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

SECTION X

FOREIGN REPORTS

"Although we tend to think of flying saucers as peculiarly American, they are international in scope. England has had more reported sightings, per square mile of territory, than has the United States. France has had its share, not only sporadically, but also in one apparently major wave in the fall of 1954. Brazil, Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada and even several Iron Curtain countries have also been the sources of reports."-- Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Chief scientific consultant to Air Force on UFOs [Yale Scientific magazine, April 1963]

United States press coverage has sometimes given the impression that UFOs are wholly, or mostly, a native phenomenon. This is completely disproved by the evidence below. Nearly every nation on earth has had reports of sightings from reputable witnesses. Most have had official investigations, usually by military departments rather than scientific agencies. Organizations exist on every continent, privately pursuing the study of UFOs.

Wherever man travels on the globe, UFOs have been sighted. Ships at sea have reported strange objects [For example see Section II; U.S.S. Supply case]. Although not many reports have been made in the polar regions, this is no doubt due to the small populations and lack of opportunity for observations in these areas. It is worth noting that increased population in Antarctica, at scientific bases, has resulted in some reports. Even the natives of remote islands in the South Pacific have reported UFOs.

The following survey is a small sample of thousands of world-wide UFO reports, official statements and significant opinions. The section is divided by geographical regions: A. Western Hemisphere; B. Eastern Hemisphere; C. Oceana and Antarctica.

On April 16, 1952, RCAF Intelligence "went on record as believing that 'flying saucers' could not be laughed off as optical illusions." The spokesman termed UFOs a "bona fide phenomenon." Dr. Peter Millman, noted Dominion astrophysicist, stated: "We can't laugh off these observations." [1]

In the fall of 1953 the government Department of Transport announced establishment of a flying saucer laboratory designed to prove or disprove UFO reports. The laboratory, with scientific equipment to detect gamma rays, magnetic fluctuations, radio noises, etc., was headed by engineer W.B. Smith, later a member of the NICAP Panel of Advisers.

After the official project was closed in 1954 because of "embarrassing" publicity, Mr. Smith issued a statement: "The conclusions reached by Project Magnet and contained in the official report were based on a rigid statistical analysis of sighting reports and were as follows: There is a 91% probability that at least some of the sightings were of real objects of unknown origin. There is about a 60% probability that these objects were alien vehicles." [2]

July 9, 1957: An attorney in Hamilton, Ontario, with another witness watched a glowing white elliptical object speed overhead from SW to NE, about 9:05 p.m. [3]

December 12, 1957: Capt. J. A. Miller, Trans-Canada Air, Inc. pilot, flying between Toronto and Windsor about 7 p.m., saw a whirling orange oval object at about 2000 feet altitude, moving at "a terrific rate of speed." The UFO flashed across Lake Eric and was seen over a wide area before swinging back over the lake and disappearing. Other witnesses included employees of Windsor airport and police from every detachment in Southern Essex County. [4]

April 12, 1959: Control tower operators at St. Hubert Air Base, Montreal, and many others about 8 p.m. watched a reddish UFO which hovered over the base for several minutes, then darted away to the north. An RCAF spokesman stated: "It was a genuine UFO as far as we are concerned." [5] About the same time residents of north Montreal saw a red UFO, alternately described as round and cigar-shaped, which hovered low over a field, then climbed rapidly emitting "fiery sparks" from the underside.

Later official statements also paralleled U.S. policy. In a 1960 letter to a NICAP member, Group Captain L.C. Dilworth, for the Chief of the Air Staff, RCAF, stated: "The RCAF has recently implemented the JANAP 146 (D) procedure for the re porting of vital intelligence sightings [including UFOs; see Section IX]... Needless to say, the RCAF in concert with American forces is interested in all such reports and evaluation is done on a systematic basis. While the outcome of individual evaluations is not made public, you may rest assured that any threat to the security of Canada or the United States will be reflected in appropriate military plans." [6]

In 1961, RCAF Station Comox, British Columbia, stated in a letter to a NICAP member: "Most UFOB reports terminating at Headquarters are unclassified and there should be no reason to suspect that information on this subject is being withheld from the public. Such phenomena pose no threat to the safety of North America in so far as is known by this Headquarters... Station Comox does not receive directives which apply to the USAF AFR 200-2. This unit, however, does have a reporting guide to be used when phenomena is [sic] reported." (7]

(As in U.S. statements, note the emphasis on assurances that UFOs pose no threat, implying that the inquirer's letter is motivated by fear rather than curiosity.)

