On March 8, 1950, military pilots scrambled from Wright-Patterson AFB to intercept a bright, hovering object confirmed by both ground radar and visual observers.
1950: March 1st – 10th UFO & Alien Sightings
The first ten days of March 1950 marked a significant escalation in the global UFO phenomenon, characterized by a transition from high-altitude radar anomalies to physical, metallic craft observations. During this window, the world’s skies were filled with an array of objects ranging from massive 300-foot ovoids in Arizona to high-speed metallic discs over Mexico. This period is particularly notable for the involvement of military personnel and sophisticated tracking technology, such as the radar-visual encounters at Selfridge AFB and over Knoxville, Tennessee, which provided a level of technical corroboration rarely seen in earlier years.
Date: March 1, 1950
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Time:
Summary: Witness not considered reliable. The incident involved the use of an Army surplus radar unit. Military and civilian radars tracked a UFO flying at between 40,000 and 80,000 feet near Knoxville, Tennessee. No planes were scheduled in the area at the time. The US Air Force suggested that the visual sightings may have been due to a mirage.
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: March 1, 1950
Location: Chihuahua, Mexico
Time: Daytime
Summary: Metallic disc hovers over city and airport at 5km altitude, the flies away rapidly to the south. was observed by a male witness at an airport for five minutes
Source: Lumieres Dans la Nuit
Date: March 2, 1950
Location: Long Beach, California
Time:
Summary: An unidentified object moving in a straight trajectory across the sky was observed by two witnesses for two hours.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: March 2, 1950
Location: China
Time:
Summary: Procession of objects.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 2, 1950
Location: Tonantzintla, Schmidt Observat, Mexico
Time: 23:30
Summary: Photo and visual sighting of a brilliant object that crossed the sky at Schmidt Telescope. A flying disc was observed and photographed. One round object was observed by three male witnesses at an observatory for five minutes (Erro, L).
Source: Hill, H. Edward Catalog Through 1950
Date: March 3, 1950
Location: Chihuahua, Mexico
Time: Around 1500
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 3, 1950
Location: Selfridge AFB, Michigan BBU 650
Time: 11:05 p.m.
Summary: USAF 1st Lt. Frank Mattson saw an intense, dull yellowish light descend vertically, then fly straight and level at high speed. The object was tracked by radar and sighted visually. The total duration of the sighting at an airfield was four minutes (Frank Mattson).
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: March 4, 1950
Location: Near Newburgh, Indiana
Time:
Summary: A man was driving east approximately two miles east of the junction of Indiana State Hwy 66 and 261 north of Newburgh when he observed an object he believed to be a rocket at a distance of approximately 50-75 yards in front of his automobile.
Source:
Date: March 4, 1950
Location: Tessalit, Kidal, Mali
Time: Around 0200
Summary: One object was observed by six military witnesses for over one minute.
Source: Michel, Aime The Truth About Flying Saucers Pyramid T1647, New York, 1967
Date: March 4, 1950
Location: Hamilton, Texas
Time: 16:15
Summary: One object was observed by four witnesses briefly (Jeschke).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 4, 1950
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Time: Night
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses
Source: Stendek (CEONI)
Date: March 5, 1950
Location: Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
Time:
Summary: Two airline pilots sighted disc flying at incredible speed. A flying disc was observed. One disc was observed by two witnesses in-flight briefly.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: March 5, 1950
Location: Saltsburg, Pennsylvania
Time: 01:30
Summary: Hovered. 15M turtle shell-shaped disc hovered at low altitude. Kept away when the witness approached. A hovering object was observed. One domed disc, about 80 feet across, was observed by one military witness on a highway for ten minutes.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 5, 1950
Location: Gering, Nebraska
Time: 07:00
Summary: 25′ Nocturnal light at low altitude. Changes shape, extremely bright. Maneuvers go to the southeast. One shifting-shape object, about 40 feet across, was observed by 20 witnesses (as reported to the police) in a town for over six minutes (Ekberg).
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 5, 1950
Location: Houston, Texas
Time: 22:00
Summary: A metallic disc was observed by five witnesses in a city for five minutes. It hovered, darted about, jumped into clouds, trailed a ribbon, then went off to the east.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 5, 1950
Location: Denver, Colorado
Time: Night
Summary: One object was observed by one witness for over four minutes.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 5, 1950
Location: Bloomfield, New Mexico
Time: Night
Summary: A dark, five-foot diameter disc paced a car. When the driver stopped the car the object circled the car, then sped away at a high speed.
