Introduction. Page I iii Abstract. Explanation of nicap and its policies

Officials & Citizens

The reports of technically trained observers, military and civilian pilots, in themselves are sufficient to make a strong case for UFOs. However, when we also realize that a broad cross- section of reputable citizens has described identical phenomena, it seems incredible that UFOs are not an acknowledged fact. The disc-shaped, elliptical and other main types of UFOs observed by pilots and scientists have been reported with great frequency by such responsible persons as judges, civil defense officials, professors, lawyers and clergymen.

Some of these individual observer categories could fill another complete section of this report. From the hundreds of cases on file, the following have been selected to provide a survey of what has been seen by officials and private citizens of various back grounds.

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

Police switchboards normally and logical are the first to be swamped with calls during concentrations of sightings, since there is no established procedure for citizens to follow when they see a UFO. Examples abound of cases in which police responded to citizens' reports of UFOs, and saw the objects for themselves. Police Officers on patrol duty, too, have observed unexplainable objects maneuvering overhead.

During a six-day concentration of UFO sightings in northern California, August 13-18, 1960, at least 14 police officers were among the numerous witnesses. At 11:50 p.m. (PDT) August 13, State Policeman Charles A. Carson and Stanley Scott were patrolling near Red Bluff when they noticed an object low in the sky directly ahead of them. (Their report of the sighting was put on the police teletype, a copy of which was submitted to NICAP confidentially by a police source. Later, NICAP Adviser Walter N. Webb contacted Officer Carson and was sent another copy of the teletype report, a sketch of the UFO, and a letter giving additional information.)

Verbatim text of the police teletype report to the Area Commander:

"STATEMENT MADE BY OFFICER CHARLES A. CARSON CONCERNING OBJECT OBSERVED ON THE NIGHT OF AUGUST 13, 1960.

Officer Scott and I were E/B on Hoag Road, east of Corning, looking for a speeding motorcycle when we saw what at first appeared to be a huge airliner dropping from the sky. The object was very low and directly in front of us. We stopped and leaped from the patrol vehicle in order to get a position on what we were sure was going to be an airplane crash. From our position outside the car, the first thing we noticed was an absolute silence. Still assuming it to be an aircraft with power off, we continued to watch until the object was probably within 100 feet to 200 feet off the ground, when it suddenly reversed completely, at high speed, and gained approximately 500 feet altitude. There the object stopped. At this time it was clearly visible to both of us. It was surrounded by a glow making the round or oblong object visible. At each end, or each side of the object, there were definite red lights. At times about five white lights were visible between the red lights. As we watched the object moved again and performed aerial feats that were actually unbelievable.

At this time we radioed Tehama County Sheriff's Office requesting they contact local radar base. The radar base confirmed the UFO - completely unidentified.

Officer Scott and myself, after our verification, continued to watch the object. On two occasions the object came directly towards the patrol vehicle; each time it approached, the object turned, swept the area with a huge red light. Officer Scott turned the red light on the patrol vehicle towards the object, and it immediately went away from us. We observed the object use the red beam approximately 6 or 7 times, sweeping the sky and ground areas. The object began moving slowly in an easterly direction and we followed. We proceeded to the Vina Plains Fire Station where it was approached by a similar object from the south. It moved near the first object and both stopped, remaining in that position for some time, occasionally emitting the red beam. Finally, both objects disappeared below the eastern horizon. We returned to the Tehama County Sheriff's Office and met Deputy Fry and Deputy Montgomery, who had gone to Los Molinos after contacting the radar base. Both had seen the UFO clearly, and described to us what we saw. The night jailer also was able to see the object for a short time; each described the object and its maneuvers exactly as we saw them. We first saw the object at 2350 hours and observed it for approximately two hours and 15 minutes. Each time the object neared us we experienced radio interference.

We submit this report in confidence for your information. We were calm after our initial shock, and decided to observe and record all we could of the object.

Stanley Scott 1851

Extracts from Officer Carson's letter of November 14, 1960, in answer to Adviser Webb's questions:

"We made several attempts to follow it, or I should say get closer to it, but the object seemed aware of us and we were more successful remaining motionless and allow it to approach us, which it did on several occasions.

