◆ SpookStack

Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0 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 hadits share, not only sporadical- ly, 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] A Survey of Foreign UFO Activity, Public Interest, and Official Attitudes United States press coverage has sometimes given the im- pression 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. Organiza- tions 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 opin- ions. The section is divided by geographical regions: A. Western Hemisphere; B, Eastern Hemisphere; C. Oceana and Antarctica. A. WESTERN HEMISPHERE NORTH AMERICA Canada has had a history of UFO sightings closely paralleling that of the U.S. Early reports led to acceptance of UFOs asa reality and establishment of a government laboratory to investi- gate them, in the period 1952-53. 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 phenom- enon.’’ 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 of- ficial 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] Typical Canadian Sightings 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- line 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 Erie 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 Sec- tion 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 Defence 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 Defence Command, is charged with the military investigation of Unidentified Flying Object reports. ...Informa- tion compiled by the RCAF, pertaining to this matter [UFOs], is not available to the public.’”’ [8] Alaska has had many UFO sightings [See Section XI; Chronol- ogy]. In a typical case February 14, 1960, airline employees and others in Nome about 4:40 p.m. saw a silvery tube-shaped object spouting orange flame from the tail. The UFO moved ENE, then curved up and away ‘‘as if it were manned and controlled.’’ Another similar UFO was sighted at Unalakleet the same day, moving rapidly NW and leaving contrails. [9] (Five days later the U.S. Air Force stated the objects were meteors.) 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 VII; Radar]. 118 Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0