fotocat report # 1

The Year 1954 in Photos

By Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos Research Director, Anomaly Foundation Apartado de Correos 12140, 46080 Valencia, Spain

fotocat@anomalia.org

Introduction

When the Project 1954 e-List was started, by the initiative of two noted Italian researchers, Roberto Labanti and Edoardo Russo from the CISU organization, I decided to use it as a means to report the photographic cases contained in FOTOCAT for year 1954, in order to stimulate discussion on this genre of cases and to collect additional information. FOTOCAT is a worldwide catalog of UFO photographic records, a project of the Spanish Anomaly Foundation under my management. http://www.anomalia.org/fotocat1.htm

Over a few months, all the cases I had on store were displayed in an abstract form to the List members, thus generating some interesting discussions, whereby local researchers from both Europe and America provided additional input. Not only this process incremented the number of reports, but over and above it refined the catalog content, several duplications were identified, references become richer, and proper explanations were entered to previously unexplained events. As a result, the subcatalog covering cases for 1954 year have been certainly improved.

The intention of the present article is to report a brief summary of all photographic cases for the wave year of 1954 as per the FOTOCAT archives. This disclosure may assist other colleagues, I feel, in better analyzing the scope, evolution and motifs of the alleged UFO observations during this peak year. Another purpose of this report is to demand both detail corrections and additions to the current list of cases. The author is fully available for data exchange and discussion on any aspect of the cases below.

Explained events or IFOs (identified flying objects) are also included, for comparison purposes. The present FOTOCAT tally of photo-cases for year 1954 is 101.

The data structure for every case to follow will be simple, just the date, the location and country, the photographer’s name, the image’s format, any available explanation, any known references, and remarks (if any). The intent is not to present summaries of tales but a list of events for any researcher to pursue and follow-up. I know this may be understood as a deficiency (other colleagues advised that the hour should be included as well), but the plan was to include just the information that FOTOCAT shows in its proper Excel file. Basically, it is a source of sources.

Finally, this paper is closed with some basic statistics and graphs to visually view the magnitude of the UFO phenomenon during 1954, as far as photos and films are concerned.

Cases as old as those from this period pose a problem to the compiler. Existing information is poor in many instances and the role that local investigators can play in the documentation process is vital. We therefore request the assistance of ufologists from the regions where the cases occurred in order to improve the quantity and quality of the information. Even “counter-inquiries” (a term coined by Aimé Michel meaning to revisit the event to find fresh details) are desirable, as well as any contemporary analysis of the pictures or films with state-of-the-art technology. The

challenge is there to be taken.

Catalog developing is a part of the scientific method. Naturalists and others scientists have been doing so for centuries, after collecting samples of new creatures, specimen, processes, objects or phenomena. As far as ufology is concerned, catalogs can be passive (mere sequence of reports without committing any judgment) or active (the compiler shows an indication on the possible nature of the phenomenon). Active catalogs are uncomfortable and have a higher complexity because they involve the own author’s commitment (and therefore attain potential criticism). To create a postured catalogue may be an easy way to lose friends, in a field plagued with belief, because when you support a negative evaluation for a given event (a case can be explained in conventional terms), you risk finding a hard opposition from those who think otherwise. I sincerely hope this does not happen with colleagues who disagree with my viewpoints. At the end of the day, we are only talking about UFO cases. In the present catalog, when a report is considered explained it is because the compiler has weighted the pros and cons of the various proposals being aired both and intellectually and honestly I tend to support as plausible the possible explanation of the occurrence. Yet, as an ever-evolving entity, this catalog (and FOTOCAT in general) is always ready to change a given position on one case, provided new evidence makes this necessary. As a compiler, I have no sentiments on the entries.