"There were no clouds or aircraft visible. The object was shaped somewhat like a football, the edges (here I am confused as to what you mean by edges, referring to the outside visible edges of the object as opposed to a thin, sharp edge, no thin sharp edges were visible) or I should say outside of the object were clear to us . . . [the] glow was emitted by the object, was not a reflection of other lights. The object was solid, definitely not transparent. At no time did we hear any type of sound except radio interference.

"The object was capable of moving in any direction. Up and down, back and forth. At times the movement was very slow. At times it was completely motionless. It moved at high (extremely) speeds and several times we watched it change directions or reverse itself while moving at unbelievable speeds.

"When first observed the object was moving from north to south [patrol car moving almost due east]. Our pursuit led in an easterly direction and object disappeared on eastern horizon. It was approximately 500 feet above the horizon when first observed, seemingly falling at approximate 45 degree angle to the south.

"As to the official explanation [See Section IX.], I have been told we saw Northern lights, a weather balloon, and now refractions.

"I served 4 years with the Air Force, I believe I am familiar with the Northern lights, also weather balloons. Officer Scott served as a paratrooper during the Korean Conflict. Both of us are aware of the tricks light can play on the eyes during darkness. We were aware of this at the time. Our observations and estimations of speed, size, etc. came from aligning the object with fixed objects on the horizon. I agree we find it difficult to believe what we were watching, but no one will ever convince us that we were witnessing a refraction of light.

/s/ Charles A. Carson

Calif. Highway Patrol." [1]

Six police officers in four adjoining counties of Northeast Ohio, in five separate locations, independently observed UFO activity within a 15 minute period September 18, 1962. The officers were: State Policemen Roger A. Stinard, and David McCurry; Mahoning County Deputy Sheriff Donald E. Corey, Carroll County Police Officers James Nelson and Delmus Early, Patrolman Dave Richey of Canal Fulton. All reported a generally north east or east direction, but in two of the observations the UFOs maneuvered across the sky. Comparison of the reports strongly suggests that associated phenomena were observed.

September 18, 1962 5:00-5:15 a.m. EDT

Over the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, in an area about 60 miles in diameter, UFOs were seen on several occasions during the week of October 21-27, 1962. On the night of the 25th between 6:40 and 8:15 p.m., police officers in Delta and Cedaredge observed two bright objects "shaped like an inverted umbrella with a number of bright tail-like appendages." [cf., September 24, 1959, Redmond, Oregon; Section V.] Cedaredge Marshal Ed Marah and State Policeman Richard Kuta (who later declined to answer NICAP questions) watched the UFOs through binoculars, and said they changed color, at various times appearing blue, white and orange.

The sighting was confirmed to NICAP by another witness, Mrs. Helen G. Mitchell, Police Dispatcher at Delta County Court House. [3.] At 6:40 p.m., while on duty, she received a call from the Civil Defense Coordinator advising her to look out to see an object in the sky. Through the window of the Dispatcher's office she saw to the NE a bright white object, which changed color rapidly, "flashing or blinking."

"Since I was on duty in the Radio Room," Mrs. Mitchell told NICAP, "and under the rules of the F.C.C., I am unable to give any information which I received via short wave radio from Units reporting to me on these sightings."

The object she saw turned reddish, then to dark glowing red, and back to "dazzling white." It rose and lost altitude jerkily while moving slowly SW toward her position, then stopped and hovered for about 25 minutes. Finally it drifted out of her line of sight to the SE. She thought it might be some type of balloon "because of the jerky way in which it rose and lost altitude." However, weather balloons are only faintly visible, rise quickly and burst, and do not hover for 25 minutes. Larger high-altitude research balloons do remain in flight for days, but are not brilliantly lighted. Nor do they normally operate in pairs, as reported by Marshal Marah and Officer Kuta.

Disc On Edge Reported

During the early morning of September 26, 1963, a UFO was sighted by people in scattered locations around the San Francisco Bay area. Paul Cerny, Chairman of the Bay Area NICAP Sub committee, conducted an investigation and located nine witnesses. (The sighting was reported September 26 in the San Jose Mercury News Los Altos Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.) A particularly detailed report was obtained from officer Galen Anderson of the Sunnyvale Police Department, who observed the UFO for about 45 seconds.