Source: Newspaper clippings, March 10, 1950, and March 27, 1950; Loren Gross, UFOs: A History, 1950: January-March, pp. 31-32
Date: March 6, 1950
Location: Houston, Texas
Time: 05:05
Summary: A hovering object was observed. One object was observed by two witnesses (Floyd).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 6, 1950
Location: Gotzis, Austria
Time: 05:48
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Peyerl).
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 6, 1950
Location: Dallas NAS, Texas
Time: Daytime
Summary: One object was observed by one witness at an airfield briefly (Edmundson).
Source: Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying Saucers Are Real Fawcett 107, New York, 1950
Date: March 6, 1950
Location: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Time: 22:00
Summary: Disclike object flashes overhead, moves at fantastic speed. A flying disc was observed. One disc was observed by four male witnesses at a mountain for over one minute.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: March 7, 1950
Location: Durango, Mexico
Time:
Summary: Two discs passing over Durango, Mexico stopped in the sky for two hours.
Source: Lumieres dans la Nuit, Los Angeles Times.
Date: March 7, 1950
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Time: Daytime
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses for over one minute (Blanc).
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 7, 1950
Location: Ciudad Real, Spain
Time: Afternoon
Summary: One object was observed by one witness.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: March 7, 1950
Location: Reutte, Tirol, Austria
Time: 21:30
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 8, 1950: Mexico City UFO Crash with Midget Pilot
Date: March 8, 1950
Location: Mazatlan, Mexico
Time:
Summary: A Naval commander sighted a UFO in the sky over Mazatlan, Mexico which he described as an ‘artificial device.’ At five o’clock in the morning the crew of two airliners, the Air Traffic Controller, and many other ground witnesses at Vandalia Airport, Ohio sighted a bullet-shaped UFO being chased by military jets. The UFO ascended very fast.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 8, 1950
Location: Pompaples, Switzerland
Time: 04:00
Summary: Physiological effects were noted. Nine objects were observed by one witness for 30 minutes.
Source: Poher, Claude Etudes Statistiques Portant sur 1000 Temoignag Author, undated
Date: March 8, 1950
Location: Over Wright-Patterson AFB, ATIC, Ohio
Time: mid-morning 10:20
Summary: In mid-morning, the CAA received a report from Capt. W. H. Kerr, Trans-World Airways pilot, that he and two other TWA pilots had a UFO in sight. A gleaming UFO was visible, hovering at high altitude. CAA also had 20 or more reports on the UFO from the Vandalia area when WPAFB was notified and sent up four P-51 interceptors. The UFO was also visible to control tower operators and personnel of the Air Technical Intelligence Center on the base. Radar had an unidentified target in the same position. While the F-51 was warming up, the tower operators called ATIC and told them about the UFO and where to look to see it.
The people at ATIC rushed out and there it was–an extremely bright light, much brighter and larger than a star. Whatever it was, it was high because every once in a while it would be blanked out by the thick, high, scattered clouds that were in the area. While the group of people was standing in front of ATIC watching the light, somebody ran in and called the radar lab at Wright Field to see if they had any radar “on the air.” The people in the lab said that they didn’t have, but they could get operational in a hurry. They said they would search southeast of the field with their radar and suggested that ATIC send some people over. By the time the ATIC people arrived at the radar lab the radar was on the air and had a target in the same position as the light that everyone was looking at. The radar was also picking up the Air Guard F-51 and an F-51 that had been scrambled from Wright- Patterson.
The pilots of the Air Guard ’51 and the Wright-Patterson ’51 could both see the UFO, and they were going after it. The master sergeant who was operating the radar called the F-51’s on the radio got them together and started to vector them toward the target. As the two airplanes climbed they kept up a continual conversation with the radar operator to make sure they were all after the same thing.
For several minutes they could clearly see the UFO, but when they reached about 15,000 feet, the clouds moved in and they lost it. The pilots made a quick decision; since radar showed that they were getting closer to the target, they decided to spread out to keep from colliding with one another and to go up through the clouds. They went on instruments and in a few seconds, they were in the cloud. It was much worse than they’d expected; the cloud was thick, and the airplanes were icing up fast. An F-51 is far from being a good instrument ship, but they stayed in their climb until radar called and said that they were close to the target; in fact, almost on it. The pilots had another hurried radio conference and decided that since the weather was so bad they’d better come down. If a UFO, or something, was in the clouds, they’d hit it before they could see it. So they made a wise decision; they dropped the noses of their airplanes and dove back down into the clear. They circled awhile but the clouds didn’t break. In a few minutes, the master sergeant on the radar reported that the target was fading fast. The F-51’s went in and landed.
