1956: November UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
November 1956 is the heaviest month of the year’s final quarter by both volume and evidentiary weight. On the night of November 14, Capital Airlines Flight 77 — a Viscount descending toward Mobile, Alabama — was put through a performance display that its captain would later describe in a signed published account. Captain W.J. Hull had spent three years writing skeptical articles about flying saucers for airline trade publications. What he saw southeast of Jackson, Alabama stopped that. Over a two-minute observation he watched a brilliant bluish-white light descend at 45 degrees, stop, execute instant 90-degree turns, perform lazy eights and square chandelles, hover motionless and then shoot south over the Gulf of Mexico in a steep climb at fantastic speed. It is a Condon Committee unexplained case.
The month’s other anchors are military radar: El Toro MCAS tracked targets from 50 knots to 15,000 mph over an 8-hour period on November 11, with smaller objects observed to merge into a larger return and then split away again — Dan Wilson and Brad Sparks both in the source chain, confirmed Blue Book. Point Arena California ground radar held two objects for 99 and 61 minutes on November 4. State police and Air Force jets pursued radar-visual unknowns near Pierre, South Dakota across November 24-25. Pan American radar in Miami tracked a target at 4,000 mph on November 8. Around these cases: a USAF RF-84F pilot over Destin Florida, a T-33 crew at 35,000 feet over Illinois, a USAF navigator at Charleston, entity reports from New Hampshire and Ohio, and a searchlight contact over Malibu. November 1956 does not slow down.
Date: Early November 1956
Location: Malibu, California
Time: Unknown
Summary: A flat oval object with three window-like markings on its underside flew at low altitude through a searchlight beam.
Source: The UFO Evidence (NICAP), Section XII
Date: Winter 1956
Location: Mitchel Air Force Base, New York
Time: 1:00 a.m.
Summary: About two hours after approximately 15 military personnel reportedly witnessed several luminous disc-shaped objects maneuvering over the area and being chased by jet fighters, two security patrolmen observed a figure walk quickly toward a nearby fire drill hangar. The entire area near the hangar then lit up and a disc-shaped object became visible on the ground. The object grew brighter and began changing colors, then lifted slowly and silently, hovered briefly and shot away at tremendous speed.
Source: Robert D. Barry, Saga UFO Annual, 1975
Source Status: Filed under November as placed on the original page; the date “Winter 1956” is not further specified. Saga UFO Annual is a secondary popular publication; no primary source or named witnesses given. The 15-person preliminary sighting is separately unverified.
Date: November 1956
Location: Shefford, Bedfordshire, England
Time: Unknown
Summary: An undocumented report of a man encountering and communicating with an entity from a landed UFO. No further details given.
Source: Janet and Colin Wilson, Modern Mysteries of Britain
Source Status: No primary source, no named witness, no details. Filed as documented on the original page.
Date: November 1956
Location: Glen Cove, Maine
Time: 1:00 a.m.
Summary: Psychic Peter Hurkos and his wife observed what appeared to be a moving ball of light in the sky, which Hurkos initially dismissed as the moon. Around 1:00 a.m. he awoke, walked to the ocean, and reported seeing a transparent object a short distance out over the water containing three small figures who appeared to be staring at him. The following day during low tide, Hurkos and researcher Andrija Puharich returned to the site and found a burned circle approximately 30 feet in diameter on the exposed rocks.
Source: B. Ann Slate, Saga UFO Report, Winter 1975
Source Status: Peter Hurkos was a well-known psychic who worked with Andrija Puharich. Both are controversial figures in parapsychology and UFO research. The physical trace (burned circle) is the most concrete element; it is reported through Hurkos himself. Saga UFO Report is a secondary popular source.
Date: November 1956
Location: Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
Time: Night
Summary: Joe Bozak, walking on a moonlit night, encountered two greenish luminous figures standing approximately 18 inches above the ground. One said: “We were waiting — we knew you would come.” A flat greenish glow approximately 40 feet across then drifted above the trees. Some of the greenish “fire” contacted his right arm and destroyed the sleeve of his sweater. Bozak panicked and ran home.
Source: Long John Nebel Radio Show, WOR
Source Status: Reported on the Long John Nebel overnight radio program, which hosted many UFO and paranormal accounts in the 1950s. No independent corroboration. Physical evidence (destroyed sleeve) claimed but not examined by an investigator.
Date: Nov. 1, 1956
Location: 60 miles east of St. Louis, near Mt. Vernon and Sandoval, Illinois
Time: 5:30 p.m. (CST)
Summary: Lt. Col. Walter A. Rosenfield (pilot) and Captain Orville H. Daniel (aerial weather reconnaissance officer) were flying in a T-33 aircraft at 35,000 feet when they observed a light yellow round light flying across the sky at an estimated speed of 1,200 knots.
Source: Berliner; FUFOR Index; BBU Files (BBU #4489)
Date: Nov. 4, 1956
Location: Point Arena, California
Time: 8:22 p.m. (PST)
Summary: Two unidentified objects, each slightly larger than a DC-7 aircraft in radar cross-section, were acquired on ground radar at 178 degrees, 175 miles range, at 21,000 feet, and 183 degrees, 185 miles range, also at 21,000 feet. Both objects moved at 6 to 10 knots on erratic courses. The first object was observed for 99 minutes; the second for 61 minutes.
