Six defining cases from the March 21–31, 1950 UFO wave, from military radar trackings to the Samuel Eaton Thompson Venusian contact claim.
1950: March 21st – 31st
UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
The final eleven days of March 1950 stand as one of the most concentrated periods of aerial anomalies in the early “Golden Age” of ufology. Following the massive surge of reports earlier in the month, this stretch saw a transition from mere nocturnal lights to significant high-strangeness events involving multi-witness airliner pursuits, radar-visual confirmations, and a remarkable contact claim in rural Washington state.
From the nuclear-sensitive zones of New Mexico to the rural landscapes of Spain, Italy, and Argentina, this log documents a truly global phenomenon. Highlights include a four-hour, hundred-witness observation over Idyllwild, California; a detailed multi-hour radar-visual case at Kirtland AFB and Sandia Base; and the extraordinary Samuel Eaton Thompson “Venusian” contact claim near Morton and Mineral, Washington, now documented in its own full report. Sourced from official military archives, including Project Blue Book, and meticulous independent research, these records provide a granular look at a time when the world’s skies were anything but empty.
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Gainchurizqueta, Spain
Time: 00:30
Summary: Objects moving with a falling-leaf motion were observed by two male witnesses at a mountain for six seconds.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: General Belgrano, Córdoba, Argentina
Time: 03:00
Summary: One object was observed.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Zaragoza, Spain
Time: 04:30
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
Time: Morning
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses near a nuclear test site (Griffin).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Time: 10:00
Summary: A daytime disc was reported in a city for two minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Barra do Douro, Portugal
Time: 11:30
Summary: A daytime disc was observed by a male witness.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Idyllwild, California
Time: Daytime
Summary: One object, about 150 feet across, was observed by 100 witnesses for four hours (Elder).
Source: Scully, Frank Behind the Flying Saucers Holt, 1950
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Kirtland AFB / Sandia Base, New Mexico
Time: 13:00 – 13:20
Summary: A cluster of four separate observations across twenty minutes: one witness at Sandia Base tracked a round object, shiny silver fading to shady gray, moving northeast to southeast at 40,000–60,000 feet for 30 minutes at roughly jet speed before it disappeared. Four witnesses at Kirtland AFB independently tracked a bright silver, dime-sized round object moving in a zigzag southeast to south for one minute at fast-jet speed. A single Sandia Base witness saw a white round object moving east at roughly 600–700 mph for five minutes. A separate Sandia Base witness saw two silver round objects moving east to southwest at excessive-to-jet speed over ten minutes, fading gradually from view.
Source: AFOSI
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Miranda de Ebro, Spain
Time: 15:00
Summary: One object was observed by more than three witnesses.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 21, 1950
Location: Houston, Texas
Time: 15:35
Summary: Seven objects were observed by one witness for five minutes (Bradley; Rhodes).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Villarta de San Juan, Ciudad Real, Spain
Time: 05:45 – 05:50
Summary: Two industrialists driving through the province saw a bright blue, cloud-like object emitting an intense light; it appeared to collide with a second object, and the phenomenon was seen roughly 20 times over the course of their drive.
Source: Rogerson, Peter Worldwide Catalog of Type 1 Reports
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Sandia Base, New Mexico
Time: 10:00
Summary: Three witnesses saw a round object, blue at the center with an orange exterior — resembling a Roman-candle ball — travel southeast to northwest on a line parallel to the horizon at roughly 30° azimuth per 1.5 seconds, over a total of 1.5–3 seconds before burning out.
Source: AFOSI
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
Time: 11:00
Summary: Eleven members of the 4925th Test Group (Atomic) witnessed, in broad daylight, a tan-to-brown, flying-wing-shaped object northwest of the base, changing to due north, at 25,000–30,000 feet altitude, roughly golf-ball sized at arm’s length, moving at extremely high speed on a horizontal course for five to six seconds before disappearing.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1951 Author, Fremont, 1982
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: White River Junction, Vermont
Time: 12:10
Summary: One object was observed by 20 witnesses for ten minutes (Grant).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Time: Daytime
Summary: Several objects were observed by one witness (Linfield).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Tarragona, Spain
Time: Daytime
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: CEONI
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Berlin, Germany
Time: Afternoon
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium
Time: 18:15
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses for several minutes (Gerard).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Keewatin, Ontario, Canada
Time: 19:45
Summary: One object, about 2 feet across, was observed by one witness (Morden).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Madrid, Spain
Time: Night
Summary: More than two objects were observed by several witnesses.
