February 1950 — four cases: the Copenhagen, Denmark Sandersen case; the Albuquerque theodolite sighting; the Coulterville, Illinois pilot case; and the Los Alamos AESS cylinder case.
1950: February UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
February 1950 carries four cases substantial enough for their own full reports: the Copenhagen, Denmark Sandersen case, whose four incompatible source versions are documented here side by side rather than resolved into one; the precisely instrumented Albuquerque theodolite sighting; a private pilot’s 15-minute close pursuit near Coulterville, Illinois; and a two-hour, twelve-witness sighting by Los Alamos security personnel. The month also carries a strong run of New Mexico green fireball reports and international sightings from Argentina to Austria to Antarctica.
Date: February 1950
Location: Dunnville, Ontario, Canada
Time: 02:00
Summary: One object was observed by one witness briefly (Lee).
Source: NICAP
Date: February 1950
Location: Massachusetts
Time: Daytime
Summary: A USN F6F-5 Hellcat fighter pilot at 10,000 ft saw three large disc-shaped objects. He attempted to contact the tower, but it would not answer due to an unrelated accident at the airfield.
Source: Aldrich, Jan
Date: February 1, 1950
Location: Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
Time: 17:00
Summary: A fiery object with a heavy trail of smoke approached the airfield; air traffic controllers initially thought it was an aircraft on fire. It slowed, then flew off; a B-29 gave chase. One fiery fireball, about 600 ft across, was observed by more than two military witnesses, two of them experienced observers, at the airfield for two minutes (Jones).
Source: Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers Are Real, Fawcett 107, New York, 1950
Date: February 1, 1950
Location: St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Time: Night
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses for 12 seconds (Walsh).
Source: Arnold, Kenneth. Coming of the Saucers, Authors, Amherst, 1952
Date: February 2, 1950, BBU
Location: Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona
Time: Not recorded
Summary: A USAF bomber pilot saw an object trailing smoke.
Source: Weinstein; Blue Book files (citation incomplete in the original record)
Date: February 3, 1950
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Time: 21:00
Summary: Two blue discs, about 10 ft across, were observed by numerous witnesses in town for a few seconds (Giroux).
Source: Newspaper
Date: February 4, 1950
Location: Duluth, Minnesota
Time: 16:15
Summary: One object was observed by one witness for 18 seconds (Magie).
Source: NICAP
Date: February 5, 1950, BBU
Location: Teaticket, Massachusetts
Time: 5:10 p.m.
Summary: Marvin Odom, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, USAF Lt. Philip Foushee (a pilot from Otis AFB), and two other witnesses saw two thin, illuminated cylindrical objects; one dropped what appeared to be a fireball, and both maneuvered together before disappearing at high altitude and speed. Duration about 5 minutes.
Source: Berliner
Date: February 8, 1950
Location: Berthelot, Algeria
Time: 15:00
Summary: Three objects were observed.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: February 8, 1950, BBU
Location: Tampa, Florida
Time: 11:45 p.m.
Summary: A USAF B-29 bomber crew saw a rocket-shaped object, about 300 ft long and 30 ft wide, flying at over 2,000 mph. The original source citation carries its own uncertainty notes about a possible Eastern Airlines connection and multiple witnesses, preserved here as recorded rather than resolved.
Source: Project 1947; FUFOR Index
Date: February 11, 1950
Location: Pacific Grove, California
Time: Dusk
Summary: A daytime disc was observed by one female witness (Kays).
Source: Sullivan, Edward. CSI/LA investigation files
Date: February 13, 1950
Location: San Martin, Mendoza, Villa Ballester, Lanus, Buenos Aires & Rosario, Argentina
Time: 00:30
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported across several Argentine locations.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: February 13, 1950
Location: Norre Nebel, Denmark
Time: 21:00
Summary: A disc over a farm maneuvered, then vanished in a flash; a second disc passed over the area. Two discs were observed over the ocean for eight minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: February 13, 1950
Location: Zaragoza, Spain
Time: 23:30
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: February 14, 1950
Location: Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Time: 00:30
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: February 14, 1950
Location: Wattens, Tirol, Austria
Time: 09:30
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: February 15, 1950
Location: Sandia Base, New Mexico
Time: 15:30
Summary: One observer of unknown reliability saw a round object about the size of a marble, appearing red and green with a trail, moving from NW to W at about 45° above the horizon before fading out. Duration 30 seconds; no sound.
Source: AFOSI
Date: February 16, 1950
Location: Mount Hamilton, California
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported at Lick Observatory (Shane) — likely astronomer C. Donald Shane, the observatory’s director at the time.
Source: Wilkins, Harold T. Flying Saucers on the Attack, Ace Star A-11, New York, 1967
Date: February 17, 1950
Location: Alcoy, Spain
Time: Dawn
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: February 18, 1950
Location: Duvall, Washington
Time: 05:20
Summary: A farmer saw a bright nocturnal light fly east, blinking on and off slowly before making a sudden zigzag departure. Observed by one witness on a farm for two minutes (Helgeson).