Source: McDonald list; FUFOR Index; BBU Files (BBU)
Date: Nov. 8, 1956
Location: Miami, Florida (Miami International Airport weather radar; contact 65 miles SW of Miami)
Time: 11:15 a.m. to 11:35 a.m. (approximately 20 minutes)
Summary: Donald Freestone, a Pan American Airways radar expert testing weather radar equipment at Miami International Airport, acquired an unexpected target approximately 65 miles southwest of Miami at 7,000 to 8,000 feet altitude. The return was egg-shaped or oval, with a double pattern resembling a figure-eight or hourglass on the scope, and was four to five times larger than a normal aircraft return. The object hovered, moved at varying speeds of 550 to 650 mph, paused stationary for several minutes, then accelerated south-southwest — covering 20 miles in approximately six antenna rotations — reaching an estimated speed of 4,000 mph before vanishing from the scope. Six of Freestone’s Pan American colleagues confirmed the radar returns. The nearby Homestead Air Force Base south of Miami was placed on alert status during the event.
Source: The UFO Evidence (NICAP), Section VIII; Donald Freestone account (Pan American Airways radar specialist)
Source Status: The December 1956 monthly page contained a duplicate entry for what appeared to be the same case (“South Florida, Pan American radar, Donald Freestone, 7 radar experts”). That entry is confirmed as a misdated duplicate of this November 8 case. The December entry has been demoted to a corrective note on the December page. This is the primary entry; UFOE Section VIII is the confirmed source.
Date: Nov. 9, 1956
Location: Destin, Florida
Time: 7:00 p.m. (EST)
Summary: A USAF pilot flying an RF-84F reconnaissance jet with the 3242nd Test Group observed a long, narrow object displaying a series of bright orange lights.
Source: Project 1947; FUFOR Index (BBU)
Source Status: Date noted as uncertain (“Nov. 9 [?]”) in the source index.
Date: November 11, 1956
Location: Island of Vaddö, Sweden
Summary: 1956: Artifact Found After Encounter on Island of Vaddö, Sweden — Full Report
Date: Nov. 11, 1956
Location: El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, California
Time: 9:30 p.m. (PST) through approximately 5:30 a.m.
Summary: Over an 8-hour period, many targets were tracked on radar at speeds ranging from 50 knots to 15,000 mph. At times lights were observed visually in the areas where radar targets were being detected. At various points, smaller objects were seen on radar to approach a larger object, merge with it to form a single larger return, and then separate again — with the smaller objects departing and moving rapidly across the screen while the larger return resumed its original size. [Full Report]
Source: Weinstein; FUFOR Index; Dan Wilson; Brad Sparks; BBU Files (BBU)
Date: Nov. 14, 1956
Location: Southeast of Jackson, Alabama (airborne)
Time: 10:10–10:12 p.m.
Summary: Captain W.J. Hull, pilot of Capital Airlines Flight 77 with 17 years’ experience and approximately 3 million miles flown — and author of a 1953 anti-UFO article “The Obituary of the Flying Saucer” in The Airline Pilot magazine — and copilot First Officer Peter MacIntosh were flying a Viscount airliner at 10,000 feet at 300 mph on descent from New York to Mobile, Alabama. They observed a brilliant bluish-white light of estimated magnitude −7 descend at a steep diagonal angle (approximately 45°) from west-southwest (azimuth 315°) to dead ahead (azimuth 205°), where it stopped at the same or slightly higher altitude. Hull radioed the Bates Field tower near Mobile; at that moment the object began 30 seconds of maneuvers — rising and falling, darting back and forth, executing instant 90-degree turns — then hovered motionless again. When Bates Field radioed back, the object began another series of maneuvers: lazy eights, square chandelles and undulating motion, before shooting south over the Gulf of Mexico in a steep climb at “fantastic speed” until it vanished. Total observation approximately 2 minutes. [Full Report]
Source: Condon Committee CR pp. 127–129 (unexplained case); Hynek-CUFOS / Willy Smith files; NARCAP; The UFO Evidence (NICAP), Section I
Date: November 15, 1956
Location: Derry, New Hampshire
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Summary: A.G. Horne, gathering Christmas greens, looked up and found a small humanoid standing beside him. It was approximately 2 feet tall with a high domed head, floppy ears, and a face described as resembling a bloodhound except for filmed, lidless, snake-like eyes. It had short arms and legs and stumpy hands and feet, appearing to wear no clothing — the skin was in folds resembling an elephant’s hide. Horne observed the figure for several minutes, then moved toward it; the figure emitted a screeching sound and Horne fled. The witness reportedly also observed a flight of small discs at close range on a separate occasion.
Source: Walter Webb (investigator)
Date: November 16, 1956
Location: Parma, Ohio
Time: Night
Summary: A woman and her two children, aged 10 and 15, observed a disc hovering over their front yard. Three small figures were visible, apparently moving around the craft on the ground.
