MODERN TIMES

Author Unknown

1946, Scandinavia:

Waves of unexplained "ghost rockets" seen in Europe, especially Scandinavia.

1947, Italy:

In August of 1947 an Italian artist by the name of Rapuzzi Johannis was taking a leisurely walk in the mountains between Italy and Yugoslavia. He saw just in front of him a red glowing saucer. This saucer was about thirty feet wide and it was accompanied by two small dwarf-like creatures. These creatures had very large heads with green faces, sort of resembling that of a fish. They also had a circle around each eye. Apparently one of the creatures had hit Johannis with an electrical ray which left him very weak and almost paralyzed. After this incident the creatures ignored Johannis and left.

1947, USA, Lake Mead, Nevada:

On June 28th, while cruising at 6,000 feet, US Air Force pilot Lieutenant Armstrong witnessed six discs flying in formation.

1947, USA, Mount Rainier, Washington:

On June 24, Kenneth Arnold was on an aerial search for a crashed C-46 marine transport plane when he saw 9 objects flying in formation. He estimated their speed at 1,300 to 1,700 miles per hour, distance at 23 miles and length of formation to be 5 miles. Also in the air at the time was a DC-4 which Arnold used as a point of reference to estimate the size of individual discs. He estimated the size as two thirds the size of the DC-4. This sighting was not corroborated by radar or witnesses but did attract media attention and public interest.

1947, USA:

National Security Act establishes Dept. of Defense, National Security Council and Central Intelligence Agency. France creates SDECE, similar to CIA.

1947, USA:

Second UFO flap year; Kenneth Arnold reports flying saucers near Yakima, Washington, and other reports soon follow.

1947, USA:

Maury Island: an early Men-In-Black incident three days before the Arnold sighting, in which a "donut-shaped object" dropped slag on a boat near Tacoma, Washington; the next day an MIB visited Harold Dahl, who was piloting the boat, and warned him not to discuss the sighting; the boat's owner, Fred Crisman, was suspected of being a CIA employee and was later called to give secret testimony at the trial of Clay Shaw in New Orleans; pilot Dahl disappeared and UFOlogist Arnold, who investigated the case, reported unexplained failure of his own plane's engine soon after two Air Force investigators were killed taking off from Tacoma's airport carrying the slag.

1947, JULY, USA:

US Army announces UFO crash on a ranch near Roswell and recovery of the debris, the account is reported all around the world, but two days later the army announces it was a weather balloon.

1947, USA, White Sands, New Mexico:

On June 29, 1947, C. J. Zohn stationed at White Sands proving grounds in New Mexico watched a huge, silver, circular disc at a height of 10,000 feet above the installation. This sighting was just days after Kenneth Arnold's sighting which publicized the UFO phenomenon.

1950, USA:

Alleged CIA plot to introduce UFO contact ideas with "Little Green Men" stories and radio contact "from space."

1952, USA:

Third UFO flap year. First UFO "contact" case in the US: George Adamski meets Venusian in California desert; alleged CIA plot to start UFO scare. UFOlogist George Williamson, one of Adamski's witnesses, claims he also witnessed ham radio operator establish contact with another world.

1952, VERONIA, ARGENTINA:

Hundreds of residents of Veronia, Argentina witnessed six discs circling above the town, then disappearing into the night sky. This sighting was written within hours of a similar report from Captain Paul Carpenter near Denver. Carpenter reported the craft was traveling at 3,000 miles per hour, making it possible for the saucer to have appeared in both locations.

1952, JULY, WASHINGTON D.C. UFO FLY-BYs:

Codes:

AFOSI

- Air Force Office of Special Investigations report, from Project Blue Book files, National Archives microfilm collection.

AF Int

- Air Force Intelligence Report, most obtained by Citizens Against UFO Secrecy via the Freedom of Information Act, declassified Jan. 1985.

UFOE

- The UFO Evidence, National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, Washington, D.C., May 1964. (NICAP)

CAA

- Civil Aeronautics Administration (later FAA, Federal Aviation Admin.)

ARTC

- Air Route Traffic Control radar center approach-control radar, CAA.