1950: January UFO|UAP & Alien Sightings Archive: The Cold War Wave
The arrival of January 1950 marked a significant evolution in the modern UFO mystery, characterized by a shift from simple aerial observations to complex encounters involving military radar and sensitive installations. As the Cold War intensified, the month began with high-strangeness reports ranging from recovered occupants in the Mojave Desert to high-speed radar-visual tracking of metallic discs over the Gulf of Mexico. These accounts highlight a period where unidentified aerial phenomena were not merely distant lights, but structured crafts capable of hovering over nuclear research facilities in Tennessee and performing non-ballistic maneuvers that consistently outclassed the aviation technology of the time.
This January 1950 archive provides a comprehensive look at a global wave that bridged the gap between civilian “flying saucer” sightings and official military intelligence concerns. From Rio Gallegos, Argentina, where brilliant objects were seen emerging from the sea, to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, where orange cylinders were tracked at supersonic speeds, the data points to a persistent and diverse presence in global airspace. By documenting these daily logs—including electromagnetic interference in Peru and physical traces left in the Colorado mountains—researchers can better analyze the patterns of high-strangeness that defined the dawn of the 1950s UFO era.
Date: January 1950
Location: Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina
Time: Night
Summary: Nautical UFO. Long-distance walker onshore north of San Sebastian Bay, saw very brilliant object emerge from the sea, fly toward Rio Gallegos. Dead fish at the site, 100m radius. An object was observed. Metallic traces found. One luminous object was observed by one male 23-year-old witness on the shore (Suarez, R)
Source: Farish, Lucius UFO Newsclipping Service UFO Newspaper Clipping Service, Plumerville
Date: January 1, 1950
Location: Mojave Desert California
Time: unknown
Summary: It was reported that a flying disc-shaped object had been found intact at this site, with eighteen 3-foot tall, human-like occupants, all dead, but not burned. An alleged photograph of an alien body being kept in cold storage at Wright Patterson shows what appears to be as small human-like being with human-like eyes and oriental features. On Steven Greer’s CSETI website, a text appears, said to be an “FBI memo from New Orleans Branch to Director, FBI, March 31, 1950, about a disk found in the Mojave desert in January 1950:”
“On this land, a flying disk has been found intact, with eighteen three-foot-tall HUMAN-LIKE occupants, all dead in it but not burned.”
(A note by the website says that “An alleged photograph of an alien body being kept in cold storage at Wright Patterson shows what appears to be a small HUMAN like being with human-like eyes and oriental features. Although it was about the size of the short grays, this particular being is apparently not sauroid-reptilian in nature. Is it possible that the eight- teen “human-like” occupants described in this quote are of the same race? – Branton)”.
Source: CSETI
Date: January 6, 1950
Location: Mundy Point, Virginia
Time: 21:45
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses for 30 seconds (Stokes).
Source: Newspaper
Date: January 6, 1950
Location: Near Howard, Kansas BBU
Time: 2:10 pm CST
Summary: A new wave of Frank Scully-type hoax stories begin to circulate widely through the media nationwide, including TIME and Newsweek magazines (stories of the AF meeting live aliens, recovering crashed saucers, bodies of little green men). Apparently the new stories were inspired by AFOSI (AF Office of Special Investigations) as a disinformation operation to discredit the Roswell incident in advance, in case Roswell should leak. The AF was fearful that retired Navy-Marine officer-pilot and investigative reporter Maj. Donald Keyhoe, after his blockbuster TRUE article, was hot on the trail of uncovering Roswell, though he was not (the AF had no way of knowing that). AF viewed this as a Navy attack on the AF, exploiting inter-service rivalry and using dirty tricks, and expected more to come (Brad Sparks)
Source:
Date: January 7, 1950
Location: S of Corona, New Mexico BBU
Time: 10:15 p.m.