A Collection of Reports

(1)
DATE: 1954 (undetermined date) LOCATION: South Africa PHOTOGRAPHER: Ken Rathyen FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs from Around the World, 1986. REMARKS: Poor information.
(2)
DATE: 1954 (undetermined date) LOCATION: Idaho (USA) PHOTOGRAPHER: Noall Bryce Cornwell aka Guy Kirkwood aka Mel Noel FORMAT: Movie, aircraft gun camera EXPLANATION: Non-event REFERENCES: Timothy Good, Above Top Secret (Sidgwick & Jackson,1987), pages 266-269. ”Whistleblowers. The Mel Noel Story”, by Don Ecker. Jan Aldrich. REMARKS: The case of a pathological liar.
(3)
DATE: 1954 (undetermined date) LOCATION: Salt Lake City, Utah (USA) PHOTOGRAPHER: Not available FORMAT: Picture, aircraft gun camera EXPLANATION: More than probably a fake REFERENCES: http://hesemann.watchers.ca/ufo-photos/ november2000.htm
REMARKS: Source is Guy Kirkwood aka Mel Noel (see case above).
(4)
DATE: 1954 (undetermined date) LOCATION: Fort Knox, Kentucky (USA) PHOTOGRAPHER: Not available FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Gallery of UFO photos by Stéphane Bernard

http://moumra.onzenet.com/moumraV12/soucoup/ddnbdate/ 19540101ddnbus902.jpg

REMARKS: Poor information.

(5)
DATE: 15 January 1954 LOCATION: Mount Gille, 80-100 Km East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory (Australia) PHOTOGRAPHER: Not available FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: The APRO Bulletin, Volume 2 Number 6. Michael Hervey, UFOs Over the Southern Hemisphere (Horwitz, 1969), page 97, (Robert Hale, 1975), page 123. Loren Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: January- May, 1990, page 4, quoting Centralian Advocate (Alice Springs), unknown date. Not consulted: Harold Wilkins, Flying Saucers on the Attack, page 312. REMARKS: Nil
(6)
DATE: 17 January 1954 LOCATION: Snoqualmie Falls, Washington (USA) PHOTOGRAPHER: Joseph Scayles (or Scaylea) FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: A cloud? REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing both “Verbal report” and “IRC Printout, Source 5N 66DS”. REMARKS: Poor information.
(7)
DATE: 1 February 1954 LOCATION: Tuscaloosa, Alabama (USA) PHOTOGRAPHER: identified only as Baumgartner

FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Flying Saucer Review, Volume 29, Number 4, 1984, pages 5-6. Dr Richard F Haines. Loren Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: January-May, 1990, page 24. Blue Book files. REMARKS: Nil

(8)
DATE: 15 February 1954 LOCATION: Coniston, Lancashire (UK) PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Darbishire FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: Fake REFERENCES: Leonard G. Cramp, Space, Gravity, and the Flying Saucer (British Book Centre, 1955), pages 13-18 (Desmond Leslie’s introduction). Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964), page 89. Ronald Story, The Encyclopedia of UFOs (Doubleday, 1980), pages 85-86 and plate. Timothy Good, Above Top Secret (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1987), page 37. Loren Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954:January-May, 1990, page 36. David Clarke and Andy Roberts, Magonia, July 2001, pages 3-12. http: //www.flyingsaucery.com/brigantia/brigmain.htm Charles Bowen (editor), The Humanoids (Neville Spearman, 1969), page 14, quoting 3 sources: Daily Mail (London), February 18, 1954. Lancashire Daily Post, February 19, 1954. Waveney Girvan, Flying Saucers and Common Sense (Citadel Press, 1955), page 129. Also not consulted: Flying Saucer Review, Volume 5, Number 3, 1959, page 3. REMARKS: Nil
(9)
DATE: 18 February 1954 LOCATION: Lossiemouth, Morayshire (Scotland, UK) PHOTOGRAPHER: Cedric Allingham (see Remarks) FORMAT: Picture EXPLANATION: Fake REFERENCES: Cedric Allingham, Flying Saucers From Mars (British Book Centre, 1955). C.H. Gibbs-Smith, Flying Saucer Review, Volume 2, Number 2, March-April 1956, page 7. Flying Saucer Review, Volume 2, Number 5, September-October 1956, page 27. James Holledge, Flying Saucers Over Australia (Horwitz, 1965), pages 112-117. Brinsley Le Poer Trench, The Flying Saucer Story (Ace Books, New York), pages 153-155. Charles Bowen (editor), The Humanoids (Neville Spearman, 1969), pages 14-15. Magonia, July 1986. Christopher Allan and Steuart Campbell. The Supernatural, July 1987. Peter Hough. Joe McGonagle. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: October, 1991, pages 76-78 and 105. REMARKS: Humanoid photo. The story actually fabricated

by a Peter Davies under the pseudonym of Cedric Allingham, ghosted from a book manuscript written by astronomer Patrick Moore.

