1953 January UFO|UAP & Alien Sightings Archive
The January 1953 UFO sightings represent a critically high-tension month in early Ufology, occurring just as the Robertson Panel convened to evaluate the national security implications of the phenomenon. This month is technically significant for its documented radar-visual cross-validation and extreme flight performance, with objects recorded at speeds exceeding 3,600 mph—far surpassing the era’s aeronautical limits. From the bluish-white exhaust trails in Alabama to the high-speed chases over Nenana, Alaska, the January 1953 archive provides foundational evidence for mapping the electromagnetic (EM) interference and kinetic energy signatures of the early Cold War era.
For researchers, the January 1953 data offers granular detail on non-human biological entity (NHBE) encounters, including a “ghastly” scaly creature in Australia and “silver-suited” humanoids in Brazil. The transition from aerial observation to direct biological reconnaissance is prevalent this month, with reports of entities performing environmental scans and leaving behind enormous, non-human footprints. These accounts remain essential for understanding the tactical surveillance patterns utilized by the phenomenon against sensitive military airbases and civilian infrastructure.
Date: Jan. 1, 1953 BBU
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Time:
Summary: Brookley AFB USAF Capt. and senior pilot saw to the W from a drive-in theater a bluish-white object 1 2 ft size with a short exhaust trail in rapid level flight left to right through 80° arc about 2,000-3,000 ft altitude, 1 mile distance, 250-300 knots speed, started climbing turn at the end and suddenly disappeared like turning off a light.
Source: Hynek-CUFOS Willy Smith files
Date: January 1, 1953
Location: Old Town, Maine
Time: 03:20 & 08:15
Summary: Small ringed orb rapidly to the north northeast, zig-zagged and changed colors. Observed spinning in both directions. An object was observed. It zig-zagged through the air. One changing color Saturn-shaped object was observed by one military witness at a military facility for two minutes. No sound was heard. An airman sighted an unidentified flying object at 0815. The object was round and small and appeared to be whirling at its top. It moved NNE, changing color in sequences of red, blue and white. Prom time to time, it maneuvered erratically. One metallic saucer was observed by a radar operator for under 20 minutes (Boothe).
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: January 1, 1953
Location: Joshua Tree, California
Time: 13:35
Summary: One object was observed (Van Tassel).
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: January 1, 1953 BBU 2315
Location: Craig, Montana
Time: 8:45 p.m. (MST).
Summary: Warner Anderson and 2 women saw a silver, saucer-shaped object with a red glowing bottom, fly low over a river then climb fast in a horizontal attitude. in Lewis and Clark County, northwest of Craig, Montana a disc with illuminated windows was seen over the Missouri River for ten seconds. It was estimated to be about 10 meters in length and flew at 3,600 miles per hour. Fifteen minutes later a bright object hovered in the sky over the northwest horizon of Calgary, Alberta for ten minutes. It too shot away at a high speed with fantastic acceleration.
Source: Berliner; PBB Status Rep. No. 10
Date: January 1, 1953
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Time: 21:00
Summary: Bright object hovered 10 minutes over northwest horizon. Shot away at fantastic speed, extreme acceleration. A hovering object was observed. One bright object was observed by two witnesses in a residential area for ten minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: January 2, 1953
Location: North Bankstown, Australia
Time:
Summary: An object was observed and photographed. One object, about 300 feet across, was observed by one male witness (Atkinson).
Source: CUFOS
Date: January 2, 1953
Location: Rauch, Argentina
Time: 21:35
Summary: Two objects, about 80 feet across, were observed by six witnesses (Endler).
Source: GEPA, Phenomenes Spatiaux
Date: January 2 1953
Location: Berri, near Adelaide, South Australia
Time: unknown
Summary: A ghastly looking creature over six feet tall, with a long scaly body, hissed at local residents from the top of a tree. It leapt to the ground and ran off when someone fetched a gun. No other information.
Source: Michael Hervey “UFOs over The Southern Hemisphere”
Date: January 3, 1953
Location: Santana Dos Montes, Brazil
Time: 13:00
Summary: Metallic dome maneuvered 5′ above hayfield. two 5.1′ tall men jumped out, shining ball on each of square-toed shoes. Third in hatch. one had cylinder it pushed into ground, withdrew. Back to craft, headache One metallic domed disc, about 10 feet across, about ten feet away, was observed by one experienced male witness in a field for a few seconds (Ramos Bessa, M). Two humanoids, each wearing a silver suit, were seen.
Source: Webb, David HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports
Date: January 3, 1953
Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Time: Around 2200
Summary: One object was observed by several witnesses.
