The other armed services, required by law to channel UFO reports to the Air Force, have also contributed some important cases to the public record. It is impossible to determine how many additional military reports have not been made public. Several of the cases in this section, however, strongly suggest that the on-the-record reports are only a small sample.

Several Navy cases can be detailed here primarily because of the background and personal connections of the NICAP Director. As a graduate of the U S. Naval Academy (class of 1920) and former Marine Corps aircraft and balloon pilot, Major Keyhoe knows many active and retired officers, including Admirals who have held important positions. Some have taken an active part, supporting NICAP's investigations.

Rear Admiral Delmer S. Fahrney, USN (Ret.) - still a NICAP member - served for a time as Chairman of the Board of Governors. Adm. Fahrney, credited with important aeronautical and guided missile development work, has obtained several highly significant UFO reports from his associates in aerospace activities.

Vice Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter, USN (Ret.), a long-time acquaintance of Major Keyhoe, also served on the NICAP Board of Governors for five years. His service as a former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), coupled with a distinguished Naval record in war and peace, cause his statements about UFOs to be of unusual interest. In 1960, Adm. Hillenkoetter said the UFOs appeared to be intelligently controlled. "They wouldn't be maneuvering accidentally. I think they are under intelligent guidance from all things seen." In 1961, Adm. Hillenkoetter joined with a majority of the NICAP Board in urging a Congressional investigation of the UFO problem.

Rear Admiral Herbert B. Knowles, USN (Ret.), currently is a NICAP Board Member. Adm. Knowles held important submarine commands in World War II. He has also been active in encouraging witnesses to report sightings to NICAP.

Major Keyhoe also has obtained information on UFO sightings and official attitudes from top-level Naval officers on active duty in the Pentagon. Other Navy and Marine Corps officers on active duty contact him from time to time, and report personal sightings or related information.

NICAP has fewer connections with Army personnel, but some Army cases are on record. Of particular interest are two unclassified Army Intelligence Reports describing UFO activity. These were submitted to NICAP by members in the armed services.

UFOs Observed by Navy & Marine Corps Pilots

July 3, 1949. Longview, Wash.; Cmdr. M. B. Taylor, USN (former Officer-In-Charge of guided missile work under R. Adm. D. S. Fahrney) was giving the commentary at the beginning of an air show at Longview Fairgrounds, when he and others spotted an object above a sky-writing biplane. The UFO moved against the wind with an undulating motion, made right-angle turns and appeared like a discus of bright metal when viewed through field glasses. Cmdr. Taylor estimated its size as equal to a 50-foot object at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Among those who watched it and confirmed his description were many qualified airmen. While they saw but one object, others in the surrounding area reported seeing up to a dozen UFOs at the same time. Cmdr, Taylor concluded, "The sighting was definitely of some flying object unlike anything then or even presently [1957] known."

June 24 1950 The crews of two commercial airliners and a Navy transport sighted a cigar-shaped object about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Calif. The pilot of the Navy plane (name confidential) spent 22 years in Naval aviation and now is a project administrator with a West Coast electronics firm. He was alerted by a United Airlines pilot who had seen the object and they both discussed the matter with CAA (now FAA) ground stations at Daggett and Silver Lake, Calif. The co-pilot of the Navy plane was the first to see it, and pointed it out to the pilot and navigator.

The pilot described the object as cigar-shaped, dark gray or gunmetal in color and giving off a faint shimmering heat radiation appearance at the tail end. He judged its apparent size as about 1/8th that of the full moon. Estimated altitude 50,000- 100,000 feet, speed 1000-1500 mph. for the three minutes it was in view. At first it was traveling north, but then turned west presenting a tail end view as it sped out of sight.

Signed report on file at NICAP, (Case certified by Paul Cerny, Chairman, Bay Area NICAP Subcommittee).