(10)
DATE: 7 March 1954 LOCATION: Mobile, Alabama FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing “IRC Printout, source H 40HC 09+” REMARKS: Poor information.
(11)
DATE: 14 March 1954 (see Remarks below) LOCATION: Puddingstone Reservoir, near Alhambra, 50 miles North Los Angeles, California (USA) FORMAT: Picture (object unseen by the photographer) PHOTOGRAPHER: John W. Wagner EXPLANATION: Rowboat on water beyond dam (as per Larry Robinson, who believes to have found the photography site, working on aerial views of the area, giving support to his conventional identification). REFERENCES: Herald-Express (Los Angeles), June 5, 1954, in Loren Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, 1990, page 8. Flying Saucers Pictorial (from the editors of Real Magazine, Arizill Realty), page 10. Larry Robinson. REMARKS: We have a date problem here. The catalogue by Bernard Delair et al (The UFO Register #6) has a Puddington Reservoir, Pomona, California case dated March 14, *1953*, photographer as J.W. Wagner, and quoting as source: Saucers magazine, Volume 2, Number 3, 1954, page 1. Evidently, some check is needed to ensure the correct date and the correct name of the witness. The information is poor.
(12)
DATE: 11 April 1954 LOCATION: Tokai (South Africa) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Villiers EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, quoting “IRC printout, source G 5N 54DK” REMARKS: Poor information.
(13)
DATE: Easter 1954 (Logged as 18 April, Easter Sunday, approximate day)

LOCATION: 14 miles from Eucla, Western Australia (Australia) FORMAT: Pictures (5 cameras used, 92 exposures taken!) PHOTOGRAPHER: ¿Max Clow, Alex Rose and Peter Johnson? EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Bill Chalker, http://www.project1947.com/ forum/bcoz2.htm

Main source is the Australian Saucer Record, Volume 5, Number 3, 1959, page 13. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) of August 2, 1955 provides the names of the witnesses of a weird story of an alleged UFO landing and photos taken to a humanoid-like figure in the same area and time period. Same event? Stan Seers and William Lasich in Flying Saucer Review, Volume 15, Number 3, May-June 1969, page 5, mention “some 200 photographs, cine and stills” were taken. Keith Basterfield catalog of photographic cases in Australia, quoting from UFO Photo #2 records a movie film case in Australia (no more geographical details) during Easter Sunday as well, that I guess is the same occurrence as above. REMARKS: In UFO Photographs from Around the World by Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, citing a “confidential report”, a movie film case occurred in New Zealand in April 1954 is reported. Michael Hervey in UFOs over the Southern Hemisphere (Robert Hale, London, 1975, page 220) very briefly reports that “during April, 1954, the New Zealand Air Force received several movie films taken by civilians”. No Australian/New Zealand source has ever documented this; therefore it can be believed to be a rumor related to the original Easter case above.

(14)
DATE: Spring 1954 (Logged as May) LOCATION: Kumla (Sweden) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Bengt Schöllin EXPLANATION: Lens flares by camera malfunctioning REFERENCES: Archives for UFO Research catalog (Anders Liljegren and Clas Svahn) REMARKS: Defense Staff investigated.
(15)
DATE: 24 May 1954 LOCATION: Richmond, Indiana (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Leo N. Brubaker EXPLANATION: A Sub-sun (sun’s reflection on ice-crystals)(as per USAF) REFERENCES: Edward J. Ruppelt, The Report on UFOs (Doubleday, 1956), pages 239-240. Herald Stateman (Yonkers, New York), December 1, 1958. Aids to Identification of Flying Objects (U.S. Government