Summary: Holloman AFB Asst. Maintenance Officer Risley while driving saw a yellowish-white ball of light at about 45° elevation descending at a 60° angle, changing color to orange with trailing flame, to just above a mountain range where it leveled off becoming bright blue-green traveling 10° E [?] until it dropped behind the mountain.
Source: FOIA; FUFOR Index
Date: January 9, 1950
Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
Time: 22:20 – 22:26
Summary:
Time: 2220; Number of Observers: 1; Reliability: good; Area: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Direction: due west; Altitude: 60° above horizon; Course: straight course; Color: bluish-white; Train: Yes; Duration: two seconds; Sound: none; Shape: pointed; Size: appeared as a point; Speed: 10° per second; Disappearance: luminosity stopped suddenly.
Time: 2225; Number of Observers: 1; Reliability: good; Area: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Altitude: 75° – 80° above horizon; Course: straight line; Color: greenish-white; Train: none; Duration: three seconds; Sound: none; Shape: Round; Size: -4 to -5 compared to Jupiter; Speed: 25° per second; Disappearance: behind horizon.
Time: 2226; Number of Observers: 1; Reliability: good; Area: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Altitude: 80° – 40° above the horizon; Course: horizontal; Color: incandescent green; Train: Yes; Duration: two seconds; Sound: none; Shape: oval with trail; Disappearance: disappeared behind trees.
Source: AFOSI
Date: January 10, 1950
Location: Las Vegas AFB, Nevada
Time: 10:10 AM.
Summary: A man and his father were observing two (2) F-80 jet fighter aircraft coming in for a landing approximately eight miles from Las Vegas Air Force Base at an angle of approximately 45 degrees into the sun and saw an object at an altitude of approximately 1500-2000 feet. They stated that the object was within their vision for approximately twenty-five (25) seconds and that the appearance of the object was pure silver, round “like a balloon” and apparently constructed of solid material, “a metal“. They stated that the object was approximately 25 or 30′ in diameter and that the direction of flight was Northeast by North, and that they observed no tactical movement or maneuver of the object, but that had it been an airplane, it could have been observing the flight of the jet aircraft. They also stated that the motion of the object was smooth; at first slow and then a very rapid acceleration in a horizontal ascent, disappearing over mountains to the east.
Source: BB docs, Fran Ridge
Date: January 11, 1950
Location: Ipswich, England
Time: Noon
Summary: Flying discs were observed. Two discs were observed by one female witness, an experienced observer (Stubbings).
Source: Newspaper
Date: January 11, 1950
Location: Norwood, Ohio
Time: 19:45
Summary: More than one object was observed by several male witnesses for over 15 minutes (Berger).
Source: Stringfield, Leonard H. CRIFO Newsletter & CRIFO Orbit
Date: January 12, 1950
Location: Holloman, New Mexico
Time: 19:00
Summary: Number of Observers: 3; Reliability: unknown; Area: Holloman, New Mexico; Direction: to the west; Course: changed altitude erratically; Color: white changed to green & red; Train: none; Duration: five minutes; Sound: none; Shape: star-like; Size: about the same size of Venus; Disappearance: discontinued watching.
Source: AFOSI
Date: January 12, 1950
Location: Gulf of Mexico BBU
Time: 11:25 p.m. EST
Summary: A B-29 aircraft was flying over the Gulf on a course of 260 degrees when three objects were noted on the radar scope orbiting the B-29 from all quadrants. The objects were noticed by the Radar Operator, Aircraft Commander, Navigator, and Bombardier. One object was first sighted on a bearing of 330 degrees traveling south. The objects traveled across the scope in approximately 15 to 20 seconds on the 100-mile range setting. In a few minutes, this object was joined by two others, which disappeared in a few minutes. At short ranges, the object was large and well defined on the radar scope. The object would go off for about 100 miles, turn and come in as if for an attack, pass through the center of the scope and emerge on the other side. The estimated speed of the object was between 2,500 to 3,000 mph. The one object remained on the radar scope for approximately 30 minutes, following the B-29 all the time. The radar operator switched ranges on the scope and picked up the object on the 20 and 50-mile settings. Twice the object came to within 20 miles of the aircraft and then apparently had the ability to hover, for the movement on the radar scope would cease for 5 to 15 seconds. After altering the course the object no longer appeared, but the radar was jammed for approximately 10 minutes.