Source: CEONI
Date: March 22, 1950
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Time: After 23:00
Summary: One object was observed by numerous witnesses for six seconds (Onama).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Idyllwild, California
Time: Unknown
Summary: Eight objects, about 40 feet across, were observed at an airport.
Source: Hill, H. Edward Catalog Through 1950
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: 85 miles NW of Jacksonville, Florida (BB)
Time: 12:30 a.m. EST
Summary: USAF pilot Lt. Hahn, flying a C-47 from Jacksonville to Robins AFB, saw a blue-white flame roughly 50–75 feet long approach from the 11 o’clock position at very high speed; passenger T/Sgt. Young independently corroborated the sighting. Assessed as a probable meteor.
Source: Dan Wilson, Blue Book files
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: La Buitrera, Colombia
Time: 04:00
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Zaragoza, Spain
Time: 04:30
Summary: One object was observed by one witness for a few seconds.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Time: 09:00
Summary: One metallic disc was observed at a military facility for 30 minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Asti, Piedmont, Italy
Time: 12:30
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Larizza).
Source: Boncompagni, Solas UFO in Italia, Volume I (Periodo 1907-1953) Tedeschi, Firenze, 1974
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Yuma, Arizona
Time: Daytime
Summary: A hovering disc of huge size was observed at 20,000 feet over a park for two minutes before departing rapidly to the east at high speed (McCullen).
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: El Moudzine, Morocco
Time: 18:45
Summary: One flying disc was observed for a few seconds.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Hörsching, Upper Austria, Austria
Time: 22:50
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Simon).
Source: Keul, A.
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Havana, Cuba
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 23, 1950
Location: Jalapa Enríquez, Veracruz, Mexico
Time: Night
Summary: The Mexican newspaper El Universal reported at least 300 disc-shaped UFOs seen zooming around the sky above the city.
Source: Arnold, Kenneth Coming of the Saucers Authors, Amherst, 1952
Date: March 24, 1950
Location: Willows, California
Time: Unknown
Summary: One silver disc was observed for ten minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 24, 1950
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Time: Morning
Summary: One object was observed by 20 witnesses briefly (Coco).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 24, 1950
Location: Eisden, Belgium
Time: 13:25
Summary: One object was observed by three male witnesses at a mine for over one minute (Maes; Peters).
Source: SOBEPS
Date: March 24, 1950
Location: Sioux City, Iowa
Time: Around 15:00
Summary: One object was observed by one witness.
Source: Bloecher, Ted R.
Date: March 24, 1950
Location: Jerseyville, Illinois
Time: Night
Summary: A hovering object glowed with bluish-white light and appeared to remain stationary for two to three minutes.
Source: Weinstein, Dominique Aircraft UFO Encounters Project ACUFOE, Paris, 1999
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: Peñaranda de Duero, Spain
Time: Unknown
Summary: One object was observed by a group of witnesses (Ananz).
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: Valdehuncar, Cáceres, Spain
Time: 02:20
Summary: One object, about 150 feet across, was observed by three experienced male witnesses (Obejero).
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: Balearic Islands / Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Time: 03:00
Summary: A flying disc was observed and photographed by one male witness. Separately, an oval object was observed by one male witness (Mueller).
Source: Wilkins, Harold T. Flying Saucers on the Attack Ace Star A-11, New York, 1967
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: Paterna, Valencia, Spain
Time: 10:30
Summary: A daytime disc was reported on the shore.
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Time: 12:00
Summary: More than one object was observed by several witnesses on the shore for over 15 minutes.
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: San Martín de los Andes, Argentina
Time: Afternoon
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Franke).
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: Vienna, Austria
Time: 22:02
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 25, 1950
Location: New York, New York
Time: Night
Summary: One object was observed by numerous witnesses.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Bayreuth, Germany
Time: Unknown
Summary: Three flying discs were observed.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Acre (Akko), Israel
Time: Unknown
Summary: Several discs were seen from a Lebanese airliner off the coast of the ancient city, traveling north at high altitude while emitting trails of smoke.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Brunswick, Georgia
Time: 11:15
Summary: Five silver, disc-shaped UFOs — first three, then two more — were seen flying over the city at 30,000 feet altitude at a speed greater than 1,800 mph.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Zugspitze, Austria
Time: 09:45
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Kecht) — part of a recurring pattern of near-identical reports by the same witness at nearly the same hour across several days this week.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: National Airport, Virginia
Time: 10:00
Summary: A private-plane pilot dove toward a 40-foot-wide metallic disc, which ascended vertically into the clouds and then departed rapidly to the east; observed in flight for two minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Time: Daytime
Summary: More than two objects were observed by seven witnesses for a few seconds.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Jaén, Spain
Time: Afternoon
Summary: One object was observed by one witness.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Los Barrios, near Algeciras, Spain
Time: 19:00
Summary: A rancher saw a flying disc pass rapidly overhead heading east to west in about one second. One disc was observed by one experienced male witness on the shore for a few seconds (Ayala, José).
