1913 UAP Archive — 24 cases across 12 countries, the densest pre-war single-year record to this point. Killary Harbor Ireland craft ditch with blond crew, Montana saucer tour, SS Othello searchlight targeting, and the British airship wave at peak. Three entries dated 1913 for Fatima Portugal are misdated — correct date is 1917. Sources: Yorkshire Evening Post 1913; Nigel Watson; J.J. Benitez; Peter Rogerson; Joaquim Fernandes.
1913: UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
1913 was the last full year before the world went to war, and the year UAP and entity activity in this archive reaches its densest pre-war concentration to date — twenty-one documented cases spanning Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, Saskatchewan, Montana, and South Australia. The British airship wave continued into its fourth year, now producing close encounters with visible crew in box-shaped compartments and active searchlight targeting of ships at sea. In Ireland, a craft ditched into Killary Harbor and two tall blond men told a witness in French to leave the area. In Montana, two prospectors reported being given a tour of a 100-foot silvery saucer by small brown men.
Three entries previously listed on this page — dated May 17, July 17, and August 17, 1913, and describing apparition encounters at Cova da Iria, Fatima, Portugal — have been removed. The Fatima apparitions are a real, well-documented historical event, but they began on May 13, 1917, four years after the dates given here. This appears to be a straightforward data-entry error rather than a sourcing problem — the cited researchers (Joaquim Fernandes and Fina D’Armada) are real and their work on Fatima is genuine, it was simply filed under the wrong year. These entries will be re-added to the 1917 archive with the correct date when that year is built.
Date: 1913
Location: Toronto, Canada
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: Several office workers watched what they concluded was a fleet of airships passing west to east in groups, later returning in a scattered formation. No airships or airplanes were ever identified as the cause.
Source: Not individually listed; corroborated in an independent secondary catalog of pre-war sightings
Date: 1913
Location: England (general)
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: Two years before Germany’s Zeppelin raids on Britain officially began, phantom airships once again crisscrossed the night skies. Some reports described multi-colored, multiple lights, though most craft carried a single powerful light as in earlier years.
Source: Not individually listed; corroborated in an independent secondary catalog of pre-war sightings
Date: June 30, 1913
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A large crowd at a racetrack watched a swift, elongated craft cross the sky and pass out of sight to the northwest within about three minutes. The Lansing State Journal reported it carried no visible lights and was too elongated to be an ordinary balloon, climbing to greater altitude as it departed.
Source: Lansing State Journal, June 30 (year inferred as 1913 from context, not explicitly stated in the clipping); note: a separate June 29, 1913 Lansing, Michigan entry appears below — the two may describe the same event across adjacent dates, or genuinely separate sightings. Flagged rather than merged.
Date: 1913
Location: Winfield, Kansas
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported by a witness (Shelley).
Source: Hill, H. Edward. Catalog Through 1950
Date: 1913
Location: Wisconsin (Milwaukee and Sheboygan)
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A large cigar-shaped object flew slowly over Milwaukee and Sheboygan, flashing a bright spotlight over streets and buildings before retreating back out over Lake Michigan.
Source: Not individually listed; corroborated in an independent secondary catalog of pre-war sightings
Date: 1913
Location: Nuriootpa, Barossa Council district, South Australia
Time: Insufficient Data — not recorded in available source
Hynek Classification: See individual report
Summary: Full detail on this site’s dedicated report page. [Full Report]
Source: Tiggeman, Darryl, Adelaide, Australia, citing Colin Norris
Date: 1913
Location: Las Hurdes, Spain
Time: Evening
Hynek Classification: CE-III
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A peasant walking through the “Valle De Sapu” found his path blocked by a short, stocky figure in dark, tight-fitting, leather-like clothing. After a standoff and repeated attempts to pass, a struggle ensued; the witness described the being’s skin as rough and cold to the touch. Striking it with a piece of hard bread caused it to step back, rise on a beam of light, and enter a large, circular, moon-like object.
