A former Finnish envoy and his wife watched a silent aluminum disk fly into cloud near Mikkeli in June 1951.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1951: A former Finnish envoy watches a silent aluminum disc cross the sky at Mikkeli
At 8:05 p.m. on June 9, 1951, a Finnish engineer and businessman, a former Finnish envoy abroad, was driving north of Mikkeli with his wife when she pointed out a disc in the sky. He stopped the car and watched a perfect, aluminum-colored disk, with no visible windows, cross the sky from the northwest toward the southeast at what he put at about 10,000 feet.
It made no sound, flew straight and level at about 800 miles per hour, and vanished into clouds through a large opening in the broken overcast. He told no one for more than three months, until he mentioned it to the U.S. Air Attaché in Helsinki. The attaché’s report reached Air Force Intelligence, and Blue Book’s card shows a brief comment: probable aircraft.
Date: June 9, 1951
Sighting Time: 8:05 p.m. local (2005; 1805Z)
Day/Night: Daylight; the report notes daylight lasts until about 11 p.m. at that season
Location: North of Mikkeli, Finland, while driving
Urban or Rural: Rural road north of a provincial town
No. of Entity(‘s): 0
Entity Type: None observed
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)
Duration: Not recorded; the object was watched until it passed into cloud
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A perfect disk of aluminum color with no visible windows; no engine noise of any kind. The witness could see no cockpit, which he took to mean he saw only the underside.
Shape of Object(s): Disk
Size of Object(s): About 25 meters in diameter per the attaché’s report; the Blue Book card says 2 meters
Color of Object(s): Aluminum
Distance to Object(s): Estimated altitude of about 3,000 meters (10,000 feet); horizontal distance not given
Height & Speed: About 3,000 meters; about 800 miles per hour in straight and level flight, northwest to southeast toward Leningrad
Number of Witnesses: 2 (the source, an engineer and businessman, and his wife; names withheld in the released file)
Special Features/Characteristics: Silent; neither reciprocating nor jet engine noise heard; broken cloud, with the object passing out of sight through a large gap in the overcast
Case Status: Project Blue Book card: comment “Probable aircraft” (conclusions box hard to read in the scan); Air Attaché evaluation B-3
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Air Intelligence Information Report IR-179-51, Office of the Air Attaché, Helsinki, September 21, 1951 (Lt. Col. Howard T. Van De Car)
Summary/Description: A Finnish engineer, businessman and former envoy, with his wife, watched a silent, aluminum-colored disk about 25 meters across cross the sky at about 800 mph before it entered cloud. He reported it months later to the U.S. Air Attaché; Blue Book called it a probable aircraft.
Related Cases: June 1951 UFO sightings archive
Detailed Report
The primary record is an Air Intelligence Information Report from the Office of the Air Attaché in Helsinki, prepared by Lieutenant Colonel Howard T. Van De Car and dated September 21, 1951. Its information date is September 20, 1951. The source’s name is blacked out in the released copy, but the report describes him as an ex-Finnish Minister to a country whose name is also blacked out (a diplomatic post, not a cabinet seat), a graduate engineer and a businessman living in Kuopio, Finland. The report carries an evaluation of B-3. A Project Blue Book record card is filed with it.
The source told the attaché during a business meeting that he had seen a flying saucer at 2005 hours on June 9, 1951, near Mikkeli. The report notes that at that season daylight lasts until about 2300, when night-type darkness occurs. He was driving north of Mikkeli with his wife, who first pointed the object out. He stopped the car and watched.
By his account the object was flying at an estimated altitude of 3,000 meters, about 10,000 feet, from the northwest toward the southeast, in the direction of Leningrad. He described it as a perfect disk about 25 meters in diameter, aluminum in color, with no visible windows. He estimated its speed at about 800 miles per hour, in straight and level flight. He could see no cockpit, which he thought was because he could see only the underneath side.
There were broken clouds, and the object flew into the overcast through a large opening. The source said he could hear absolutely no noise, and that in his view it was neither a reciprocating engine nor a jet engine. Asked what propulsion he concluded it used, he declined to say. He added that he had told no one before.
The attaché’s comment reads: “Since this man is a graduate engineer (field unknown) and gave the impression of being anything but a crackpot, it is felt that his report warrants some consideration.” He adds that the cloudy sky, combined with the noiseless propulsion, are suggested as possible reasons the flight had gone unreported to that date.
The Blue Book card (ATIC Form 329) records a ground-visual sighting, civilian source, one object, local time 2005 and 1805Z on June 9. Its summary reads: disc shaped, 2 meters in diameter, aluminum color, speed of 800 mph, straight and level flight, no noise. The comment reads “Probable aircraft.” The card’s size of 2 meters differs from the report’s 25 meters.
The Hynek classification is DD (Daylight Disc): a discoid object seen in daylight, with no physical effects and no entities.
Researcher’s Notes
Twenty-Five Meters or Two? What the Records Say
- Size Conflict: The attaché’s report says about 25 meters; the Blue Book card says 2 meters. The report is the detailed account and gives the larger figure; the card’s 2 meters may be a copying error, but the file does not say. At the stated 3,000 meters, 25 meters would span about half a degree of sky, roughly the width of the full moon.
- Another Catalogue Version: Donald Johnson’s catalogue, drawing on the Larry Hatch computer database, gives the time as 8:10 p.m., two witnesses, a 25 meter disc and an altitude of 300 meters, flying slowly and silently toward Leningrad. The report gives 2005, 3,000 meters and 800 mph, so the catalogue differs from the report in time, altitude and speed.
- Probable Aircraft: The card’s comment says probable aircraft. It does not say which aircraft, and the file contains no analysis of the witness’s reported absence of engine noise or of the disk shape. The attaché himself recommended that the report receive some consideration.
- The Delay: The sighting was reported on September 20, 1951, more than three months later, and to an American attaché rather than to Finnish authorities. The report says he had told no one before, and the attaché suggests the cloudy sky and the noiseless flight may be why no one else reported it.
- Witness Quality: The source was a graduate engineer, a businessman and a former Finnish envoy, and the attaché rated the report B-3 and said he gave the impression of being anything but a crackpot. His wife was with him and first noticed the object, but the report records only his account.
- Official Status: Blue Book comment: probable aircraft. The released file shows no investigation in Finland.
The Mikkeli case rests on a trained, highly placed witness, a second witness who spotted the object first, and a detailed daylight description. Its weak points are the three-month delay, the 25 meter versus 2 meter conflict between the report and the card, and Blue Book’s one-line verdict of probable aircraft.
“Source stated that he could hear absolutely no noise from the aircraft.”
— Air Intelligence Information Report IR-179-51, Office of the Air Attaché, Helsinki, September 21, 1951
