Documents / FOIA release

The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

Central Intelligence Agency · 2001-03-12 · 186 pages · text by OCR

This is a copy of "The UFO Evidence," a report published in May 1964 by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) in Washington, D.C. and edited by Richard H. Hall. The CIA released its copy in 2001. The report draws 746 sightings from more than 5,000 signed reports and argues that unexplained UFOs are real, artificial objects under intelligent control. It criticizes Air Force secrecy and calls for a Congressional inquiry into Project Blue Book and a larger scientific investigation.

  • p. 20 …Luminous disc Airline pilot Observed circling at sea level;UFO ascended"with incredible speed"to level…
  • p. 31 …way from Klagenfurt, Austria to the Adriatic Sea. This occurred on a "lone wolf" mission at…
  • p. 43 …Griffin, BOAC; also PAA crew; ship at sea Ring-like UFO, passed above plane and over…
  • p. 84 …s for three weeks, curving over Baltic Sea. 2000--3500 mph. 52 G, V September 4…
  • p. 89 …Many of the citizens of Alaska along the Bering Sea Coast have reported seeing missile-like…
  • p. 91 …In one movie I even saw Moses hold back the waters of the Red Sea. These…
  • p. 93 …The hypothesis that the objects were out of focus sea gulls was considered by the Air…
  • p. 104 …Two fishermen at sea, George Korkan and Jack Curry, said the substance settled on their boat…
  • p. 105 …I seemed to recall, far out to sea on occasion. "At the time I assumed that…
  • p. 113 …20, 1952; North Sea, three color photographs taken on board an aircraft carrier. Aug.12,1953…
  • p. 122 …Ships at sea have reported strange objects For example see Section II; U.S.S. Supply…
  • p. 123 …regularly over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Central America See December 6, 1952 Gulf…
  • p. 124 …The object maneuvered under the plane, hovered, then dove toward the sea. 21 July 14, 1959…
  • p. 125 …Mainbrace, extensive naval maneuvers in the North Sea on and about September 20, 1952, UFOs were…
  • p. 127 …Reports in southern Europe and over the Mediterranean Sea have been as frequent as in any…
  • p. 129 …OCEAN & ANTARCTIA UFOs have been sighted at sea, in the islands of the major oceans, and…
  • p. 130 …dry $ 7 4^{\circ} \mathrm{F} $ , wet $ 6 7^{\circ} \mathrm{F} $ , sea $ 7 9^{\circ…
  • p. 132 …over the front lines and out to sea. The UFO at one point passed in front…
  • p. 136 …cattle bolted. XII September 19, 1952--North Sea. Spherical UFO photographed from U. S. Navy aircraft…
  • p. 139 …Natives in small boat, saw UFO, descend vertically, hover about 20 feet above sea boat saw…
  • p. 141 …Cigar-shaped UFO with "portholes." XII May 22, 1960--Majorca Isle, Mediterranean Sea. Palma Observatory reported…
  • p. 151 …accelerated rapidly and pulled away out to sea. Section IV. 1-29-52 Wonsan, Korea Revolving…
  • p. 152 …of light around edge hovering just over sea about 40° off port bow; UFO then shot…
  • p. 153 …object, it darted away East toward the sea. Section X. 9-28-60 Arlington, Texas Star…
  • p. 161 …altitude is given as altitude above mean sea level. To convert to altitude above station level…
  • p. 162 …Coast Guardsman saw two discs circle station, head out to sea.
  • p. 164 …Force Pilots flying a formation of jets above the North Sea observed a shiny sphere approaching
# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0

Hovering and Bobbing UFOs

In 14 cases (35 per cent) the UFOs jumped or "bobbed" around while hovering in one general area of the sky, moving abruptly up and down, side to side. The words "bobbing,"

"erratic," and "jerky" regularly appear in the reports. Sometimes the maneuvers are compared to the bouncing of a pingpong ball. At least one witness said the motion was like the bobbing of a float on a fishline.

VIOLENT AND ERRATIC MANEUVERS

Observer Ratings: A = Scientific or experienced; B = Good; C = Average

Date & Location	Time	Number and Description	Maneuvers	Observer Rating
9-1897	Canada	---	(1) light source	"tacking and veering"	?
4-5-48	White Sands, New Mexico	---	(1) disc, 1/5 size of moon	"streaked...series of violent maneuvers."	A
4-8-49	Los Angeles, Calif.	day	(1) silvery disc	high speed, "zig-zagged"	C
4-9-49	Tucson, Arizona	4-5 p.m.	(1) bright orange light source	hovered, bobbed around arcing back and forth, up and down	B
7-50	Cincinnati, Ohio	1:45 p.m.	(1) cigar-shaped	climbed rapidly, stopped 10 seconds, dived, levelled off, moved away horizontally [Section V.]	A
10-10-51	Croix Falls, Wisc.	10:00 a.m.	(1) glowing cigar-like object	dove, levelled off, sharp left turn, climbed steeply and shot away [Section VI.]	A
5-13-52	San Diego, Calif.	8:55 p.m.	(1) luminous, circular	erratic darting side to side, undulatory course, circled. [Section I.]	A
6-12-52	Le Bourget, France	3:30 p.m.	(1) silver, egg-shaped	hovered, violent jerks up & down, rocked back & forth, darted away	B
7-1-52	Washington, D.C.	noon	(1) gray, shape not specified	hovered 8 minutes, arced back & forth about 150, returning to original position, slowly dropped out of sight	A
7-16-52	Hampton Roads, Virginia	9:00 p.m.	(4) amber light sources	Two spun around each other rapidly, joined by two others, moved jerkily when moving slowly [Section VI.]	A
7-19-52	Quebec, Canada	2:30 to 3:00 p.m.	(2) blue-white light sources	Bobbed up & down, back & forth, maintained 30 separation	C
8-7-52	Kerkrade, Holland	Early a.m.	(2) disc-shaped with flat dome	One swooped down, hovered, zig-zagged & shot away; second hovered, tilted up & shot away. [Section X.]	A
9-28-52	Scandinavia	---	(1) luminous, emitted sparks	Moved with irregular jerks, visible one hour, satellite objects visible at one point.	C
10-17-52	S. France	12:50 p.m.	(About 30), 1 large cylinder and many Saturn-like discs	Discs moved in pairs, zig-zagged ("angel's hair" fell) [Section VIII.]	B
10-27-52	S. France	5:00 p.m.	(17) 1 cigar surrounded by 16 discs with domes	Discs moved in pairs, zig-zagged ("angel's hair" fell) [Section VIII.]	B
8-22-54	Chicago, Ill.	---	(1) half-moon shaped	Hovered, darted erratically in various directions, up & down...	C
9-23-55	Mt. Washington, Ohio	---	(2) red light sources	Stopped near hilltop, began independent motions, jumping up & down; one moved back & forth	C
10-3-55	Denver, Colorado	8:00 p.m.	(1) yellow-orange light source	Rapid pulsation, square turns, sudden stops & spurts of speed	C
11-7-55	Montrose, Calif.	6:30 p.m.	(1) elliptical, lights on each end	circled, hovered, ascended & descended...	B
11-23-55	Spirit Lake, Iowa	5:45 p.m.	(1) vari-colored light source	Moved erratically up & down, hovered 10 minutes...	A
12-12-55	Branford, Conn.	10:30 p.m.	(1) large light source, flare-like flashes	Bobbed around in various directions	C
2-17-56	Paris, France	night	(1) large red light source	Sped into area, hovered, bobbed around sky for several hours; tracked by radar, seen visually. [Section X.]	A

Cases discussed

About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 186 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.