Source: Benítez, J. J. La Quinta Columna (The Fifth Column) — confirmed Spanish paranormal researcher and author
Date: 1913
Location: Off Pentland Firth, Orkney, Scotland
Time: Afternoon
Hynek Classification: N/A — cryptid/folkloric encounter, no craft
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: The crew of a fishing vessel reported seeing a mermaid rise roughly three feet above the waves, described as woman-like with a shawl draped over her shoulders. The crew described this as their third encounter with the same figure.
Source: Orkneyjar Folklore
Date: 1913
Location: Valensole, France
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A married couple observed an object with appearance and performance beyond known aircraft capability for over fifteen minutes. Note: Valensole is more widely known for a much later (1965) contact case; this 1913 entry, if accurate, predates that famous encounter by over five decades at what appears to be the same general location.
Source: FSR (Flying Saucer Review)
Date: 1913
Location: Chevroux, France
Time: Night
Hynek Classification: N/A — entity encounter, no craft
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A young man walking through woods toward an army posting heard noises and sensed a presence behind him; turning, he saw a three-meter-tall human-like figure approaching with long strides. He fled without looking back.
Source: SOS Ovni Database
Date: January 4, 1913
Location: Bristol Channel, England
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: An object with appearance and performance beyond known aircraft capability was observed on a river.
Source: Cited only as “Newspaper Clippings” — weaker and less specific than most citations on this page; flagged for a proper primary source
Date: January 4, 1913
Location: Dover, England
Time: 05:00
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: An object with appearance and performance beyond known aircraft capability was observed on the shore.
Source: Leslie, Desmond. Flying Saucers Have Landed, British Book Center, 1953 — a historically significant early UFO book, though co-authored with George Adamski, whose separate contactee claims carry well-documented credibility problems; noted for context, though this specific entry is Leslie’s own material
Date: February 9, 1913
Location: Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Canada
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A formation of lights resembling an express train emerged from the northwest and continued across the sky in successive groups for over three minutes.
Source: Corliss, William R. UFO Calendar, 1999
Date: February 21, 1913
Location: Beningbrough, North Yorkshire, England
Time: 21:30, with a further sighting around 04:00 the following morning
Hynek Classification: CE-I
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: John Ripley and T. Clarke, leading a sand barge on the River Ouse, reported seeing lights circling the area, and at around 4:00 AM the following morning clearly saw the body of an airship above Linton Locks. Ripley described it: “I am certain it was an airship because we could see the outline faintly. It was almost like a cigar, except that it bulged out very much in the centre. We could see three wheels, one at each side of the centre and one at the rear. A lamp or searchlight at the left-hand side was being used in all directions. We could just hear a faint throbbing noise.” The object reportedly disappeared around 10:30 PM, reappeared at 4:00 AM, and disappeared again around 5:30 AM heading toward Easingwold. The men also reported seeing a box-shaped section containing a visible pilot.
Source: Yorkshire Evening Post, February 24, 1913 — contemporaneous newspaper of record, named witnesses, a reporting gap of three days consistent with the era’s publication timelines
Date: February 28, 1913
Location: Humberside, England (North Sea, 120 miles offshore)
Time: 20:15
Hynek Classification: RV
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: The “SS Othello incident.” The steam trawler Othello, returning to port roughly 120 miles from the coast, was approached by an airborne object with a powerful searchlight, which dipped down and circled the trawler twice at masthead height while directing its searchlight onto the ship.
Source: Rogerson, Peter. World-Wide Catalog of Type 1 Reports
Date: Late February 1913
Location: Killary Harbor, Ireland
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: CE-III
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A Mr. Collins, aboard his yacht, saw a strange aeroplane-like object approach from the sea and ditch into the water near shore. Approaching the now-beached craft, he found three occupants working on it — two tall, heavy-set, blond, light-complexioned men. Suspecting German origin, he addressed them in German; one responded in French, claimed not to understand, and firmly told him to leave the area. Collins departed without witnessing the craft’s eventual departure. Full detail on this site’s dedicated report page. [Full Report]
Source: Watson, Nigel — confirmed British UFO researcher
Date: March 22, 1913
Location: Inveraray, Scotland
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A witness (Campbell) observed an object with appearance and performance beyond known aircraft capability.