Printing Office, 1968), page 15. Dr James McDonald in Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects (U.S. House of Representatives, 1968), page 28. Saunders and Roger

R. Harkins, UFOs? Yes! Where the Condon Committee Went Wrong (World Publishing Company, New York), 1969, pages 69-71. Allan Hendry, The UFO Handbook (Doubleday, 1979), page 67. Barry Greenwood. Larry Robinson. REMARKS: Nil

(16)
DATE: 18 June 1954 LOCATION: Waterbury, Connecticut (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: US Library of Congress, LC Control # 2001695946 REMARKS: Source not consulted.
(17)
DATE: 18 June 1954 LOCATION: Olmstead Air Force Base, Pennsylvania (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, quoting “IRC printout, source 49HF 24+” REMARKS: The same source has another case at the same place, dated 29 October and yet in a different time (now 22:20, originally 11:42 hours), also from an “IRC printout, source D 40HJ 46+”. Are there two different events or only one? Poor information.
(18)
DATE: 21 June 1954 LOCATION: Buffalo, New York (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, quoting “IRC printout, source 3 5N” REMARKS: Poor information
(19)
DATE: 26 June 1954 LOCATION: Danville, Illinois (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO

Photographs Around the World, 1986, quoting “IRC printout, source 7 40HF 45+” REMARKS: Loren E. Gross in UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, Supplemental Notes, 2002, pages 7-8, includes a Danville (Vermont, not Illinois) sighting dated June 24, released in the Independent Republican (Sr. Johnsbury, VT), July 1, 1954, but no photos were mentioned. Poor information

(20)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Stora Karlsö (Sweden) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Lens flares (as per Torbjorn Koch, Stockholm High School of Technology) REFERENCES: Archives for UFO Research catalog (Anders Liljegren and Clas Svahn) REMARKS: Solar eclipse day
(21)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Copenhagen (Denmark) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Holger Bidstrup Christiansen EXPLANATION: Not available (a lens flare?, object unseen by the photographer) REFERENCES: Archives for UFO Research catalog (Anders Liljegren and Clas Svahn) REMARKS: Solar eclipse day
(22)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Helsinki (Finland) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Tauno Uusivirta EXPLANATION: Lens flare REFERENCES: Helsingin Sanomat, July 11, 1954. Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, New York, 1955), plate (mistakenly, it is dated September). Archives for UFO Research’s catalog (Anders Liljegren and Clas Svahn). Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, 1990, page 68, quoting Blue Book files. Björn Borg. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse
(23)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Skive (Denmark) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: K.G. Jensen (object unseen by photographer) EXPLANATION: Lens flare (as per Ole Henningsen, and Larry

Robinson) REFERENCES: Flying Saucer Review, Volume 4, Number 3, May-June 1958, page 7 (not consulted). Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1985 (Volume 2), pages 12 and 20-21. Ole Henningsen corrected some book’s errors, like that it had occurred in Iceland. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse

(24)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Keflavik (Iceland) FORMAT: Picture (object unseen by photographer) PHOTOGRAPHER: Dr Hallur Hallsson, Jr EXPLANATION: Lens flare (as per Ole Henningsen, and Larry Robinson) REFERENCES: Flying Saucer Review, Volume 4, Number 3, May-June 1958, page 7 (not consulted). Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1985 (Volume 2), pages 14 and 17-19. Official UFO, April 1976, pages 29-30. Ole Henningsen. Larry Robinson. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse
(25)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Keflavik (Iceland) FORMAT: Picture (object unseen by the photographer) PHOTOGRAPHER: Karl Magnussen EXPLANATION: Lens flare (as per Ole Henningsen, and Larry Robinson) REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1985 (Volume 2), pages 14-15. Ole Henningsen. Larry Robinson. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse
(26)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Lifjell (Norway) FORMAT: Movie PHOTOGRAPHER: Johnny Bjornulf EXPLANATION: Reflections in aircraft window (originally by a Dr Garwick, then by Julien Hennessey, and Clas Svahn) REFERENCES: The Elkhart Truth, July 8, 1954. London Evening News, December 21, 1955. Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, 1955), plate and pages 89 and 225. It quotes the Norwegian paper Fremtiden Drammen to say that images appeared after film processing. Flying Saucer Review, Volume 2, Number 1, January-February 1956, pages 6-7. Saucers magazine, Volume VI, Number 3, 1956, pages 5-6 (not consulted). Flying Saucer Review, Volume 18, Number 1, January-February 1972, pages 22-23. Flying Saucer