July 11, 1950. Near Osceola, Arkansas, the crews of two Navy planes saw a disc-shaped UFO whose presence was confirmed by airborne radar. Lt. (j.g.) J. W. Martin, enlisted pilot R. E. Moore, and electronics technician G. D. Wehner said the object first appeared as a round ball, ahead and to the left of their planes. As it crossed their flight path, disappearing in the distance to the right, the UFO resembled "a World War I helmet seen from the side, or a shiny, shallow bowl turned upside down." Wehner said he "caught it on the radar scope;" at the closest point, it was estimated to be about a mile away. [12]

June, 1952. Tombstone, Ariz. Lt. Cmdr. John C. Williams, USN (Ret.), his wife, Josephine, and a guest were watching the sunset when they saw "a huge circular object flying toward us from the direction of Tucson. , . Suddenly it stopped in mid- flight, seemed to hover, then reversed its direction and retraced its course. In a matter of seconds, however, it returned, stopped again, appeared to oscillate and tilt from one side to another. Again it reversed itself and apparently returned in the same straight line. It reappeared and acted in exactly the same manner two or three times." Cmdr. Williams graduated from the Naval Academy in 1919, completed flight training at Pensacola in 1922 and spent 10 years flying with the Navy. In a 1956 letter to the NICAP Director, he stated, "We had a perfectly clear view of the object which looked something like a cup and saucer, or a derby hat. Its speed was unbelievable. . . it diminished to a tiny speck [the last time it flew away] and then out of sight in the space of about four seconds."

1953. During off-shore combat maneuvers, a squadron of carrier based Navy AD-3 attack planes was approached by a rocket-shaped UFO which swooped down on the flight from above. The object leveled, off about 1000 feet overhead, slowed and paced the aircraft. When the Squadron Commander led his flight in pursuit of the UFO, it turned sharply so that its tail was pointed away, and shot upwards out of sight in seconds. (Confidential report acquired by Adm. Fahrney, Adviser Lou Corbin).

Feb. 3, 1953. A Marine Corps fighter pilot, alerted by a Navy signal tower at Norfolk, Va., chased a silver object which had been sighted from the ground over an area near the Virginia North Carolina border. After cruising in his F9F Panther for half an hour without seeing anything unusual, 1st Lt. Ed Balocco was returning to his base. "Over Washington, North Carolina," he said, "I saw what looked like an airplane with red lights which

He turned and chased the object at better than 500 mph., but was unable to gain on it. Balocco estimated the UFO was about 10 miles from him during the 3-4 minute chase. At that distance, he said, it appeared about 1/4" wide and about 3" long. "The object was the color of white heat and it threw out a red glow behind it. It had two red lights on the left hand side, bounding and flashing off the end, encircling an arc." The Marine officer said he seemed to gain on the object for a time, but it then dropped from his altitude and disappeared toward the coast.

Another pilot involved in the search, Capt. Thomas W. Riggs, reported he sighted an object flying low near the Carolina coast, but couldn't identify it. [13]

September 7, 1953. Near Vandalia, Ohio, U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. "S.D.S." was flying to Indianapolis from Columbus with his wingman, both in FG-1D Corsairs. Shortly after 8 p.m., he "noticed a brilliant white flashing light pass directly below us from south to north, traveling extremely fast at about 2000 feet." He was at 4000 feet. "I called my wingman, but he did not see it. After passing beneath us, it pulled up and climbed rapidly out of sight to the north. The light was much like burning magnesium.

"Returning from Indianapolis (about 9 p.m.) I was leading the flight. I noticed the same brilliant white light at 12 o'clock high and called my wingman again. This time he saw it. It stayed motionless relative to the airplane's movement for about two minutes, then disappeared. It reappeared again quickly at 9 o'clock level. It again remained motionless for about two minutes and then dove and pulled up ahead of us and climbed out of sight. At no time were we close enough to see any concrete object or shape. Both of us were at a loss to explain this phenomenon."

(Case reported by L. H. Stringfield, Ground Observer Corps official; see Section VII)

May 14, 1954. Near Dallas, Texas, a flight of Marine Corps jets led by Maj. Charles Scarborough, was headed north in mid-afternoon. At a point 6 miles west of the city, Major Scarborough sighted 16 unidentified objects in groups of four, dead ahead but at higher altitude, 15 degrees above. He radioed Capt. Roy Jorgensen, whose jet he had in sight by its contrail. Captain Jorgensen, at higher altitude, saw the UFOs below his left wing. Just as the two pilots tried to box in the UFOs, Major Scarborough saw them fade from glowing white to orange and disappear, apparently speeding away due north. (See sketch) Based on Captain Jorgensen's position the UFOs were 3 miles ahead of Major Scarborough's plane, and 15 degrees above him. Triangulation shows that the UFOs were at about 32,000 feet.