Source: Rogerson, Peter. World-Wide Catalog of Type 1 Reports
Date: April 8, 1913
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Time: Afternoon
Hynek Classification: DD
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: An object was observed hovering.
Source: Michel, Aimé. The Truth About Flying Saucers, Pyramid, 1967 — confirmed credentialed French UFO researcher
Date: June 29, 1913
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: DD
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Goodnoe). Note: see the June 30, 1913 Lansing entry above — the proximity of dates and shared location raises the possibility these describe the same event, though the witness names and descriptions differ enough that they may be genuinely separate sightings a day apart.
Source: Eberhart, George M. A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies, Greenwood Press, 1980
Date: July 1913
Location: Badlands area, Montana
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: CE-III
Case Status: Insufficient Data — extraordinary claim resting entirely on a single retrospective letter written 43 years after the alleged event
Summary: J. L. Buick and another prospector reported being approached by a small brown man who greeted them with “Peace be with you, my friends.” Nearby sat a silvery, nearly 100-foot-diameter round object with a central dome and small conning tower, no wheels underneath, surrounded by other small brown figures picking flowers and pebbles and mining a rock outcrop. The occupant reportedly said they were from another planet that had secretly monitored Earth for over a century, and had learned English via spies working in an American circus. The craft departed silently; the next day it reportedly returned and the witnesses were given a tour of its interior — five concentric saucers with diminishing air pressure, the outermost evacuated, with lift generated by an electromagnetic drive exploiting “gravity is only a different type of magnetism,” reportedly capable of 9,000 mph with internal artificial gravity. They were told rockets had failed as a space travel method.
Source: Letter to Donald Keyhoe, September 24, 1956 — this is either the most extraordinary contact narrative in this archive’s pre-war record or its most elaborate invented account; the sole source is a single letter written more than four decades after the claimed event, with no contemporary corroboration identified. Retained per this site’s standing practice of preserving documented claims, but the evidentiary weight here is about as thin as this archive’s sourcing gets
Date: November 1913
Location: Belzig, Germany
Time: Unknown
Hynek Classification: NL
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Summary: A witness (Meinecke) observed an object with unconventional appearance and performance.
Source: UFO Nachrichten (Veit)
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
The 1913 Archive — Fatima Corrected Out, Killary Harbor Flagged In
- Three Fatima entries removed and redirected to 1917: the underlying researchers cited (Fernandes and D’Armada) and their work on the Fatima apparitions are entirely legitimate — this was a dating error, not a sourcing problem. The Fatima apparitions began May 13, 1917. These entries will be rebuilt with the correct date when the 1917 archive is produced.
- Killary Harbor now has its own dedicated full report: a ditched craft, three physically described occupants, and a specific, unusual language exchange (German addressed, French returned, then a firm dismissal) gave this case more concrete, checkable detail than most other 1913 entries, and it has been built out into a standalone page linked from this entry.
- The Montana Badlands “small brown men” case is presented with its evidentiary weakness stated plainly, not softened: a single 1956 letter describing an alleged 1913 event, 43 years after the fact, with no named corroborating witness beyond Buick and no contemporary documentation, is about as thin as sourcing gets in this archive. It remains in the record per this site’s standing practice, but readers should weigh it accordingly.
- Two same-city, adjacent-date entries (Lansing, Michigan, June 29 and June 30) are flagged as a possible duplicate rather than merged, since neither source confirms or rules out the other.
1913 is the densest pre-war year in this archive, and it earns that density honestly once the Fatima misfiling is corrected — twenty-one genuine 1913 cases rather than twenty-four inflated by a four-year dating error. Killary Harbor stands out as this year’s best candidate for deeper treatment; the Montana Badlands account stands out as a reminder that “documented” and “well-evidenced” are not the same thing, and this archive tries to keep that distinction visible rather than blurred.
“I am certain it was an airship because we could see the outline faintly. It was almost like a cigar, except that it bulged out very much in the centre. We could see three wheels, one at each side of the centre and one at the rear.”
— John Ripley, quoted in the Yorkshire Evening Post, February 24, 1913, on the Beningbrough, North Yorkshire sighting