In 1961 the Canadian Defense Minister, Douglas S. Harkness wrote a NICAP member that official investigations "have not revealed positive evidence of anything which might affect national welfare and which could not be attributed to possible natural phenomena or mistaken identity." As of 1963, "The Air Officer Commanding Air Defense Command, is charged with the military investigation of Unidentified Flying Object reports. ... Information compiled by the RCAF, pertaining to this matter [UFOs], is not available to the public." [8]

Three USAF F-94 jet interceptors pursued a UFO January 22, 1952 which had been tracked on ground and airborne radar at a northern Alaska radar outpost. [See Section VIII; Radar].

(Alaska, of course, is now one of the United States, and is covered in this Section because of its geographical location).

Many additional sightings in past 12 years.

In 1958, Mr. Rafael Aveleyra, Minister of the Embassy of Mexico, Washington, in a letter to NICAP stated: "Please be advised that in accordance with the information just received from my Government, no reports have been received of unidentified flying objects within the area of Mexico, therefore no official investigation has been made." [10]

CENTRAL AMERICA

UFOs have been sighted regularly over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Central America [See December 6, 1952 Gulf of Mexico case; Coast Guard Cutter Sebago case, November 5, 1957, Section VIII; etc.] On January 23, 1959, the New York Times reported that a bright silver unidentified object, which had arced across the sky above the Panama Canal, had been tracked by U.S. radar.

A NICAP member in El Salvador who visited the NICAP office in 1961, informed us that UFO sightings were very common in her country, and that they were a regular topic of conversation, in schools and elsewhere.  

SOUTH AMERICA

The same is true of most South American countries, at least five of which have active UFO organizations. Two, Argentina and Brazil, have treated the subject more frankly and openly than any other nations.

Strong Argentine interest in UFOS is not surprising considering the well-documented cases which have occurred there. At Cordoba Airport, November 25, 1954, two luminous objects which hovered for nearly an hour were reported by Dr. Marcos Guerci, chief of the meteorological service; Carlos Bassoli, control tower operator; and many others. One UFO was roughly semi-circular, appearing like a disc on edge, the other circular. Dr. Guerci stated he believed he had observed "something foreign to our knowledge," according to the official report released by the Argentine Embassy. [12]

The most recent series of sightings in Argentina (as this is being written) began in May 1902, continuing throughout the year. The incidents included reported landings with resultant markings and stains on the ground, highly maneuverable luminous phenomena, electromagnetic effects, and other typical UFO features. [See Section XII; Argentine Chronology]

On May 22, 1962, UFOs were sighted four times in a period of about 35 minutes by a flight of Navy pilots in the vicinity of Espora Naval Air Base. In one instance, about 7:20 p.m., student pilot Roberto Wilkinson reported that a luminous object trailing his plane lit up his cockpit, and his radio-electric transmission failed as the UFO passed below his aircraft. [13]

Sightings continued throughout the summer, many concentrated around aircraft and airports. Over Floresta District, September 8, 1962, Lt. (j.g.) Juan Jose Vico sighted a "burnished metal" lenticular UFO making smooth and apparently controlled maneuvers, according to the report.

Investigations of the 1962 sightings by military authorities brought forth two statements. Capt. Luis Sanchez Moreno investigating for the Navy, told the press the Navy had been constantly concerned about UFOs since the great wave of global sightings in 1952. Following the sightings by Navy personnel in May 1962, the investigation report released by the Argentine Embassy concluded: "The testimonies of Naval Air Officer pilots and personnel of the Flying Course indicate the existence of abnormal luminous phenomenon." 

In addition to receiving good cooperation from the Embassy, NICAP is indebted to Mr. Thomas Williams, Fundacion Williams, Buenos Aires; Mr. Christian Vogt, Secretary of the "Comision Observadora de Objetos Voladores No Identificados (CODOVNI)" and Ing. William Kalocai, Director of the "Centro Investigador de Fenomenos Espaciales (C.I.F.E.)," Bahia Blanca, [14] for details of many Argentine UFO cases. At Ezeiza International Airport, Buenos Aires, December 22, 1962, a UFO was sighted about 3:00 a.m. Tower operators Horacio Alora and Mario Pezzutto were watching an Aerolineas Argentinas plane which was about to take off, and an approaching DC-8 jet operated by Panagra (a division of Pan American Airways).

One of the operators was radioing landing instructions when the jet Captain suddenly broke in:

"What's that thing at the end of the runway?"

An instant later, the same question came from one of the Argentine airliner pilots. Operator Alora turned and saw a large round object, glowing with an intense fiery light, at the head of runway 1-0-2-8. It had evidently descended while he and Pezzutto were watching the two airliners.