Source: Vallee, Jacques; ABC News (Spain)
Date: March 26, 1950
Location: Reno, Nevada
Time: 20:50
Summary: A CAA control tower operator saw a maneuvering light source; more than one hovering object was independently observed by several witnesses at an airport for five minutes (Henseler; Matthews).
Source: Hall, Richard H. The UFO Evidence NICAP, Washington, 1964
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Time: Unknown
Summary: Electromagnetic effects were noted; a transient unexplained phenomenon was reported.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Fairfax, Virginia
Time: Unknown
Summary: One object, about 20 feet across, was observed.
Source: Hill, H. Edward Catalog Through 1950
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Torredonjimeno, Jaén, Spain
Time: 06:00
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Time: 06:16
Summary: More than five discs were observed by one male witness in a city for over 60 minutes, departing by flying straight up until lost to sight (Andrews; Hughes).
Source: Scully, Frank Behind the Flying Saucers Holt, 1950
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Zugspitze, Austria
Time: 09:45
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Kecht) — continuing the same daily pattern seen the prior day.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa (BBU 678)
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Summary: USAF anti-aircraft radar operator Cpl. Bolfango tracked a stationary target at 18 miles range for ten minutes at 13,000 feet, then followed it on a 220° heading for 16.9 miles in two minutes (roughly 500 mph) to a point over a mountain, still at 13,000 feet, where it was lost. Visual observation was not detailed beyond the summary. Total radar-visual duration approximately 12 minutes.
Source: Berliner; Jan Aldrich
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Madrid, Spain
Time: Afternoon
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Bludenz, Vorarlberg, Austria
Time: 15:30
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Algorta, Spain
Time: 18:30
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: St. Pankraz, Austria
Time: 20:45
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Goshen, Indiana
Time: Night
Summary: An unidentifiable object was observed at close range.
Source: Haines, Richard F. CE-5: Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind Sourcebooks, Naperville, 1998. ISBN: 1-57071-427-4
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Worland, Wyoming
Time: 23:00
Summary: Five people in a car saw a saucer with a row of blue lights hovering over a sulfur plant; it flew away as the car approached (Sherard).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 27, 1950
Location: Berlin, Germany
Time: Night
Summary: Astronomers noticed a bright “star” they had not seen before; it zig-zagged to the west, occasionally stopping, with no sound heard, over 20 minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Digne, France
Time: Unknown
Summary: Three objects were sighted with an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known contemporary aircraft — an early entry later associated with the “Ummo” case lineage.
Source: FSR (Flying Saucer Review)
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Riva del Garda, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Time: Unknown
Summary: A flying disc about 2 feet across was observed departing by rapidly flying straight up until lost to sight.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Time: Unknown
Summary: Two witnesses aboard a Venezuelan Airlines DC-3 observed a huge, turtle- and dome-shaped object at 7,000 feet altitude; behavior most likely had a conventional explanation.
Source: Weinstein, Dominique Aircraft UFO Encounters Project ACUFOE, Paris, 1999
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Eureka, California
Time: 03:20
Summary: One yellow cylinder was observed on the shore for eight minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Zugspitze, Austria
Time: 10:05
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Kecht) — the third consecutive day of near-identical reports from the same witness.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Bludenz, Vorarlberg, Austria
Time: 10:45
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Longmont, Colorado
Time: 11:50
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses for several hours (Overturf).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Amarillo, Texas
Time: 11:55
Summary: A silver disc hovered in the sky for ten minutes before shooting straight up out of sight; observed by three witnesses in the city (Davis).
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Between Morton and Mineral, Washington
Time: Daytime, extending into the following two days
Summary: Samuel Eaton Thompson claimed he came upon an 80-foot object on the ground, shaped like two saucers edge to edge and “made of a glowing, sun-colored substance similar to plastic.” Invited aboard by its occupants — 10 men, 10 women, and 25 children, none clothed, speaking English — he said he spent roughly 40 hours with them, was told they were sent from Venus to “establish goodwill among Earth people,” and was named the first person ever contacted on the planet. A photograph he attempted came out overexposed and was discarded. See the Full Report.
