Veteran Swedish Airmen Observe, Describe Disk-Shaped Aircraft Over Skaan E

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

Over Hässleholm, I saw an object -- on my right and obliquely in front of me, flying at a somewhat lower altitude -- which at first I thought to be a jet plane. The silhouette was thin and it approached me at a very high velocity. Olle Johansson and I have discussed the matter of its speed, and comparing its speed with, for example, that of the "Flying Barrels" [J-29], we have estimated the speed to be about that of sound. The whole business took place fantastically quickly, but I believe that I was able to see the object for 4 to 5 seconds.

"When the object got closer, I was able to ascertain that it was symmetric and metallic. It is very difficult to describe something that one has never seen before, but I would say that it looked like a flying lozenge. The object did not seem to have a crew, but seemed more to be a robot. When it passed under the wing [of the DC-3], I could no longer see it. The mechanic, who was able to observe it for five more seconds, confirms the fact that it was circular or possibly somewhat elliptical in form. At the time of the incident, we were flying at an altitude of 2,150 meters and the cloud ceiling was about 1,500 meters. Thus, the object should have been flying at an altitude of between 1,500 and 1,600 meters. We estimated the size to be about 10 meters in diameter. It left no exhaust or condensation trail.

"We are both absolutely convinced that it could not have been a meteor or other celestial phenomenon. We did not see any distinct light but were only able to see that the object had a metallic lustre. Immediately after the observation, we reported to F5 in Ljungbyhed and to the regional civil air security service at Bulltofta. The course of the object was south-southwest. The whole thing happened so quickly that we could not have managed to change course [and follow the object]..."

Olle Johansson's statement was as follows: "I was sitting forward in the right-hand seat of the pilot's cabin when Captain Christiernsson pointed to the object. What I saw was an ellipse with sharp outlines and something between silver and white in color. I saw it for about 10 seconds. It was approaching from the north in a direction opposite to ours, at a speed of about 1,200 kilometers per hour. It was flying entirely above the clouds. From Malmö northward, we were able to see the ground for only a few myriameters and after that there was a cloud covering all the way to Stockholm. We were flying at a speed of about 270 kilometers per hour. Ten minutes after the incident, we met an SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) DC-4. Thereupon, we estimated the object's speed at about three times that of the DC-4. There seemed to be no flames or smoke trail from the object. Since we had the automatic pilot on, we had no chance to turn quickly enough to see where the object went."

The Defense Staff's short communique on the incident read as follows: "At 1457 hours on Thursday, the crew on a civilian commercial plane observed, in the vicinity of Hässleholm, an unknown object which moved at a high speed in a direction opposite to that of the plane. The object was viewed for 6 to 7 seconds. At the time of the incident, there was clear weather at the altitude at which the plane was flying. Because of the low cloud ceiling, the object could not have been seen from the ground. Within the knowledge of the Defense Staff, there was no Swedish plane in-the area concerned at the time of the incident. Investigation continues."

Reports of "flying saucers" have arisen in both Europe and America on countless occasions in recent years but, according to a statement to Dagens Nyheter by a member of the Air Staff, these observations over Skaane can be termed the clearest and most detailed which heretofore have been made regarding mysterious, unknown aircraft.(1)