Source: Hervey, Michael UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere Robert Hale, London, 1975
ISBN:0-7091-4724-4
Date: January 4, 1953
Location: Flint, Michigan
Time: 01:45
Summary: Nocturnal lights were reported (Diener).
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: January 4, 1953
Location: Eau Gallie, Florida
Time: 08:15
Summary: At 2345Z a civilian employee of Patrick AFB observed an unidentified aerial object for three seconds. Source compared the object to a flying wing and said that it was at an altitude of less than five hundred feet, flying at about 500 mph in a SSW direction. Source saw at least 4 blue lights on the lower surface of the object. The weather was cold and clear with little or no wind. No other person observed the object.
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: January 5 1953
Location: Marina di Pisa, Italy
Time: unknown
Summary: A fisherman observed an object that crashed about three thousand meters from the coast into the Ligurian Sea and raised a large pillar of water, after flying over the coast for a long time. The curios thing is that the following morning another fisherman, while walking on the shoreline in search of a site suitable for mollusk fishing, found some enormous prints in the sand. These prints came out from the sea. The prints, of enormous dimensions and different from human prints, pointed towards a nearby pine forest and they became very deep at a certain point. Another witness to the event was an American officer stationed at the logistical command in Livorno.
Source: Marco Bianchini in USOCAT quoting “Giornale dell’Emilia” 1-6-1953
Date: Jan. 6, 1953 BBU
Location: Duncanville, TX and Oklahoma City, OK?
Time: 11:05 a.m. (CST).
Summary: The 147th AC&W Squadron, Duncanville, Texas, was notified by the CAA ARTCC at Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Texas, that they received numerous calls of an unidentified flying object northeast of Dallas, Texas. The AC&W unit at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, reported that they had picked up a target by radar twenty miles southwest of Paris, Texas. This target was moving moving west at an estimated speed of 600 knots at 7,500 feet in altitude. An arrowhead-shaped object was seen by some witnesses.
Source: McDonald list; FUFOR Index
Date: January 6, 1953
Location: Napier, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
Time: 19:00
Summary: A flying disc was observed. One circular object was observed on the shore for two minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: January 6, 1953
Location: Te Kuiti, Waikato, New Zealand
Time: 21:27
Summary: Brilliant red-orange light moved slowly, steadily across path of airliner. A fireball was observed. One red-orange light was observed by one witness for two minutes. National Airways DC-3 incident.
Source: Weinstein, Dominique Aircraft UFO Encounters Project ACUFOE, Paris, 1999
Date: January 6, 1953
Location: Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand
Time: 21:30
Summary: Disc seen in two locations. Had comet-tail, made U-turn. Big oil refinery nearby. A flying disc was observed. Multiple independent witnesses. One disc was observed at a refinery for two minutes.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: January 6, 1953
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Time: 21:30
Summary: Luminous cigar-shaped UFO seen in three separate locations for 6 seconds. Orange flame at rear of object. Cigar-shaped objects were observed. Multiple independent witnesses. More than one luminous cigar-shaped object was observed in a city for 12 seconds.
Source: Hatch, Larry
Date: January 7, 1953
Location: Warner-Robins AFB, Georgia
Time: 19:00
Summary: At 0200 Z two civilian sources observed an orange glowing object traveling west at a slow rate of speed north of Warner-Robbins AFB. The object was visible for 6 to 7 minutes.
Source: UFOdna Database
Date: Jan. 8, 1953 BBU
Location: Larson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington
Time: 7:15-7:30 a.m. [8:15 a.m. PST?]
Summary: USAF 82nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron personnel, including squadron commander, all on the ground, saw a green, disc shaped or round object fly SW, with a vertical bobbing motion and sideways movements, below the overcast clouds at 13,000 ft against the wind from 240°. Green disc shaped or round object fly southwest
Source: Berliner; McDonald 1968
Date: January 8, 1953
Location: Mosgiel, New Zealand
Time: 22:20
Summary: Triangle glow with small white nocturnal light, vanishes, reappears in west, vertical motion. An object was observed. It departed by rapidly flying straight up until lost to sight. One white light was observed in a town for ten minutes.
Source: Gross, Loren E. UFOs: A History. 1953: January-February Author, Fremont
Date: January 9, 1953
Location: Santa Anna, Texas
Time:
Summary: B-29 pilots see rapid unidentified lights in formation.
Source: Dolan, Richard M. UFO’s and the National Security State: An Unclassified History Volume One: 1941-1973 Keyhole Publishing Company, Rochester, 2000
Date: Jan. 9, 1953 BBU
Location: Misawa, Japan
Time: 6:50 p.m.