1955. A Navy Commander stationed at Anacostia Naval Air Station, was flying over Virginia, when he looked back over his shoulder and saw a huge disc flying formation on him, about 75 feet away. The Commander, also a Navy missile expert, described it as "two saucers, face to face," apparently metallic about 100 feet in diameter, thick at the center with a domed top through which shone an amber light. When he tried to ease his plane in for a closer look, the disc tilted upward and accelerated away, leaving the clouds swirling behind it. (Report acquired by Rear Adm. Delmer S Fahrney, USN, Ret.)

Dec.11 1955. At about 9 p.m., along the Atlantic Coast near Jacksonville, Florida, a fast - maneuvering, round, orange - red object was reported by the crews of two airliners and by persons on the ground. Two Navy jets, on a night practice mission, were directed to the area by the Jacksonville Naval Air Station control tower. The jets located the object, but when they attempted to close in, it shot up to 30,000 feet and then dived back, circling and buzzing the jets, while Naval Air Station officers and tower controllers watched via radar. (Reported by Capt. Joe Hull, Capital Airlines pilot).

1956. A Navy R7V-2 Super Constellation, approaching Gander, Newfoundland, on its way from the other side of the Atlantic, carried its regular crew, the relief crew and two other crews being returned home from foreign duty - - almost 30 airmen in all. The senior pilot, a Commander, spotted a cluster of lights below and an estimated 25 miles ahead; this was confirmed by the co-pilot, navigator, radioman, and several others called to the cockpit for the purpose. As the pilot banked to give them a better look, the lights dimmed and several colored rings appeared and began to spread out. At this point, the Commander realized the lights were not on the ocean surface, but climbing toward him. He leveled out and began a full-power climb, in an effort to avoid what by this time looked like a giant disc. Just before the impact was due, the disc tilted, slowed and went by the transport's wing. As the Navy pilot began a bank, he saw the disc was flying alongside, about 100 yards away. He estimated its diameter as 3-4 times his plane's wingspan (370-500 feet) and thickness as at least 30 feet at the center. It looked like one dish atop another. Gradually the object pulled away then tilted upward, accelerated and was lost to sight among the stars. After it left, the pilot contacted Gander by radio and was informed they had watched both his aircraft and the other object on radar, but were unable to get a radio reply from the other "aircraft."

(Report acquired by Rear Adm. Delmer S, Fahrney, USN, Ret.)

August 15, 1957. In Woodland Hills, Calif., Eugene E. Allison, Chief Aviation Pilot (ret.), his wife, son and a relative were around the family swimming pool, late in the afternoon, when they saw what appeared to be a solid white disc-shaped object hovering between two drifting cirro-stratus clouds. After about six minutes, ~ side, rising straight up out of sight in approximately three seconds" according to the 10-year Navy veteran and Pensacola graduate. [14]

July 10, 1962. On the U S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station, New Iberia, La., a Navy man (name confidential) was watching a group of S-2 Trackers in the landing pattern. "Suddenly, a discus shaped object came in very fast and low about 1500 feet, slowed over the area of the runway and hangar, and then went out of sight while climbing at a 20 degree to 30 degree angle. It passed across the station heading northeast, and as it came directly ahead, I stopped the car to try to time it. It was accelerating rapidly at this time, however. The only unusual feature of the object, aside from the fact that it was no conventional aircraft, was a rotating dome on top that appeared to be equally divided into two sections, one half light gray in color, the other half black. The estimated speed of rotation was about 90 rpm." [15]

1. True; March 1950
2. San Diego Journal, March
3. Report on file at NICAP
4. Keyhoe, Donald E., Flying Saucers Are Real. Gold Medal Books, 1950), p.27
5. Report on file at NICAP
6. True; December 1952
7. Ruppelt, Edward J., Report on Unidentified Flying Objects. (Doubleday, 1956), p.106
8. Ibid., ppg. 162-165
9. United Press; January 4, 1954
10. Report on file at NICAP
11. Report on file at NICAP
12. New York Eqs New York Journal-American, July 12, 1950
13. Associated Press; February 12, 1953
14. Report on file at NICAP
15. Report on file at NICAP