Because of the UFOs' brilliant glow, Alora could not tell whether it had actually touched down or was hovering just above the runway. At the moment he turned, the UFO rose about ten meters, hovering briefly. Then, rapidly accelerating, it took off on a northeast course. Before it disappeared, it was also seen by Operator Pezzutto.

During the 1962 sightings around Buenos Aires, as well as in remote areas of the country, key cases were reported freely on television. Argentina's treatment of the UFO question provides an interesting contrast with the secretive policy of the U. S. Government.

In 1958, the majority of experienced UFO investigators, many of whom had published bulletins or headed small UFO groups, formed the "Comissao Brasileira de Pesquisa Confidencial Sobre Objetos Aereos Nao Identificados (CBPCOANI)," a top level commission to promote scientific investigation of UFOs on an international basis. Members of the Commission include Dr. J. Escobar Faria (Attorney and author), a NICAP Adviser; Dr. Olavo Fontes, (M.D.), adviser to the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), Tucson, Arizona; Prof. Flavio Pereira President (also President of the Scientific Council, Brazilian Interplanetary Society); Cmdr. A.B. Simoes (airline official and writer). Significantly, the Commission includes representatives of the Brazilian armed services. As in Argentina, UFOs are considered an important problem justifying the formation of civilian-military agencies for continuous investigation.

Virtually every large coastal city, military base, and airport of Brazil has been visited by UFOs, and witnesses have included high-ranking officers, public officials and scientists.

A formation of "circular silver-colored" objects, apparently "mechanical" devices, were observed by FAB (Brazilian Air Force) officers and men, as well as airline personnel and civilians, as they sped over Porto Alegre AFB, October 24, 1954. [15]

(SAUCER)

PORTOALEGRE BRA2IL.--THE AIR FORCE BASE HERE REPORTED THAT "CIRCULAR, SILVER-COLORED OBJECTS MOVING AT TREMENDOUS SPEEDS HAD BEEN SIGHTED OVER THE BASE LAST SUNDAY.

A STATEMENT DISTRIBUTED BY THE BASE COMMAND SAID THE PHENOMENON WAS REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE AIR MINISTRY IN RIO DE JANEIRO WITH A REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION.

THE STATEMENT SAID THE BODIES WERE NOT CELESTIAL "BECAUSE THEIR MOVEMENTS APPEARED MECHANICAL AND INTERMITTENT." NO BALLOONS WERE ALOFT AT THE TIME THE BASE ADDED.

"'IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO CALCULATE THE ALTITUDE OR VELOCITY AT WHICH THE OBJECTS MOVED BUT THE SPEED WAS GREATER THAN ANY OF WHICH THE BASE HAS KNOWLEDGE, THEIR GENERAL SHAPE WAS CIRCULAR, SILVER-COLORED AND SHIMMERING."

THE STATEMENT SAID THE OBJECTS WERE OBSERVED BY OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF THE AIR BASE, BY PERSONNEL OF THE VARIG AIRLINE 'AND BY A NUMBER OF CIVILIANS IN THE CITY, BETWEEN 1 P.M. AND 6 P.M. SUNDAY.

10/27-- PA 306P

A startling incident on November 21, 1954, was reported on the front pages of newspapers in South and Central America, and in England, but apparently not in the U.S. A Brazilian airliner in flight near Rio de Janeiro, at night, encountered 19 glowing saucer-shaped objects. The UFOs flew at high speed within about 300 feet of the plane causing a panic among the passengers.

The crew had to act forcibly to calm the passengers and continue the flight safely. [16]

Another extremely important incident, January 16, 1958, was only sketchily reported in a few U.S papers. Near Trindade Isle off the Brazilian east coast, the Almirante Saldanha, an IGY oceanographic vessel, saw and photographed a maneuvering disc-shaped UFO which made several passes over the area [See Section VIII; Photographs]. Marine photographer Almiro Barauna, officers and men on deck, sighted the UFO and Barauna obtained four good exposures of the object. The film was developed on board ship, the witnesses confirming that the Saturn-shaped images (disc with central flange) corresponded to what they had observed.

The impressive evidence created a stir in the Brazilian Congress. At first the Navy was cautious and secretive about the incident, but the President of Brazil, Mr. Juscelino Kubitschek, intervened at the request of a reporter and the photographs were published in the press. [17]

Both airline and military pilots in Brazil have often reported UFOs:

June 30, 1957. An airliner enroute from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro, at 6:30 p.m., encountered a glowing red-orange disc-like object. Capt. Saul Martins later told the press the UFO maneuvered all around the DC-3, pacing it, flying above and below it. One of the many passengers who also witnessed the object was a renowned Brazilian writer, Prof. Aires de Mata Machado Filho. [18]

July 4, 1957. A REAL Airlines plane enroute from Campos to Victoria, capital of Espirito Santo State, was paced by a circular UFO. The pilot, Cmdr. Delgado, said that when his plane and the UFO were passing through clouds, brightly lighted apertures like windows became visible on the object. When they left the clouds, these markings disappeared. The UFO had raised portions on top and bottom. [See Section IX; Patterns].