Summary: The F-94 aircraft made radar contact with the object at a range of 24,000 yards. The radar locked on at 5000 yards and contact was broken at a range of 200 yards. The radar observer reported unusual interference on the set throughout the mission but the set appeared to be operative before and after contact. The radar contact was for approximately 2 minutes.
Source: McDonald list, UFOE
Date: Jan. 9, 1953
Location: Santa Ana, California
Time:
Summary: The crew of a B-29 bomber watched a V-formation of blue-white lights bank near the bomber, then climb away.
Source: UFOE, III
Date: Jan. 10, 1953 BBU 2326
Location: 8 miles NW of Sonoma, Calif.
Time: 3:45 or 4 p.m. [4:45 p.m. PST?]
Summary: Retired AF Col. Robert McNab, and Mr. Hunter of the Federal Security Agency saw a flat object to the NW at 45° elevation traveling about 2,400 mph make three 360° right turns in 2-3 secs each in about 1/8 radius required for jets [i.e., about 1/4 mile radius and 300 g’s], two abrupt 90° turns to the right and left, each turn 5 secs apart, almost stop, accelerate to original high speed, almost stop again, speed up again and finally fly out of sight vertically. Sound similar to F-86 at high altitude.
Source: Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 115-6
Date: January 12 1953
Location: Santana Dos Montes Brazil
Time: 1300
Summary: While driving over a hayfield, Mauricio Ramos Bessa saw a bright metallic object, smaller than a Volkswagen, maneuvering 5 ft above the ground. It had a flat bottom and a rounded top. He drove to within 6 ft of it. A door opened and 2 men 5-5.5 feet tall jumped out; they wore “brilliant lead” colored suits, with a shining ball on each of their square-toed shoes. A third man looked out from the doorway. One of the men held a cylinder about 5” long and 1 1/2 “thick, which he pushed into the ground and withdrew; it seemed to became shorter and rounder. Then the men walked backwards to the craft, which was now closer to the ground. The witness developed a headache so severe that he did not observe the departure of the vessel; when the pain ceased suddenly, he saw it was gone.
Source: Merseyside UFO Bulletin Vol. 6 # 3
Date: Jan. 17, 1953 BBU 2337
Location: Near Guatemala City, Guatemala
Time: 3:55 p.m.
Summary: Geologist/salesman J. J. Sackett saw a brilliant green-gold object, shaped like the Goodyear blimp with length/height ratio 2:1, fly 400 mph straight and level, stop, then fly straight up with one stop.
Source: Berliner
Date: Jan. 20, 1953 BBU
Location: Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska
Time: 9:35 p.m.
Summary: At 9:35 p.m. local time, a highly experienced Rawin Crew while tracking a Rawin Target observed three unidentified targets on a SCR-584 radar. The largest object was tracked for approximately 9 minutes. The object’s radar return was significantly larger than the Rawin Target. When the object were first detected the Rawin Target was at 55,000 feet and the object was at 46,300 feet. ()
Source: McDonald, Dan Wilson
Date: Jan. 22, 1953
Location: Harmon AFB, Newfoundland
Time:
Summary: An unidentified flying object described as red, white and blue and oval-shaped, was observed visually from the weather station, control tower, base operations office, and a nearby AC&W site at Harmon AFB, Newfoundland, at 0040 Z. An attempt to contact the object by radar met with negative results. ()
Source: NARA-PBB85-812
Date: Jan. 22, 1953
Location: Patrick AFB, FL
Time: 2400
Summary: At 2400 Z four airmen at Patrick AFB, Florida, visually observed for three minutes a fiery red-orange ball traveling soundlessly from north to south at high speed. ()
Source: NARA-PBB85-813
Date: Jan. 23, 1953 BBU
Location: Bergstrom AFB, TX
Time: 3:40 p.m. (CST).
Summary: Unidentified return on AN/NPM-1 GCA radar set. Size of blip was 3/16″ in width and 3/4″ in length. Speed was from stationary to as fast or faster then a jet aircraft. Length of observation was 19 minutes. The observer was T/Sgt Gerald Kelly, Aircraft Landing Control Technician, and he is stated to be fully qualified by his commanding officer. (Dan Wilson)
Source: McDonald list; FUFOR Index
Date: Jan. 26, 1953
Location: Continental Divide, NM
Time: 2115
Summary: At 2115 MST Air Force personnel stationed at an AC&W station in this area observed an aerial phenomenon simultaneously by electronic and visual means. To the naked eye the object appeared as a very bright reddish-white object estimated to be 10 miles west of the radar site. The object passed behind a hill and then reappeared apparently heading in a northerly direction at a slow speed. The airman making this visual observation reported it to personnel manning the radar equipment. They stated that they had an unidentified blip on the radar scope, appearing west of the station approximately 9 miles away. The scope showed the object to be on a 270 azimuth at an altitude of 10-15,000 moving away from the site at 12-15 mph. It was eventually lost on radar at the 18 mile range. The object was under visual and radar observation intermittently for 45 minutes.
