.
Witness: Atomic Energy Commission guard J.H. Collins. One 20′ square object, white-grey but not shiny flew above the ridge to clouds and back again twice, taking 30-40 seconds each time.
1952
Feb. 11, 1952; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 3 a.m.
Witnesses: Capt. G.P. Arns and Maj. R.J. Gedson flying a Beech AT-ll trainer. One yellow-orange comet-shaped object pulsed flame for 1-2 seconds of a 1 minute straight and level flight.
Feb. 23, 1952; over North Korea. 11:15 p.m.
Witness: Captain/B-29 navigator. One bluish cylinder, three times long as wide, with a tail and rapid pulsations, came in high and fast, made several turns and leveled out under B-29 which was evading mild antiaircraft fire. 45-second sighting.
March 20, 1952; Centreville, Maryland. 10:42 p.m.
Witnesses: WWl/WW2 veteran A.D. Hutchinson and son. One dull orange-yellow saucer-shaped light flew straight and level very fast for 30 seconds.
March 23, 1952; Yakima, Washington. 6:56 and 7 p.m.
Witnesses: pilot and radar operator of F-94 jet interceptor. On either occasion, a red fireball increased in brightness and then faded over a 45-second span. Stationary both times.