August 14, 1957. Near Joinville, at 8:55 p.m., a Varig Air lines C-47 enroute from Porto Alegre to Rio de Janeiro was approached by a luminous object. The pilot, Cmdr. Jorge Campos Araujo, said his co-pilot first noticed the UFO pacing the plane to the left. As they watched, the UFO suddenly sped ahead and crossed just in front of the plane. Then it hovered briefly, and dove into the undercast at about 5,700 feet. (The plane was flying at 6,300 feet). At the moment when the strange object hovered briefly, the engines of the airliner began coughing and missing, and the cabin lights dimmed. When the UFO moved away, the aircraft electrical system returned to normal. [See Section VIII; Electro-Magnetic Effects].

Cmdr. Araujo described the UFO as "shaped like a saucer with a kind of cupola or dome on top of it. The whole cupola glowed with an intense green light. The flattened base glowed with a less intense yellowish luminosity." [19]

At times, Brazil has been one of the least secretive governments in regard to release of UFO information. High officials have often openly admitted their serious concern with UFOs.

As in the case of several countries, there is evidence that the Embassies in Washington, either yielding to the wishes of the U.S. Government or for political reasons of their own, sometimes debunk the subject in spite of serious official concern of their governments at home. In 1959, Maj. Gen. Antonio Barcellos, Air Attaché of the Brazilian Embassy, wrote a NICAP member:

"The Brazilian Government does not accredit or acknowledge any reports of unidentified flying objects... it considers the question of UFO to be in the same category as that of Santa Claus. Therefore, if anyone in Brazil has ever cited what they consider to be a UFO, they would probably not report to any official agency, but if they did try to make such a report, they would find that it would not be accepted." [24]

The history of UFO reports in the other South American countries is very similar to that of Argentina and Brazil.

In Valparaiso, Chile, October 28, 1959, Juan Fruto (Director of a local Astronomical Association), C. Ventura (civil aviator), and others about 9:15 p.m. sighted a luminous orange concave disc performing evolutions in the sky. [25]

Cases of electro-magnetic effects [See Section VIII] have been noted in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. On January 30, 1958, a lawyer and his wife, near Lima, Peru, saw a circular UFO hovering an estimated 500 meters above the highway. As their automobile passed beneath the object, the car lights went out. Truck drivers and others on the same highway also witnessed the UFO. Passengers on a bus felt an electric shock, and the bus motor failed as the UFO was seen. [26]

A NICAP Subcommittee (investigative unit) is operative in Santiago, Chile, headed by Prof. Juan E. Gatica Salinas, astrophysicist. Other members of the unit are professors of mathematics and physics, and students. The Subcommittee is divided into three groups which make scheduled observations of the sky from different observatories, increasing the chances of obtaining triangulations of a UFO.

In Montevideo, Uruguay, Milton W. Hourcade is one of the directors of the "Centro de Investigacion de Objetos Voladores Inidentificados (C.I.O.V.I.)." The group has investigated and compiled reports in Uruguay for many years, periodically exchanging data with NICAP.

One of the cases investigated by C.I.O.V.I. occurred May 5, 1958, near San Carlos. About 3:40 p.m., Carlos A. Rodriguez, an experienced and reputable pilot, was flying his piper aircraft in the vicinity of Capitan Curbelo Naval Air Base when he noticed a brilliant glowing object approaching his plane. The UFO stopped an estimated 2000 meters away and, according to the report, "it rocked twice in a balancing motion." [ef., Oct. 2,1961, Salt Lake City, Utah, pilot sighting; Section I]. The object was shaped like a child's top, symmetrical above and below. As he closed to about 700 meters, Rodriguez felt intense heat in the cockpit and was forced to open the windows and door of the plane and remove his jacket. The UFO then took off, accelerating rapidly eastward toward the sea, leaving a thin vapor trail. [27]

Venezuela has been the scene of so much UFO activity that as of 1963, according to a NICAP member who visited Caracas, the sight of huge glowing objects lighting up mountain tops around the city was no longer considered noteworthy. Active in UFO investigation around Caracas are Dr. Askold Ladonko (NICAP Adviser) and Horacio Gonzalez Ganteaume (NICAP member). In December 1962 over an unexplored jungle area near famous Angel Falls, a UFO was photographed on 8 mm movie film by