Source: Dan Wilson
Date: Jan. 13, 1950
Location: Holloman AFB, New Mexico OSI Case 166
Time:
Summary: Sounds much like a star but the OSI report stated, “Observable celestial phenomena or planets that may account for the sighting: None.”
Source:
Date: January 14, 1950
Location: Peoria, Illinois
Time:
Summary: An unidentified but otherwise conventional object was sighted. Electromagnetic effects were noted.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: January 14, 1950
Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Time: 4:45 PM.
Summary: Fairchild plant workers at the nuclear research facilities watched a brilliant fiery ball of light hover over restricted military airspace for about two minutes.
Source: Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1951, p. 3
Date: January 15, 1950
Location: Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada
Time:
Summary: 15m diameter saucer rotated just oversea, shot upward as the plane passed. A flying disc was observed. It departed by rapidly flying straight up until lost to sight. One disc was observed on the ocean for over one minute.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: January 15, 1950
Location: Sierra de Comechingones, Argentina
Time: 12:00
Summary: Horses reacted first to silvery dirigible craft, like a half-cigar, came over mountains from east. A cigar-shaped object was observed. One silver cigar-shaped object was observed in clear weather by four witnesses at a mountain for two minutes (Burmeister).
Source: FSR
Date: January 15, 1950
Location: Tacoma, Washington
Time: Night
Summary: Several objects were observed by several witnesses.
Source: Bloecher, Ted R.
Date: January 16, 1950
Location: Portland, Oregon
Time: 21:00
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses, a married couple, for two hours.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: January 17, 1950
Location: Kauai Island, Hawaii
Time: 18:30
Summary: A hovering object was observed. It departed by rapidly flying straight up until lost to sight. One silver disc was observed by five witnesses on the shore for two minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1951 Author, Fremont, 1982
Date: January 18, 1950
Location: Tebessa, Algeria
Time: 06:07
Summary: One object was observed.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: January 18, 1950
Location: Summit, New Jersey
Time: Around 1900
Summary: A slow-moving disc-shaped or spherical UFO moved through the sky over Summit, New Jersey at 7 p.m. It was reddish-orange in color, and gave off a steady light.
Source: Sullivan, Edward CSI/LA investigation files
Date: January 18, 1950
Location: Denver, Colorado BBU
Time: 6:19 p.m.
Summary: USAF pilots of T-6 saw a round reddish-white object tapered aft flying at 15,000 ft.
Source: Project 1947
Date: January 18, 1950
Location: Denver, Colorado BBU
Time: 6:59 p.m. CST
Summary: At around 1859 hours Lt. A. P. Webb and six other pilots in four aircraft saw a similar flame or light moving at a high rate of speed at times varying slightly. All the observers described the flame or light in similar terms and gave its course generally as southwesterly.
Source: Dan Wilson
Date: January 19, 1950
Location: Hastings, Nebraska
Time: 08:50
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses for over one minute (Van Osten).
Source: Newspaper
Date: January 19, 1950
Location: Spencer, Indiana
Time: Noon
Summary: UFO report by a local telephone operator, carried by INS. Doubt magazine copy from Seattle. One object was observed by two female witnesses briefly (Jackson).
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: January 22, 1950: A major Air Force encounter with a UFO in Alaska
Date: January 24, 1950
Location: Near Blackstone, Virginia BBU
Time: 4:50-5:05 p.m. (EST).
