Four cases from October 1951, headlined by the Squadron of Discs over the Nevada atomic test site and the Yellow Sea pursuit.
1951: October UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
The UFO sightings of October 1951 open with a radar case that Air Force experts could not explain. On October 3, two operators and a senior mechanic at the Okinawa radar station north of Kadena Air Base tracked a huge sausage-shaped echo at an estimated 4,800 mph and followed it out past 240 miles. On October 9, an airport official at Terre Haute, Indiana watched a silver object cross the sky overhead in 15 seconds while a pilot over Paris, Illinois reported another within minutes. On October 10 and 11, a balloon-project crew and two ground observers reported glowing objects that moved in a pattern like a falling leaf over Minneapolis, and a theodolite could not follow them.
Later in the month, a Navy PBM Mariner crew and its radar chased a swept-wing craft trailing a long flame over the Yellow Sea during the Korean War, and on October 22 a Cape Cod radar station tracked a fast target at a computed 2,400 knots. Around them sit the cases Project Blue Book resolved or shelved: Venus over Ellington and Whidbey Island, meteors at White Sands, Buena Vista and Four Corners, a balloon at Battle Creek, a searchlight at Point Barrow, a tumbleweed at Gonzales, Texas, and several reports with too little data to judge.
Date: October 1951
Location: Gonzales, Texas
Time: Not stated (daylight, sun shining)
Summary: A civilian driving over a hill saw a round object about 6 feet across directly ahead, at about 30 degrees elevation to the south, with a creamy white center about 2 feet wide and a grayish-white outer ring that looked like smoke. It floated from east to west, covering about 15 degrees of sky in roughly half a minute with no sound or odor, and stood out sharply against the clouds. When the car dropped into a dip the object was gone on the far side. The witness first thought it was a cloud and put it at about half a mile away. Blue Book evaluated it as a tumbleweed blown through the air.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: The card gives only “October 1951,” with no day or time, and no witness is named. Blue Book rated the case Tumbleweed.
Date: October 1, 1951
Location: Ellington Air Force Base, Texas
Time: 4:15 a.m. local time
Summary: A military observer on the ground saw a whitish-blue light, about 12 inches across to the eye, at an estimated 400 to 500 feet and 110 degrees azimuth, that seemed to send out constant rays of light like a glittering diamond. No shape or form could be made out and no speed was reported. The observation lasted two and three-quarter hours, and Blue Book evaluated the case as Venus.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Astronomical (Venus).
Date: October 2, 1951
Location: White Sands, New Mexico
Time: 7:45 p.m. local time
Summary: A military observer saw four objects in formation, the fourth trailing behind, move toward the east for five to six seconds, first seen at 180 degrees and gone at 110 degrees. Each looked about the size of an opened newspaper, amber like light coming through window shades and apparently square, though the shape could not be confirmed. They moved at about twice the speed of a rocket, made no sound and simply vanished. Blue Book evaluated the case as a meteor.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Astronomical (meteor).
Date: October 2, 1951
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Time: 6:00 p.m. local time
Summary: A civilian watched a glowing object, slightly smaller than a DC-3 fuselage, shift to orange as it moved away to the west, fading and shrinking over about a minute with no sound. The witness saw a flash and first took it for a balloon. Blue Book carried the case as Unidentified.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Unidentified. The card gives no witness name or detail beyond the summary.
Date: October 3, 1951
Location: Okinawa Ground Control Intercept Station, a few miles north of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa
Time: 10:27 p.m. local time
Summary: Two radar operators and a senior radar mechanic tracked a large sausage-shaped echo, about three times the size of a B-29 return, with its long axis held at right angles to its direction of travel. It first appeared 90 miles out on the high-beam scope, changed course between sweeps within 15 seconds, and covered the first stretch at an estimated 4,800 mph. A second operator followed the same kind of echo on the low-beam scope out to 247 miles. No one saw anything in the sky. See the Detailed Report.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Far East Air Forces Air Intelligence Information Report IR-25-52; Air Technical Intelligence Center disposition forms; Berliner (BBU #984, per NICAP)
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Unidentified. The Air Technical Intelligence Center declined to theorize in 1952, citing conflicting explanations from two radar experts. The Blue Book case number comes from NICAP’s chronology; the record card does not print it.
Date: October 9, 1951
Location: Hulman Municipal Airport, Terre Haute, Indiana
Time: 1:42 p.m. CST
Summary: An airport official on a clear, bright afternoon watched a round, silver object, without fins or protrusions, pass directly overhead and streak to the southeast, going from zenith to horizon in about 15 seconds with no sound and no vapor trail. It looked about the size of a half dollar held at arm’s length. Minutes later, a pilot near Paris, Illinois reported a similar silver object. The Air Force treated the two as one event. See the Detailed Report.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Project Grudge status report appendices; Air Force message traffic; Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknowns Catalogue; NICAP
Source Status: Blue Book rated the Terre Haute case Unidentified, noting that 15 seconds from zenith to horizon is not consistent with an aircraft. The airport official’s name is redacted in the file.