Source: NARA-PBB85-814
Date: Jan. 26, 1953
Location: Sampson AFB, NY
Time: 2320
Summary: At 2320 Z an airman at Sampson AFB, New York, visually observed one large luminous rectangular shaped unidentified flying object. In one minute the object traveled through an arc of 70 or 80 degrees, while emitting a humming sound.
Source: NARA-PBB85-816
Date: Jan. 27, 1953
Location: Mather AFB, California
Time: 10:40 a.m.
Summary: At 10:40 a.m. PST, while flying in a T-29 aircraft, 1st Lt. Cukar saw a round flat object like a pie tin. It was very bright; a brilliant silver. He watched the object for a minute to a minute and a half and then four more objects appeared and then disappeared. The one object was seen to move towards the aircraft and then move away. Capt. Madley in the same T-29 originally saw four objects and one was particularly bright. The objects appeared to be tumbling within themselves; a barrel roll effect, passing inside of each others orbit. Madley saw one object move towards the T- 29 and then move away and had thought they were going to have a midair collision. He estimated that the disks were at 12,000 feet in altitude and 30 to 60 miles away.
Source: Dan Wilson, BB files
Date: Jan. 27, 1953: Round, metallic object near Livermore
Date: Jan. 28, 1953 BBU 2361
Location: Point Mugu, Calif.
Time: 1:06 p.m.
Summary: R.W. Love, owner of Love Diving Co., and Mr. Ferrenti, while engaged in retrieving radio-controlled drones on a boat 1,100 yards offshore S of the Pt. Mugu Naval Air Missile Training Center, saw an 18-20-inch white, flat disc with fuzzy or shimmering edges rapidly approach from about 305° azimuth (about NW) fly straight and level overtaking a jet aircraft flying at 150-200 knots in 3 secs, pass overhead, disappearing in haze to the E.
Source: Berliner; cf. Jan Aldrich
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: St. Georges, Delaware BBU
Time: 5:18 p.m. (EST).
Summary: 4 witnesses driving S on St. Georges Bridge, 3 of whom were members of UFO investigation group, Mrs. Gene Thropp, Mrs. Lucille T. Nichols and Mrs. W. Forman, saw a rose-orange 7-inch [?] shiny disc-shaped object with a “white tail” at their 8 o’clock position heading S at about 10° above the horizon traveling about 100 mph, no sound no trail. Object seen through binoculars reversed course to the N then continued alternating heading N to S.
Source: Jan Aldrich
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: Corona, Calif. BBU 2364
Time: 6:05 p.m.
Summary: USAF T/Sgt. George Beyer saw five 25 ft green spheres fly in V-formation, then change to trail formation at which time the end objects turned red.
Source: Berliner
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: Albany, Ga
Time:
Summary: Air Force F-86 pilot saw a definite circular UFO pass below his plane, confirmed by radar.
Source: UFOE, VIII
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Time: 7:52 p.m. local time.
Summary: Lt. Col. Max O. Mitchell was flying north in a C-47 aircraft on top an overcast at 7,500 feet, sighted a very bright light passing in front of the aircraft at a slight elevation above him from left to right. Mitchell called the pilot, Major David W. Pearsall’s attention to the light which was moving at an extremely high rate of speed. In a few seconds the light turned to the north and then turned again in front of the C-47. The light made several violent maneuvers from just above the horizon to 15 degrees above the horizon. The light was observed for approximately 1-1/2 minutes.
Source: Dan Wilson, BB files
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: Between Stuttgart and Rhein Main Air Base, Germany
Time: 8:20 p.m.