Source: Probable IFO, balloon Project Bluebook
Date: March 8, 1950
Location: Kufstein, Tirol, Austria
Time: 12:00
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 9, 1950
Location: Santiago, Cuba
Time: 10:00
Summary: At ten o’clock in the morning a disc-shaped object was sighted by witnesses on the ground as well as by passengers and crew of an airliner flying from Santiago to Antilla, Cuba. The ground observers tracked the UFO with a theodolite.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 9, 1950
Location: Selfridge AFB, Michigan (BBU)
Time: 7:45-9 p.m. (EST)
Summary: USAF 1st Lt. Francis E. Parker, 1st Lt. Frank Mattson, Sgt. McCarthy, Cpl. Melton made multiple air defense ground radar tracking of an object erratically varying height, position, and speed from 25,000 to 47,000 ft altitude, 0 to 1,000 mph. (Hynek UFO Rpt. pp. 123-5, 295-7) 75 mins multiple radars (CPS-4 and CPS-5) Not listed as a BBU for some reason. A formerly classified secret, this radar-visual report surfaced as a result of the efforts of a former skeptic. This skeptic not only worked for the U.S. Air Force, but he was also their consultant on UFOs, none other than Dr. J. Allen Hynek.
Source:
Date: March 9, 1950
Location: Norwood, Ohio
Time: 20:00
Summary: More than one object was observed by 11 witnesses for 55 minutes (Berger).
Source: Stringfield, Leonard H. CRIFO Newsletter & CRIFO Orbit
Date: March 9, 1950
Location: Bruxelles, Belgium
Time: 21:00
Summary: Nocturnal lights were observed by several witnesses.
Source: SOBEPS
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Orangeburg, South Carolina
Time:
Summary: Disc hovered over the city, sped away. [XII]
Source:
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Denver, Colorado
Time:
Summary: One object was observed (Hayden).
Source: Scully, Frank Behind the Flying Saucers Holt, 1950
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Tessalit, Sahara Desert, Mali
Time:
Summary: An object was observed from a car. One circular object was observed.
Source: Weinstein, Dominique Aircraft UFO Encounters Project ACUFOE, Paris, 1999
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Time:
Summary: One top-shaped object was observed by numerous witnesses in a city for two minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Time: 07:00
Summary: Three objects were observed by one witness briefly (Richards; Stoddart).
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Guerrero, México
Time: Around 1200
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico
Time: 12:35
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Burbank, California
Time: 17:30
Summary: One wheel, about 20 feet across, was observed by one witness in a residential area for ten minutes (Coffman; Lytle).
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Phoenix Se, Indian School Road, Arizona
Time: 18:00
Summary: Oval aluminum object hung in the sky, 40,000 feet altitude, estimated 200 feet diameter, tapering to narrow proportions at the rear. Moved with red fire trail 100 feet long, no condensation trail. Gone in 4-5 seconds. A hovering object was observed. It departed by rapidly flying straight up until lost to sight. One aluminum ovoid object, about 300 feet across, was observed by seven witnesses in a desert for ten minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Norwood, Ohio
Time: 19:00
Summary: Huge UFO reported in searchlight. May have risen to avoid the beam. One object, of huge size, was observed by a male witness in a town for ten minutes (Berger).
Source: Stringfield, Leonard H. CRIFO Newsletter & CRIFO Orbit
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Gallup, New Mexico
Time: 19:50
Summary: One object was observed by three witnesses for over three minutes (Romero).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 10, 1950
Location: Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada
Time: Night
Summary: One object was observed by one witness briefly (Stark).
Source: Newspaper
Between March 1st and 10th, 1950, a series of significant unidentified aerial phenomena were documented globally, ranging from high-altitude radar trackings to close encounters with metallic discs. Notable incidents include military and civilian radar trackings of a craft at 80,000 feet over Tennessee, a radar-visual encounter at Selfridge AFB involving a descending yellowish light, and a mass sighting in Phoenix, Arizona, of a 300-foot ovoid object with a distinct red fire trail. Additionally, this period includes reports of a UFO crash in Mexico City and multiple observations of hovering discs in Ohio, Texas, and Argentina. These accounts from the 1950: March 1st – 10th UFO & Alien Sightings log highlight a period of intense aerial activity and “high strangeness” across multiple continents.
Date: March , 1950
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