Review, Volume 36, Number 2, summer 1991, pages 11-13. Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964), pages 5, 7 and 89 quoting the RAF Flying Review, July 1957. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, 1990, pages 44-45, quoting Max Miller’s Flying Saucers, fact or Fiction?, page 82, and Oslo newspaper Aftenposten, October 14, 1954; and page 68, quoting Blue Book files. Julien Hennessey. Dave Clarke. Clas Svahn. Gary Anthony. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse

(27)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Baltic Sea, between Denmark and Poland FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Aage Hauge EXPLANATION: Lens flare (as per Ole Henningsen) REFERENCES: Fyns Tidende (Denmark), April 19,1959. Ole Henningsen. REMARKS: Solar eclipse day
(28)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) FORMAT: Picture (object unseen by photographer) PHOTOGRAPHER: Marvin Tjornham EXPLANATION: Lens flare? REFERENCES: Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, 1955), plate. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse. Poor information.
(29)
DATE: 30 June 1954 LOCATION: Chicago, Illinois (USA) FORMAT: Picture (objects unseen by photographer) PHOTOGRAPHER: Mildred Maier EXPLANATION: Lens flares REFERENCES: The APRO Bulletin, Volume 3, Number 1 (not consulted). Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (Citadel, 1955), plate. Larry Robinson. REMARKS: During the solar eclipse. (For other stories of sisters Mildred and Marie Maier’s involvement with UFOs, see Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November- December, 1991, pages 37-38 and 81).
(30)
DATE: 1 July 1954 LOCATION: Hardangervidde platteau (Norway) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Daily Mail (London), July 7, 1954. Flying Saucer Review, Volume 1, Number 3, 1955, page 7. Orbit

(CRIFO), Volume 1, Number 5, page 3. Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (Arco, 1956), page 89. All references quoted from “A Provisional Catalogue of UFO Photographs”, by J.B. Delair, E. Cox and R. Twine, The UFO Register, Volume 6, Part 2, November 1975. REMARKS: Sources not consulted. Poor information.

(31)
DATE: 3 July 1954 LOCATION: Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing “IRC printout, source 5 40HG 05+”. REMARKS: Poor information
(32)
DATE: 5 July 1954 LOCATION: Chanctonbury Rings, Sussex (UK) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: B.V. Simmons EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Flying Saucer News, 9, summer 1955. G. Gibbons, The Coming of the Space Ships (Neville Spearman, 1956), pages 125-126. REMARKS: Book reference not consulted. Poor information.
(33)
DATE: 5 July 1954 LOCATION: Marmolada Mount, Trento (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Luigi Petrosellini EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(34)
DATE: before 11 July 1954 LOCATION: Southern Finland (undetermined) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Sunday Dispatch (London), July 11, 1954, as quoted in “A Provisional Catalogue of UFO Photographs”, by J.B. Delair, E. Cox and R. Twine, The UFO Register, Volume 6, Part 2, November 1975. REMARKS: Primary source not consulted. Poor information.
(35)
DATE: circa 15 July 1954

LOCATION: Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Telonic Research Bulletin, Volume 2, Number 1, 1957, pages 4-5, as quoted in “A Provisional Catalogue of UFO Photographs”, by J.B. Delair, E. Cox and R. Twine, The UFO Register, Volume 6, Part 2, November 1975. REMARKS: Primary source not consulted. Poor information.

