Oceanside, Long Island, New York, August 1952 — Alexander McNeill's encounter with the landed craft.
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UFO|UAP & ENTITY ENCOUNTER REPORT
1952: Oceanside, Long Island — Egg-Shaped Craft and Pointed-Eared Entities
Alexander McNeill watched a large metallic egg descend and settle onto a Long Island field — then a hatch opened, and three three-foot beings with pointed ears and blue caps went about their business as one of them leveled a metallic rod straight at him.
Date: August 1952
Sighting Time: Not recorded
Day/Night: Late evening
Location: Oceanside, Long Island, New York
Urban or Rural: Rural
No. of Entity(‘s): 3
Entity Type: Small humanoids
Entity Description: Approximately 90 cm (roughly 3 feet) tall, with large heads and pointed ears, wearing tight-fitting green overalls and blue caps
Hynek Classification: CE-III (Close Encounter of the Third Kind) — close observation with animate beings associated with the object
Duration: Not recorded
No. of Object(s): 1
Size of Object(s): Large (no specific dimensions recorded)
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded — close enough for the witness to observe interior detail through an open hatch and to be targeted by one entity’s rod
Shape of Object(s): Egg-shaped
Color of Object(s): Metallic
Number of Witnesses: 1 (Alexander McNeill)
Special Features/Characteristics: A hatch became visible on the craft, revealing the three beings inside. One descended to the ground via a ladder-like protrusion and walked around; a second moved back and forth inside the craft; a third pointed a metallic rod toward the witness. A smell resembling rotten eggs (sulfur) was present in the air.
Case Status: Insufficient Data — a single witness account that did not surface publicly until a 1978 magazine article, more than two decades after the reported event; no physical evidence or second witness is on record
Source: Denys Breysse, “Project Becassine,” quoting New York Magazine, February 20, 1978
Summary/Description: Witness Alexander McNeill observed a large, metallic, egg-shaped craft descend from the sky and land on the ground in Oceanside, Long Island. A hatch became visible and McNeill saw three beings standing inside, each about 90 cm tall, with large heads and pointed ears, dressed in tight green overalls and blue caps. One of the beings descended to the ground using a ladder-like protrusion and walked around; a second moved back and forth inside the craft; the third pointed a metallic rod toward the witness. A smell of rotten eggs was present in the air throughout the encounter.
Related Cases: Not Applicable
Detailed Report
The Oceanside case is documented through an unusual chain: French researcher Denys Breysse’s “Project Becassine” catalog, itself citing a February 1978 New York Magazine article — meaning the earliest known published account of this alleged August 1952 event appeared roughly twenty-six years after the fact. No contemporary 1952 report, newspaper mention, or official file has been located to corroborate the date or the account independently.
What the account does offer is a level of physical specificity uncommon in vaguer contactee-era reports: a precise height figure (90 cm), a described division of activity among the three entities (one exploring on foot, one moving inside the craft, one holding a rod trained on the witness), and a distinct sensory detail — the smell of rotten eggs, consistent with a sulfur odor — that doesn’t obviously serve any particular narrative purpose beyond simply being part of what McNeill reported experiencing.
No landing-site evidence, physical trace, or second witness is recorded in any source located for this case. The account rests entirely on McNeill’s testimony as relayed by a 1978 magazine article and later cataloged by Breysse.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
The Oceanside, Long Island Case — 1952 and a Twenty-Six-Year Publication Gap
- A long gap between event and publication: The earliest known published account dates to 1978, twenty-six years after the reported 1952 encounter — a gap this archive flags rather than glosses over, since it limits how the account can be independently checked against contemporary records.
- Specific, non-generic detail: The 90 cm height figure, the entities’ apparent division of roles, and the sulfur-smell detail are all more particular than a typical vague retelling, which is worth noting without treating specificity alone as proof of accuracy.
- Single, uncorroborated witness: No second witness, physical trace, or contemporary report has been located; the case rests entirely on McNeill’s account as it reached print in 1978.
- Documentary chain worth naming: This case reaches English-language readers only via a French cataloger (Breysse) citing an American magazine — a documentary path worth being explicit about rather than presenting the account as if independently verified at each step.
More than seven decades after the date it’s assigned to, and nearly half a century after it first reached print, the Oceanside case remains exactly what it has always been: one man’s account of a hatch, a rod, and the smell of sulfur on a Long Island evening.
“He describes the beings as 90cm tall, with large heads and pointed ears.”
— Alexander McNeill’s account, as recorded by Denys Breysse, “Project Becassine”