Source: Kenneth Arnold & Ted Bloecher
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Santiago, Chile (BBU 680)
Time: 3:15 p.m.
Summary: M/Sgt. Prince Patterson of the U.S. Air Attaché’s office saw a white object through binoculars flying at extreme altitude and speed, crossing 30° of sky in the WNW, briefly lost in the sun’s glare before reappearing and continuing across the sky. He left the U.S. Embassy roof to retrieve a telephoto camera, but the object was gone by the time he returned.
Source: Berliner; Jan Aldrich
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Shabaqua, Ontario, Canada
Time: Around 19:00
Summary: One object was observed by one witness for over three minutes (Makinen).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Fort William & Terrace Bay, Ontario, Canada
Time: 19:30
Summary: One object, about 5 feet across, was observed by several witnesses for a few seconds (Cambly; Gould; Wirstiuk).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Kawena & Ouimet, Ontario, Canada
Time: 19:35
Summary: One object was observed by one witness (Rusnak).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Atikokan, Ontario, Canada
Time: 19:37
Summary: One object, about 80 feet across, was observed by one witness (Taylor; White).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: South Gillies, Ontario, Canada
Time: 19:40
Summary: One object was observed by one witness for a few minutes (Kamstra).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Escanaba, Michigan
Time: 19:45
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses (Fleury; Siebert; Snow; Strickling).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Oakland, California
Time: 21:30
Summary: A luminous white ball the size of the moon left behind trailing smoke, moved in fast and slow circles, then departed rapidly to the east; observed by five witnesses in the city for five minutes (Sutton).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Ceglie Messapica, Apulia, Italy
Time: 22:00
Summary: An 80cm-wide lenticular disc was observed on the shore for over one minute before taking off vertically and departing rapidly until lost to sight.
Source: Verga, Maurizio
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Falasco, Italy
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Nacci).
Source: Boncompagni, Solas UFO in Italia, Volume I (Periodo 1907-1953) Tedeschi, Firenze, 1974
Date: March 28, 1950
Location: Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Boncompagni, Solas UFO in Italia, Volume I (Periodo 1907-1953) Tedeschi, Firenze, 1974
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Almansa, Albacete, Spain
Time: 00:45
Summary: An object with appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft, about 10 feet across, was observed by one experienced male witness at a building (Gonzalvo).
Source: Ballester Olmos, Vicente-Juan
Date: March 29 [or 30], 1950 (BBU 682)
Location: Marrowbone Lake, Tennessee
Time: 7:00 a.m.
Summary: Real estate salesmen Whiteside and Williams, fishing from a boat, saw six to twelve dark objects shaped like 300-lb bombs, an estimated 5 feet long, flying at 500 mph in descent, making a noise like wind through trees. Three black discs maneuvered in unison at roughly 75 meters altitude, below the clouds. Source material gives the date as March 29 with a possible March 30 alternative — preserved here as the record states it.
Source: Berliner
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: La Palma del Condado, Huelva, Spain
Time: 08:30
Summary: A rectangular object hovered and made wild maneuvers; observed by several witnesses in a town for two minutes.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Albany, California
Time: 10:30
Summary: A teenager saw a white, spinning, cone-shaped object with blue streaks on its underside at 150 meters altitude, departing rapidly to the east; observed in a town for over one minute (Peterson).
Source: Oakland Tribune
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Villafría, Spain
Time: 11:20
Summary: The airport tower first heard sounds resembling an unexpected incoming plane, then a disc buzzed the tower before shooting up and away to the east at roughly 1,800 kph; briefly observed by several male witnesses, three of them experienced observers.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Las Salinas, Chile
Time: 12:00
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Quilpué, Valparaíso, Chile
Time: 13:00
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Coalbank Hill, Colorado
Time: Daytime
Summary: One object was observed by four witnesses for a few seconds (Paisley).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Austin, Texas
Time: Daytime
Summary: A flat, featureless, silver disc hovered briefly for three seconds before departing rapidly to the northeast; observed by three male witnesses in the city.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Ironwood, Michigan
Time: 14:55
Summary: One object was observed by seven witnesses at an airport (Christensen).
Source: Hall, Richard H. The UFO Evidence NICAP, Washington, 1964
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Ethel, California
Time: 19:00
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses (McVicar; Saubert).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Eureka, California
Time: 19:20
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: San Diego, California
Time: 21:00
Summary: One orange light was observed in a city for over three minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Union Point, Georgia
Time: 22:10
Summary: Three members of a train crew watched a round object with an orange glow hover for 10 minutes.