Summary: A C-47 aircraft (No. 3734) piloted by 1st Lt. Marlowe B. Sorge, was returning to Rhein Main AFB, Germany, from the vicinity of Stuttgart, Germany, when Sorge noticed a light ahead and slightly to the right of his aircraft. The light was bright white with green around the edge. The light appeared to be traveling the same heading (300 degrees) as the aircraft and at approximately the same speed. It appeared to be at a distance of about 3 to 5 miles and at the same altitude as the aircraft The light drifted to the right a distance estimated to be 1/2 mile and then returned to its original position. It also dived approximately 1000 feet at about a 75 degree angle and then climbed perpendicularly to its original position. This maneuver took approximately 4 to 5 seconds. Overall the light was visible for approximately 10 minutes. At approximately 8:30 p.m. local time, another light appeared ahead and slightly to the left of the aircraft. The light appeared to vary in distance from 3 to 5 miles as evidenced by the fact the light would grow brighter and then dimmer and the relative positions would change from 11 o,clock to 10 o’clock and then back to its original position. Both the first light and the second were visible at the same time, but shortly after the second light appeared, the first one disappeared.
Source: Dan Wilson, BB files
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: El Toro Marine Air Base, Calif.
Time: 9:00 p.m. PST.
Summary: A bright object was first observed at the El Toro Marine Air Base by a tower operator who then ordered an all weather jet fighter which was coming in for a landing to make an investigation. ()
Source: Dan Wilson
Date: Jan. 28, 1953
Location: Turner AFB, Dobbins, Georgia BBU 2365
Time: 9:40-10:00 p.m. (EST).
Summary: USAF senior pilot at Moody AFB, Major Hal W. Lamb, apparently saw the setting planet Venus changing color and shape (at 267°-270° azimuth 3° elevation dropping below horizon, his estimates varying from 250° to 295°-310° azimuth) while flying a T-33, also seen by Turner AFB tower operators (with time errors of about 10 mins). At about 9:40-9:48 (reported as 9:50-9:58) 2 GCA radar maintenance men at Turner AFB radar tracked 3 moving targets and a stationary target (at due W 270° azimuth 26 miles?). At 10:00 (reported as 10:10), the GCA reported 2 stationary targets at 17 and 27 (or 23 27?) miles both 300° azimuth. No visual confirmation though binoculars used.
Source: Jan Aldrich; FUFOR Index
Date: Jan. 29, 1953
Location: Presque Isle AFB [Caswell?], Maine BBU
Time: 9:55 a.m. (EST) ?
Summary: Three or more fighters (at least one F-94) saw gray oval UFO (from 7th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and other squadrons). Radar tracking ? by Air Defense Direction Center.
Source: Hynek UFO Rpt p. 58
Date: Jan. 29, 1953
Location: Conway (South Carolina
Time:
Summary: Hearing a commotion in his barn, a farmer observed an object about 7 m long and 4 m wide at treetop level. It was light gray in color and lit up inside. It resembled a half egg. The witness fired his gun at the object. Numerous livestock died “mysteriously” in the area after the sighting.
Source: Magonia 108
Date: Jan. 29 , 1953
Location: Malibu Beach, Calif.
Time: 2:20 p.m.
Summary: At 2:20 p.m. PST, four metallic disc-shaped objects the size of a B-36 flying in squadron formation in a vertical plane at approximately 20,000 feet at an estimated speed of 1200 mph were observed by a three man crew of a Northrup Aviation Corp. plane. These men were Rex Hardy Jr., a Northrup aircraft test pilot, Chester Mathews, another test pilot and Jim Wilkinson, a Northrup photographer. The objects were observed for approximately 5 minutes.
Source: BB files, Dan Wilson
Date: Jan. 30, 1953
Location: Yuma, Ariz.
Time:
Summary: Gyrating light ascending steeply, observed by scientist.
Source: UFOE, VI
Date: January
Location:
Time:
Summary:
Source:
Executive Summary: The Craig High-Speed Chase and Santana Dos Montes Landing
The January 1953 archive is headlined by the Craig, Montana encounter on New Year’s Day. Multiple witnesses observed a silver, saucer-shaped disc with a glowing red bottom and illuminated windows flying low over the Missouri River. This case is technically vital for its documented velocity of 3,600 mph, a signature that mirrors the strategic high-speed intercepts found throughout the 1953 Global Archive.
Simultaneously, the Santana Dos Montes landing in Brazil remains a cornerstone of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (CE3) research. An experienced witness encountered a metallic domed disc hovering just five feet above a hayfield. Two 5-foot tall humanoids in silver suits with “shining balls” on their square-toed shoes were observed performing a soil analysis with a specialized cylinder. This event, coupled with the instrument paralysis and physical trauma reported by the witness, confirms that January 1953 was a month of synchronized, high-intensity incursions targeting both biological assets and strategic rural zones.
“It looked like a silver saucer with illuminated windows… it hovered for a moment and then shot away with such fantastic speed that it felt like turning off a light.”
Witness Report, Craig, Montana, January 1953