Source: J.R. Reiss, NICAP
Date: November 16, 1956
Location: South Dakota
Summary: Driver Describes “Big Flying Saucer” Over South Dakota — Full Report
Date: Nov. 16, 1956
Location: Lemon, South Dakota
Time: Unknown
Summary: As a UFO passed over railroad yards, the railroad telephone system and automatic block signaling system went dead simultaneously.
Source: The UFO Evidence (NICAP), Category 3 (E-M effects)
Source Status: No source listed on the original page. NICAP Category 3 designation indicates an electromagnetic-effect case. No named witnesses in available summaries.
Date: Nov. 19, 1956
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Time: Unknown
Summary: A V-formation of blue-white elliptical UFOs was observed.
Source: The UFO Evidence (NICAP), Section X
Date: November 21, 1956
Location: Port of Kobe, Japan
Time: 8:23 p.m.
Summary: Customs officer Mr. Ueda and Maritime Safety Station officer Mr. Kume were walking along No. 1 Pier at the Port of Kobe when they heard the sound of an explosion. They saw something resembling fireworks on the bay and watched as two balls of fire whirled and eventually submerged beneath the surface.
Source: Ivan T. Sanderson, Invisible Residents, pp. 39–40 (1970)
Date: Nov. 24–25, 1956
Location: Near Pierre, South Dakota
Time: Unknown
Summary: Widespread UFO sightings continued for several days in the area. South Dakota state police pursued a UFO; Air Force jets were scrambled. The case involved ground visual, aerial visual and radar components.
Source: The UFO Evidence (NICAP), Section VII (Categories 3, 8, 9 — radar; ground/air/visual)
Date: November 25, 1956
Location: Near San Lorenzo, Argentina
Time: Midnight
Summary: A woman staying in her summer home observed a circular object with a small dome on top and one on the bottom hover briefly over a nearby field and then descend and land in a clearing near a river. From a slit-like opening it emitted foggy discharges. A hatch opened and a powerful light illuminated the surrounding landscape. Several brown-colored figures were seen moving on top of the object. It then rose vertically and quickly disappeared. Rain was falling heavily throughout the encounter and a slight hum was heard while the craft was present.
Source: Hector P. Anganuzzi, Historia de los Platos Voladores en la Argentina (HC addition #1161)
Date: November 28, 1956
Location: Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England
Time: Night
Summary: A customer with a notably high forehead visited John Whitworth’s shop and told him he could observe a flying saucer if he went to a particular spot on November 28. Whitworth did so and saw an object hovering that he described as resembling a humming top, with lighted portholes. One year later the same visitor returned and told Whitworth he would have a contact — at a different spot. Whitworth went with a crowd including a BBC recording van and nothing occurred. He subsequently received a telephone call in what he described as an unearthly voice reproaching him for bringing others.
Source: Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Humcat 1956-12)
Date: Nov. 30, 1956
Location: Charleston AFB, South Carolina
Time: 12:48 p.m.
Summary: USAF aerial navigator Major D.D. Grimes observed an unspecified object fly at an estimated 100-foot altitude over water.
Source: Berliner (BBU #4543)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Capital Airlines 77 and Eight Hours Over El Toro: November’s Military and Aviation Record
The evidentiary anchor of November 1956 is Capital Airlines Flight 77 on the night of November 14. Captain W.J. Hull — who in 1953 had published a skeptical article in The Airline Pilot called “The Obituary of the Flying Saucer” — and copilot Peter MacIntosh watched a magnitude −7 light descend, stop, perform instant 90-degree turns and lazy eights for approximately two minutes southeast of Jackson, Alabama, then shoot south over the Gulf at fantastic speed. The Condon Committee could not explain it. NARCAP carries it. Hynek-CUFOS filed it. Hull signed his name to a detailed account. The month’s second anchor is El Toro MCAS on November 11: eight hours of Blue Book radar unknowns, targets ranging from 50 knots to 15,000 mph, with objects observed to merge into and split from a larger return on the scope. Dan Wilson and Brad Sparks are both in the source chain.
Point Arena California held two radar objects for 99 and 61 minutes on November 4. Pan American radar tracked 4,000 mph over Miami on November 8. State police and jets chased radar-visual unknowns near Pierre, South Dakota across November 24-25. An RF-84F pilot over Destin Florida, a T-33 crew at 35,000 feet over Illinois and a USAF navigator at Charleston AFB round out the military aviator accounts. The entity reports — from New Hampshire, Ohio, England, Argentina and Maine — vary in source strength from NICAP-investigated (Derry NH, Walter Webb) to single radio broadcast (Mt. Pocono). November 1956 is the year’s most productive month for documented aviation and military radar cases.
It was the damnedest thing I ever saw. I have been in aviation over 17 years, and have flown over three million miles, and I’ve never seen anything like it.
Captain W.J. Hull, Capital Airlines Flight 77, November 14, 1956 — Condon Committee Case (CR pp. 127-129, unexplained); NARCAP; Hynek-CUFOS / Willy Smith files