Date: October 9, 1951
Location: Just east of Paris, Illinois
Time: 1:45 p.m. local time
Summary: A pilot flying at 5,000 feet saw a round, silvery object that appeared stationary, then began to move to the northeast. The Air Force plotted this report together with the Terre Haute sighting made minutes earlier. Blue Book noted that all basic data pointed to a balloon, but with no duration or speed it carried the case as Insufficient Data. See also the Terre Haute entry above.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Air Force message traffic
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Insufficient Data. The pilot’s name is redacted in the file.
Date: October 10, 1951
Location: St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin
Time: 10:10 a.m. local time
Summary: A civilian balloon-project observer saw an object fly east to west at about 20,000 feet, far above a balloon, with a peculiar glow and about a quarter of a balloon’s apparent size. It dived slightly, leveled off, turned sharply to the left and climbed to the southeast at 50 to 60 degrees with what the card calls terrific acceleration. Blue Book concluded it was characteristic of an aircraft. The Air Force later tied the report to the Minneapolis sightings of the next day.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Air Force message traffic
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Aircraft. The card gives two minutes for the observation, though its summary mentions a 40 to 50 degree arc in 12 minutes.
Date: October 11, 1951
Location: North of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota airport
Time: 6:30 a.m. CST
Summary: Experienced balloon-project observers, two in an aircraft at 10,000 feet and two on the ground, saw a brightly glowing object with a halo and dark undersurface cross the sky at high speed, slow, and climb in slow, lazy circles like a falling leaf for a couple of minutes before accelerating rapidly east. A second object approached from the west and left to the east. A theodolite could not keep up with them, and the objects were reportedly seen again about two hours later. See the Detailed Report.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Air Force teletypes TT-281 and TT-284; Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknowns Catalogue; Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence; NICAP
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Unidentified. The aircrew names are redacted in the file. The card’s local time is hard to read; the 6:30 a.m. CST comes from the 1230Z entry.
Date: October 11, 1951
Location: Neubiburg, Germany
Time: 8:45 a.m. local time
Summary: A military observer on the ground watched a shimmering, ellipse-shaped object with a dark triangular section on its rear underpart, glowing like reflected sunlight and seeming to be made of parts. He first took it for a blimp or dirigible at about 20,000 feet. It moved to the southwest for about 30 seconds and disappeared as if a light had gone out. Blue Book noted that weather data was not included and called it a possible balloon.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Possible Balloon.
Date: October 14, 1951
Location: Lowell, Massachusetts
Time: Not reported
Summary: Children reported two glittering objects. The record gives no time, course, duration or other detail. Blue Book commented that the objects were probably aircraft or other conventional objects, but that there was insufficient data to reach a conclusion.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Insufficient Data. The card holds only the word “glittering.”
Date: October 16, 1951
Location: Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Washington (theodolite at 48°20’44” N, 122°40’02” W)
Time: 11:01 a.m. PST
Summary: Military observers, with a theodolite set up at the stated position, saw a round, medium-gray object a little smaller than a dime, and pilots flew directly at it for 50 minutes. The photographs did not develop well enough to show a distinct object. Blue Book noted that Venus was in that position in the sky and attributed the sighting to the planet.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Astronomical (Venus). The card’s location was corrected by hand from McChord to Whidbey Island.
Date: October 16, 1951
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Time: 10:40 p.m. local time
Summary: A military observer saw a blue-white object move from the left of the Moon to the right, coming south from the north toward Anchorage. It stopped for about five seconds at intervals, and the observer first took it for an aircraft, then a star. The sighting lasted three to four minutes, and Blue Book called it a probable aircraft.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Aircraft.
Date: October 18, 1951
Location: Yellow Sea, west of Korea (about 35°48′ N, 123°16′ E)
Time: About 3:33 a.m. Korean time
Summary: During a night patrol under a full Moon, the waist gunner of a Navy PBM Mariner saw a long, cone-shaped flame 12 miles off the port side, and the radarman confirmed a target. As the plane closed to three or four miles, the crew made out a large craft, about 60 feet long, with swept-back wings and no visible tail, flying nose-high and trailing a red-orange to white-orange flame. It turned away to hold a 12-mile gap, then pulled away at about 530 knots against the Mariner’s 170. See the Detailed Report.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Far East Air Forces letter “Unidentified Air Contact”; Department of the Air Force disposition form to ATIC; patrol squadron debriefing extract
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Aircraft (“A/C sighting”), without identifying the aircraft. The card prints 38.48 N where the debriefing gives 35°48′ N, and prints 0333Z, which appears to be Korean local time.
