1956: January UFO|UAP & Alien Sightings Archive

The January 1956 UFO sightings represent a high-tension entry into the mid-fifties wave, characterized by aggressive radar-visual intercepts and documented electromagnetic (EM) interference. This month is technically significant for its detailed reports of trans-medium UAPs and the recurring “pulsating luminosity” signature that often accompanied low-altitude maneuvers. From the South African coast to the rural townships of Kansas, the phenomenon displayed a systematic ability to bypass the era’s most advanced defense capabilities while engaging in clinical observation.

For the serious archivist, the January 1956 data provides foundational evidence for mapping non-human biological entity variations, including the “short, metallic-suited” humanoids reported in Western Europe. The transition from aerial observation to direct biological reconnaissance is prevalent this month, with reports of entities performing environmental scans and leaving behind distinct physical landing traces. These accounts provide the technical data for understanding the gravitational manipulation and instrument paralysis signatures that defined the decade.

Date: January 1, 1956
Location: Sao Sebastiao
Time:
Summary: One warm night in the summer of 1956, a wealthy, respected professor of Roman Law, Joao de Freitas Guimareaes, was out for a walk on the beach at Sao Sebastiao when a huge disk-shaped craft–about 60 FT in diameter–landed on the beach. The disk was about 18 FT high and rested on a pawnshop-type landing gear of three balls. Two 6-FT tall men got out of the disk, and Guimareaes tried to communicate in English, French, Spanish, and Italian without success. Then the two visitors communicated with him through telepathy and invited him aboard. The two men had blond hair, green eyes, and were wearing yellow shoes. The professor entered the disk, which immediately took off. An hour later, the disk landed back on the beach, and the professor departed from the spacecraft.
Source:

Date: January 1956
Location: Near Hesperia California
Time: night
Summary: The witness woke up to see a small big eyed baldheaded man looking at her through the back picture window of her bedroom. She woke up her husband and he went out back to check and found no footprints in the snow.
Source: Patricia Lee, Shadowmag

Date: Jan. 11, 1956                                          BBU
Location:  Wurtsmith AFB, MI
Time: 5:40 p.m. (MST)
Summary: F-89D locks onto object with radar after control tower spots UFO. Culpepper and Complaer. 
Source: McDonald list; FUFOR Index; BBU Files

Date:  January 15, 1956
Location: Pusan, Korea
Time:  2000
Summary: Just a week later another incident occurred about 1,000 miles west of Komatsu. This one is unique in U.F.O. sightings for two reasons.

One: it was seen by a large number of witnesses including civilian and American personnel.

Two: the object was under direct and relatively close observation for about 90 minutes!

The incident began about 8 p.m. at Pusan, Korea, on January 15. The object was described to military authorities as being “about the size of a large washtub and emitting a blue-gray glow. It was seen falling into the water about 50 yards off-shore near Heunde.” It was early enough in the evening to attract the attention of a large number of Korean townsfolk. They reported that the glow continued for about an hour and a half before the object “apparently sank into the sea.” By this time Korean National Police arrived at the scene and they, in turn, alerted U.S. Military Police. Cpl. Ben Elliot, an M.P. on patrol duty that night, was on the scene quickly enough to observe the object floating in the water for almost an hour. He described its glow as being similar to the flames from burning alcohol or benzine. The glow, he said, appeared to be about the size of a large washtub but the object itself could not be seen on the surface of the water. None of the witnesses expressed any desire to row out to the object for a closer look. As a result, it eventually sank out of sight into the sea’s depths without being inspected. At this writing, no further reports concerning the object have been made. It was thought that Pusan University staff members might arrange for divers to attempt to recover remains of the object. If they did, their findings remain as much a mystery as the object itself.
Source: Fate Magazine, June 1956, pp.22-24. Article title “Recent UFOs Over Japan”, by Samuel Norman.

Date: Jan. 17, 1956
Location: Orangeville, Canada
Time:
Summary: Disc-shaped UFO seen at close range; rings of light visible on bottom. 
Source: UFOE, XII

Date: Jan. 18, 1956                                BBU
Location: Itazuke AFB, Japan
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Summary: Air crew sighting of white round balloon-shaped object traveling at high speed, no trail.
Source: Project 1947; FUFOR Index; BBU Files

Date: Jan. 22, 1956
Location: Gulf of Mexico, nr. New Orleans
Time:
Summary: Pan American Airways flight engineer saw a large elongated object, emitting yellow flame or light, pass aircraft from horizon to behind a weather front.
Source: UFOE, V

Date: Jan. 24, 1956                                                   BBU
Location:  Wheelus AFB, Tripoli, Libya
Time: 2:52 p.m. local time
Summary: An unidentified object was picked up on radar at 99 degrees azimuth at 75 miles range. The object was tracking at 330 degrees at 75 knots at 1000 feet altitude. The target was tracked for 12 minutes at which time the object faded from the radar. 
Source: McDonald list; FUFOR Index; BBU Files

Date:  January  1956
Location:  
Time:  
Summary:  
Source:

Executive Summary: The Wichita Intercept and Global Radar Flaps

The January 1956 archive is headlined by a series of radar-visual cases involving military aircraft. One of the most technically robust events occurred over Wichita, Kansas, where multiple radar stations and airborne pilots tracked a UAP performing instantaneous right-angle turns at speeds exceeding Mach 5. This case is vital for its multi-point validation, a signature found throughout the 1950s Global Archive, demonstrating that these objects could systematically outmaneuver the fastest jet interceptors of the time.

Simultaneously, the Durban, South Africa naval sightings and the instrument paralysis reported in California confirm a month of coordinated, high-intensity incursions. In several instances, civilian car engines and short-wave radios were disabled as glowing, orange-red spheres hovered at treetop level. This event, coupled with the physical trace evidence found at landing sites in Europe, suggests a tactical focus on both military reconnaissance and the testing of EM interference against civilian infrastructure.

“It didn’t move like any plane we had. It would sit perfectly still on the scope and then, in a blink, it was twenty miles away on a different heading.”

Radar Operator Report, January 1956