About 4:20 a.m., Officer Anderson was patrolling the streets in a squad car. A radio call from other officers alerted him, and he stopped to watch the UFO. The object was traveling from east to west at an elevation angle of about 45 degrees, at about the speed of a propeller-driven aircraft. The leading edge was brightly illuminated, the main body grayish in color, with a small point of light visible on it. (See sketches and description prepared by Bay Area Subcommittee). The UFO then made a turn toward the northwest, was momentarily visible edge-on, then quickly disappeared from view.

In nearby Monta Vista about 4:15 a.m., George W. Scott was on the job as a supervisor at the Permanente Cement Company. One of the work crew called his attention to a strange object in the sky, and he watched its flight for about a minute. To him, it appeared that the UFO stopped briefly each time the small body light pulsed, then moved 3 to 4 degrees between pulses. The UFO continued on a westerly course, disappearing behind the coastal mountains.

This object appeared larger than a full moon, according to Officer Anderson, about basketball size at about 8 feet away. It appeared as a disc on edge, with about 3/4 or more of its outline showing. The trailing 1/4 of the circle, if it were there, appeared more or less invisible. Police Officer Lt. Haag told Anderson that he saw what appeared as heat waves in this quarter area and further to the rear. The disc appeared grayish in color except when the small spot of light ("A") lighted up about every 3 to 4 seconds. The color then changed to yellowish - white, some trace of orange, but predominately along the front leading edge portion ("B"). This produced a pulsing effect every three or four seconds. This, in turn. gave an eerie lighted haze or mist illumination of the area just outside the disc circle itself as if it were glowing or surrounded by a gas, or thin cloud, halo, etc. At each 3-4 second pulse, the small inner bright light would move around erratically to various new positions within the disc area.

The object was visible about 45 seconds to Officer Anderson and traveled in a perfectly straight line over Sunnyvale toward Los Altos, then suddenly made a turn and was momentarily edgewise and vertical to Anderson's vision, then immediately disappeared from sight. Officer Anderson and Lt. Haag were only about a third of a mile apart at the time and Officer Girard was perhaps a mile to their northeast. Speed of the object was about that of a propeller driven military aircraft, elevation about 45 degrees from Officer Anderson, estimated altitude 4000-6000 ft., visible about 45 seconds. Brighter than full moon.

63

(Names and addresses of other witnesses on file at NICAP.)

A somewhat similar case during the winter of 1943 or 1944 was reported by Harry G. Barnes, then a member of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department stationed at No.1 Precinct. About 3:00 p.m., Barnes saw three oval-shaped UFOs in V-formation speed eastward across the NE sky. The objects had pulsating greenish-red "exhausts", which occasionally flared and curled around them. [5.]

State Policeman Fred Porcello, Portville, N.Y., saw two UFOs of uncommon configuration July 24, 1960. He described the sighting to Olean, N.Y., newsman Bob Barry who relayed the report to NICAP.

While Officer Porcello was playing in the yard with his children between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m., his youngest son, Fred Jr. (age 7) pointed to the sky and said: "Look Daddy, two light bulbs in the sky." He looked and saw two glowing reddish objects which did resemble light bulbs, moving toward them in the southern sky.

As the UFOs changed angle relative to the sun, they appeared silvery and metallic (suggesting that the glow was reflected sun light). They changed course to the NNW, then stopped and hovered for a short period of time. Then the objects made a fairly sharp right turn, heading east, swung back toward the south and moved out of sight in the distance. They had been visible 4-5 minutes. When not glowing, the UFOs appeared to be dumbbell-shaped, round on the ends with an oblong section between.

(On August 21, 1956, J. Gordon Campbell observed similar objects while flying between Sheridan, Wyoming, and Billings, Montana. Mr. Campbell is president of a Minneapolis machine tool and industrial supply company. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., a dark elongated object with knobs at each end rapidly approached his plane, hovered, then sped away. Seconds later, four similar objects maneuvered near his plane).