Source: Sullivan, Edward. CSI/LA investigation files
Date: February 18, 1950: The Copenhagen, Denmark Sandersen Case
Date: February 19, 1950
Location: Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Time: 07:20
Summary: An object was observed and photographed. One bullet-shaped object, about 300 ft across, was observed by 11 witnesses at the mountain (Bicknell).
Source: Newspaper
Date: February 20, 1950
Location: Leutasch, Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria
Time: Around 2000
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Ahrens).
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: February 21, 1950
Location: Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Time: 04:55
Summary: A dark red, torpedo-shaped object with a dark center flew straight and level. Seen by three men in a truck and several other witnesses.
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: February 22, 1950
Location: Key West, Florida
Time: ?
Summary: Navy pilots and other personnel saw a glowing UFO, confirmed by radar.
Source: Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers Are Real, Fawcett 107, New York, 1950
Date: February 22, 1950
Location: Acilia, Italy
Time: 00:00
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Mineo).
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: February 22, 1950
Location: Pinckneyville, Illinois
Time: Daytime
Summary: Two witnesses in a private plane sighted a disc, about 60-80 ft in diameter, flying at 5,000-6,000 ft, which shot away as the plane approached. Observed by a married couple in flight for five minutes (Lemmon).
Source: Weinstein, Dominique. Aircraft UFO Encounters, Project ACUFOE, Paris, 1999
Date: February 23, 1950
Location: Captain Arturo Prat Base, Antarctica
Time: ?
Summary: An object was observed on the ice; animal reactions to the object were reported.
Source: Edwards, Frank. Flying Saucers — Serious Business, Lyle Stuart, New York, 1966
Date: February 24, 1950: The Albuquerque/Los Alamos Theodolite Case
Date: February 24, 1950, BBU
Location: Datil, New Mexico
Time: 7:30 p.m. (MST)
Summary: Holloman AFB Photographic Branch project staff (including a witness named Stanfield) tracking aerial phenomena at the Datil observation post saw and photographed a circular, luminous object about 0.26° in diameter with a 3.8°-long trail, using a Cineflex camera with a 3-inch focal length lens.
Source: Sparks; FUFOR Index
Date: February 25, 1950
Location: Skane, Sweden
Time: Not recorded
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses for 30 minutes.
Source: Undocumented
Date: February 25, 1950
Location: New Bedford, Massachusetts
Time: 01:20
Summary: A silent, shiny, glowing saucer about a meter wide hovered 300 meters over a city incinerator before flying off rapidly to the northwest. Observed by two witnesses in the city for 20 minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: February 25, 1950: The Los Alamos AESS Cylinder Case
Date: February 25, 1950
Location: Jamesburg, New Jersey
Time: Night
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses briefly (Horan).
Source: NICAP
Date: February 25, 1950
Location: Paso Hondo, Mexico
Time: Night
Summary: Several cone-shaped objects were observed by a male witness at a village for two minutes. A whistling sound was heard.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: Late February 1950
Location: Anson, Maine
Time: Around 2100
Summary: One object, larger than a star, was observed by one witness for several minutes (Manter).
Source: Sullivan, Edward. CSI/LA investigation files
Date: February 27, 1950
Location: Jamesburg, New Jersey
Time: 02:30
Summary: A metallic saucer ringed with lights hovered at low altitude before suddenly taking off with a swishing sound. Observed by two witnesses. This may be related to the February 25 Jamesburg entry above, given the shared location and close date.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: February 27, 1950: The Coulterville, Illinois Pilot Sighting
Date: February 28, 1950
Location: Messina, Sicily, Italy
Time: Not recorded
Summary: Nine objects were observed.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: February 28, 1950
Location: Buckton, New York
Time: Not recorded
Summary: An object was observed at close range by a male witness (McGee).
Source: Eberhart, George M. A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies, Greenwood Press, Westport, 1980. ISBN:0-313-21337-2
Date: February 28, 1950
Location: Vich, Spain
Time: 09:30
Summary: One object was observed by more than six witnesses for over three minutes.
Source: Data-Net Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Four Cases Promoted, One Misplaced Link Removed
Four entries this month were rich enough for standalone treatment: the Copenhagen, Denmark Sandersen case, whose four incompatible retellings are laid out here rather than collapsed into one; the precisely instrumented Albuquerque theodolite sighting; the Coulterville, Illinois pilot’s close 15-minute pursuit; and the twelve-witness Los Alamos AESS cylinder case. A link on the live page, labeled “February 8, 1950: UFO Sighting over the Atlantic,” actually pointed to a real, correctly dated 1951 case with its own standalone page — it has been removed from this February 1950 page entirely rather than left mislabeled. The Farmington, New Mexico “Armada” (usually associated with this general period) is correctly not present here — it belongs to mid-March 1950 and is handled on this site’s separate March pages.
“He could not distinguish any front or rear of the object.”
From the pilot’s original Blue Book statement describing the February 27, 1950 Coulterville, Illinois sighting.