Date: October 19, 1951
Location: Lenoir City, Tennessee
Time: Not reported
Summary: A civilian reported one object that emitted smoke and made a noise variously described as crashing, a straining motor and a machine gun. The record gives no time, duration, position or movement. Blue Book carried the case as Insufficient Data.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Insufficient Data.
Date: October 21, 1951
Location: Atlantic Ocean, 62° N, 15° W (in the direction of Novaya Zemlya)
Time: 0500Z
Summary: A civilian in an aircraft saw a bright yellow flash on the horizon that lit about three degrees of it. The report was made with the thought that the flash might be connected with an atomic explosion. The card notes it was not reported as a UFO and that atomic explosion activity data was not available, so there was insufficient data for analysis.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Insufficient Data. The card names the witness as a scientist in an aircraft; no name is given.
Date: October 21, 1951
Location: Battle Creek, Michigan
Time: 1625Z (local time not given)
Summary: A civilian pilot at 3,000 feet saw a highly polished silver, oval object with a dome on top approach head-on and pass about 1,000 feet below him in three to five seconds, at an extremely high rate of speed, with no sound and no vapor trail. He banked once to look for it but could not find it again. Blue Book evaluated it as a balloon, reasoning that the object was rising past the pilot and was then well above him.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Balloon. The pilot’s name is not on the card.
Date: October 22, 1951
Location: North Truro radar station, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Time: 1230Z to 1232Z
Summary: Radar operators at the North Truro station on Cape Cod watched a single target cross their scope for about two minutes at a computed 2,400 knots, heading west and then south, and fade 30 miles north of the station. Each return was sausage-shaped, and the 32d Air Division report judged the pattern consistent with a streamlined moving object. No one saw anything in the sky, and no interception was tried. See the Detailed Report.
Source: Project Blue Book record card; 32d Air Division (Defense) report “Information on Unconventional Aircraft”; Air Technical Intelligence Center and Eastern Air Defense Force message traffic
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Insufficient Data and suggested a meteor; the Eastern Air Defense Force suggested anomalous propagation. The card prints 0230Z where the report gives 1230Z.
Date: October 28, 1951
Location: Buena Vista, Colorado
Time: 0300Z on October 29 (about 8:00 p.m. MST on October 28)
Summary: A pilot saw a greenish-blue light descend in a curve at about 30 degrees for 30 seconds, moving north to southwest. It left a tail or incandescent glow behind it and changed to a whitish color. Blue Book evaluated it as a meteor.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Astronomical (meteor).
Date: October 30, 1951
Location: Four Corners, Colorado
Time: 2330Z (local time not given)
Summary: A civilian saw a very brilliant object cross from the zenith to the southwest in a 30-degree arc, white at first, then red, then green, before it seemed to disappear. The witness took it for a shooting star. Blue Book evaluated it as a meteor.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Astronomical (meteor). The card notes it was reported as a shooting star, not a UFO.
Date: October 31, 1951
Location: Point Barrow, Alaska
Time: 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time
Summary: The Alaska National Guard reported a light like a spotlight, stationary in the northeast just above the horizon for about a minute. Observers believed it came from a surface vessel. Blue Book classed it as a searchlight, not a UFO.
Source: Project Blue Book record card
Source Status: Blue Book rated the case Other (searchlight).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Instruments, Eyewitnesses and the Air Force’s Verdicts
October 1951 is a month of instruments. The two cases the files leave Unidentified, Kadena and Minneapolis, both involve equipment that failed to settle the question: radar scopes whose readings two experts later explained in conflicting ways, and a theodolite that could not keep pace with the objects. The Terre Haute and Paris reports are the opposite, simple visual sightings that the Air Force chose to plot together, and the card for Terre Haute notes that 15 seconds from zenith to horizon is not consistent with an aircraft.
The Yellow Sea and North Truro cases show the other side of the ledger. Blue Book filed the Yellow Sea encounter under aircraft without naming one, and it carried North Truro as Insufficient Data while two Air Force commands offered different weather and meteor explanations. The rest of the month, the Venus, meteor, balloon, searchlight and tumbleweed cases, shows how much of Blue Book’s work in 1951 was sorting ordinary sky from the unexplained.
“Further theorizing by ATIAE would be pure conjecture.”
— Chief, Electronics Branch, Air Technical Intelligence Center, on the October 3, 1951 Kadena, Okinawa radar case