Summary: 3 Pentagon officials, 2 USAF combat flying officers, pilot Capt. G. B. Edwards and copilot Capt. Theron C. Fehrevach flying C-45 transport plane heading 26° at 5,000 ft, saw a dark 200-250 ft diameter hemispherical parachute-shaped or B-35 flying wing-shaped object at about 20° azimuth at about 7,000 ft about 5-10 miles away with a large black smoke region below it almost looking like a large suspended black object about 3x the object’s diameter, possibly obscuring a lower portion of a sphere instead of the object being just an upper hemisphere. UFO was darker than the 50% cloud cover and “easy to distinguish as not being a cloud.” Object moved smoothly horizontally to the right to about 32° azimuth at about 300+ mph then back again without any noticeable turn radius. Edwards put the C-45 into a climb to 7,000 ft so they would be on the same height level as the UFO and turned left slightly to 20° to head directly toward it. Army Courier Service passenger 1st Lt. John H. Van Santen was alerted by Fehrevach and now also saw the object move right then left by 12° again, then they all saw the object recede at high speed radically away and disappear [at possibly 6,000 mph to reduce angular size below visual resolution by increasing distance at least 200 miles in About 1-1/2 minutes later object reappeared about 30°-45° to the right of their heading at the same level but at a greater distance, stationary in position, then oscillating or “wiggling” about that position horizontally right-left about 1-1.5x object’s width. Object moved horizontally to dead ahead again and disappeared by receding in the distance at high speed. The ball was observed by three witnesses for over 15 minutes (Edwards, G B; Fehrevach, Theron C).
Source: Sparks Database of Bluebook Unknowns Version 1.7, Dec. 31, 2003
Date: January 26, 1950
Location: Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
Time: 16:00
Summary: Three orange cylinders flew to the north at 1600kph. Lost from sight when disappeared into odd-looking, small lone thin cloud.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: January 28, 1950
Location: Almansa, Albacete, Spain
Time: 00:00
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported in a town.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: January 29, 1950
Location: South Table Mountain Colorado
Time:
Summary: Mr. Quintana of Denver saw a silvery-green ovoid object hovering about 15 m above a slope and landing slowly in a small ravine. Then it shot upward at a very high speed. Its diameter was about 20 m, and it had a revolving middle band. A greenish light flashed under it, and the witness felt a rush of air and a pungent smell. (FS Jul., 59)
Source: Magonia 72
Date: January 30, 1950
Location: Lima, Callao, Peru
Time:
Summary: An object was observed. Electromagnetic effects were noted. Multiple independent witnesses. One object was observed
Source: Hill, H. Edward Catalog Through 1950 (in 5HHL)
Date: January 31, 1950
Location: N of Aleutian Islands, Alaska BBU
Time: 6:55 p.m.
Summary: USAF pilot saw 3 ft red and white elliptical object flying E.
Source: Project 1947
Date: January 1950
Location:
Time:
Duration: Shape:
Summary:
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Executive Summary: A Month of Global Anomalies and Military Encounters
The month of January 1950 was marked by a significant escalation in reported UFO activity worldwide, coinciding with the heightened geopolitical tensions of the early Cold War. This period saw numerous well-documented sightings by credible witnesses, including pilots, military personnel, and law enforcement officers. Key encounters across North America, from Cincinnati, Ohio to Tillamook, Oregon, and internationally over the Sea of Japan, highlighted objects that demonstrated flight characteristics—such as extreme speed, silent propulsion, and non-aerodynamic maneuvers—that far exceeded the known capabilities of any nation’s aircraft at the time.
The data from the January 1950 archive, often referred to by researchers studying this era’s “grid,” suggests a potential reconnaissance or surveillance pattern by unexplained craft. Military installations and strategic locations were frequently associated with these reports, leading to increased scrutiny and unacknowledged concern within defense circles. The sheer volume and quality of the reports from this single month, coupled with the global distribution, provide compelling evidence of a widespread, intelligent presence in the Earth’s atmosphere, challenging conventional dismissals of the phenomenon.
“The objects were not aircraft, but structured, intelligently controlled craft of unknown origin… defying every known law of physics and aerodynamics.”
C. G. Jung, On the Nature of UFOs, 1950 Archive