Source: Hitt, Michael Georgia UFO Phenomenon 1947-1987
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Stendek
Date: March 29, 1950
Location: Fort William, Ontario, Canada
Time: Night
Summary: A brilliant, wingless fireball was joined by four additional nocturnal lights, which then hovered together before departing rapidly to the northeast; five fiery balls were observed in a town for five minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Salamanca, Spain
Time: 01:30
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Zugspitze, Austria
Time: 09:45
Summary: A daytime disc was reported (Kecht) — a further instance of this week’s recurring pattern from the same observer.
Source: Schoenherr, Luis
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Adrian, Michigan
Time: Noon
Summary: A UFO was seen hovering over the town at noon.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Between Worland and Greybull, Wyoming
Time: 23:00
Summary: A UFO was seen hovering between the two towns.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Quinteros, Chile
Time: 12:20
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Rancagua, Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins, Chile
Time: 12:30
Summary: A daytime disc was reported.
Source: Petrowitsch, Pablo
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Austin, Texas
Time: 13:30
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses for 42 seconds (Osborne).
Source: Unknown
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: St. Ignace, Michigan
Time: 19:30
Summary: A 60cm white disc was observed at a lake for over one minute at very high altitude over the straits, leaving a bluish, smoky film in the sky; corroborated by three separate witnesses.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Stendek
Date: March 30, 1950
Location: Kassel, Germany
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Niemann).
Source: UFO Nachrichten (Veit)
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Bari, Apulia, Italy
Time: Unknown
Summary: A flying disc was observed.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Escanaba, Michigan
Time: Unknown
Summary: A fiery blue, glowing disc raced over the town, spewing a ribbon of blue flame, per news reports.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1950: January-March Author, Fremont, 1983
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Linz, Upper Austria, Austria
Time: 03:00
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Keul, A.
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: McAlisterville, Pennsylvania
Time: 13:30
Summary: A farm boy saw two ovoid objects dive fast, then level off at 600 meters altitude, buzzing and whirling for two minutes; observed on a farm for over two minutes (Watts), with a buzzing sound heard.
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Crescent City, California
Time: 19:21
Summary: One object was observed by two witnesses (Bienick; King).
Source: Newspaper
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Niort, Poitou-Charentes, France
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Plantier, Jean La Propulsion des Soucoupes Volantes Mame, 1955
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Fontenay-le-Comte, Pays de la Loire, France
Time: Night
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported.
Source: Plantier, Jean La Propulsion des Soucoupes Volantes Mame, 1955
Date: March 31, 1950
Location: Near Jacumba, California
Time: Night
Summary: An experienced female witness reported a disc landing on Highway 80 outside town; a small, four-foot-tall, dwarf-like humanoid exited the craft and reportedly ran off down the highway “faster than Jesse Owens.” A close encounter with an unidentified craft and its occupant.
Source: Newspaper clipping in HUMCAT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
From Radar Trackings to a Venusian Handshake
The final eleven days of March 1950 close out the month that effectively launched the modern UFO era’s first great wave, and the range of case types on display is remarkable: dense radar-visual military data from Kirtland AFB, Sandia Base, and Okinawa; a probable-meteor case properly labeled as such; nocturnal-light reports spanning a dozen countries; and, at the far end of the strangeness scale, Samuel Eaton Thompson’s extraordinary claim of 40 hours spent aboard a Venusian craft in rural Washington — a case now documented in its own standalone report. A recurring daily pattern of near-identical disc reports from a single observer (Kecht) at Zugspitze, Austria across four separate days stood out during this rebuild as a pattern worth continued attention, in the spirit of this archive’s other multi-day case clusters.
This period also illustrates the value of careful cross-referencing: the well-documented Chicago & Southern Airlines DC-3 disc pursuit near Stuttgart, Arkansas — long dated to March 20, 1950 in Blue Book and NICAP records — appeared misdated to March 31 in an earlier version of this page and has been corrected by removing the duplicate; the case remains properly documented on the March 11th–20th archive page. Two other entries combining unrelated sightings under a single date (Acre, Israel with Brunswick, Georgia; and Adrian, Michigan with Worland/Greybull, Wyoming) have likewise been separated into their correct, distinct records.
“They said they were sent to establish goodwill among Earth people.”
— Samuel Eaton Thompson, on his claimed March 28–30, 1950 contact near Morton and Mineral, Washington
