1966: Pilot and passengers see UFO

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THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: May 21, 1966

Sighting Time: 3:15 p.m.

Day/Night: Night

Location: Willow Grove, Pennsylvania

Urban or Rural: Rural

Hynek Classification: DD  (Daylight Disc) Metallic or whitish object was seen in the day.

Duration:

No. of Object(s): 1

Size of Object(s): 30-40 feet

Distance to Object(s): 100 yards

Shape of Object(s): disc

Color of Object(s): the base was bright red, and the dome was glistening white.

Number of Witnesses: Multiple

Source: NICAP; McDonald, 1969, reprinted in Vaughan, 1995, pp. 104-5; Hall 2001, pp. 44-45; Keyhoe and Lore,1969b, p. 6

Summary/Description: An 18,000-hour pilot and his passenger made a clear daylight sighting of a disc-shaped UFO with a dome on top on the afternoon of May 21, 1966 near Willow Grove, Pa. “It was as clear as seeing a Cadillac drifting by at 100 yards,” said William C. Powell. Currently active in executive-transport flying, Powell was a pilot for the Dutch KLM airlines, and before that for the U.S. Air Force and RCAF. 

Full Report

An 18,000-hour pilot and his passenger made a clear daylight sighting of a disc-shaped UFO with a dome on top on the afternoon of May 21, 1966 near Willow Grove, Pa. “It was as clear as seeing a Cadillac drifting by at 100 yards,” said William C. Powell. Currently active in executive-transport flying, Powell was a pilot for the Dutch KLM airlines, and before that for the U.S. Air Force and RCAF.

During a panel discussion on UFOs before an annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C. (April 22, 1967), Powell described the experience. (Additional details are taken from the first hand report in NICAP’s files). Powell was flying a Luscombe at about 4500 feet near Willow Grove, Pa., with a 15-mile visibility. At about 3:15 p.m., after seeing a flight of Navy jets climbing up from Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Powell spotted an object closing in behind the jets. Noting that the object had no protrusions like an aircraft, he watched more closely and saw it make an abrupt 150-160 degree turn and head for his aircraft. As the UFO passed under his starboard wing, Powell saw that it was a structured object. It seemed to be about 100 yards distant, and 30-40 feet in diameter. The overall configuration was discoidal; the base was bright red, and the dome was glistening white.

Powell and his passenger, Miss Muriel McClave, turned quickly as the UFO passed and observed it briefly through the right rear window; then it abruptly vanished. Powell later called Willow Grove Naval Air Station to report the incident. He had been flying a northwest course, behind the Navy jets. The UFO crossed his windshield from left to right, made the sharp turn across his front, approached head-on and passed to his right, disappearing on a southeast course.