(36)
DATE: 15 July 1954 LOCATION: Glen Lake, Michigan (USA) FORMAT: Slide PHOTOGRAPHER: Jerry Leimenstoll EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Orbit (CRIFO), Number 11, February 1955, page 5. REMARKS: Nil
(37)
DATE: 16 July 1954 LOCATION: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Flying Saucers: UFO Reports (Dell), Number 1, 1967, page 47, as quoted in “A Provisional Catalogue of UFO Photographs”, by J.B. Delair, E. Cox and R. Twine, The UFO Register, Volume 6, Part 2, November 1975. REMARKS: Primary source not consulted. Poor information.
(38)
DATE: 30 July 1954 LOCATION: Mountain View, Missouri (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Buck Nelson EXPLANATION: Fake (double exposure) (as per USAF) REFERENCES: Flying Saucer Review, Volume 1, Number 1, March-April 1955, page 3; Number 2, May-June 1955, pages 4-5; Number 3, July-August 1955, page 32; and Number 5, November-December 1955, page 6. The TRUE Report on Flying Saucers, 1967. Larry Robinson. See: http://www.chez.com/lesovnis/htm/bluepics53.htm REMARKS: Buck Nelson later published the book My Trip to Mars, the Moon, and Venus.
(39)
DATE: 31 July 1954 LOCATION: Durban, Natal (South Africa) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Eugene Meyer EXPLANATION: Not available

REFERENCES: Flying Saucer News, spring 1955, page 16, quoting Outspan, December 3, 1954. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December, 1991, pages 44 and 86. REMARKS: Nil

(40)
DATE: August 1954 (exact day not known) LOCATION: Boston, Massachusetts (USA) FORMAT: Picture (Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, allegedly reported that the film had been “confiscated”) PHOTOGRAPHER: Paul Carter EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, Supplemental Notes, 2002, pages 33-35, quoting a letter from Joseph Nymah to Coral Lorenzen (APRO), dated April 23, 1968. REMARKS: Nil
(41)
DATE: 3 August 1954 LOCATION: Reichestein Mountain, Styria (Austria) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Erich Kaiser EXPLANATION: Fake? A unique image achieved by a photo amateur owning a processing lab. Larry Robinson has it as “lens flare, sun on diamond ring” and quotes Coral Lorenzen as reference. REFERENCES: Saucers, Volume 5, Number 3, 1975, page 1. Inforespace, 20, April 1975, pages 20-22. REMARKS: An extraordinary-looking photographic document (3 or 4 mushroom-shaped objects on edge in a row) with scarce follow-up. Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts published that “Three UFOs were reportedly photographed over Central Australia” in this day also, no more details available. Australian researchers are not familiar with the case. Can Austria have been mistakenly taken by Australia? (The 3 objects and same date seem to suggest that).
(42)
DATE: 6 August 1954 LOCATION: London (United Kingdom) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Research balloon released by Bristol University REFERENCES: Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, 1990, page 67, including news clip from The Times, August 7, 1954. British sociologist and researcher Dr Dave Clarke confirmed that a photograph was printed in the London Daily Mail of the same date. REMARKS: Nil
(43)
DATE: 28 August 1954 LOCATION: Passo Falzarego, Belluno (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Angelo Cozzi EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), pages 58-60, quoting Milano weekly Le Ore, October 23, 1954, and the RIGEL2001 organization. Giuseppe Stilo. Larry Hatch. REMARKS: In 1974 the photographer informed that he had neither the negatives nor any prints left.
(44)
DATE: September 1954 LOCATION: Edwards Air Force Base, California (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known (manufacturer Martin Aircraft Company) EXPLANATION: Flaw in window of camera plane (as per Larry Robinson). Tear (abrasion mark) in the negative (as per Martin Aircraft Company) REFERENCES: Fate, November 1966, pages 36-45. Flying Saucer Review Case Histories, 6, August 1971, cover and pages 1-2. Inforespace, 8, 1973. Ronald Story, The Encyclopedia of UFOs (Doubleday, 1980), pages 36-37. REMARKS: Nil
(45)
DATE: 2 September 1954 LOCATION: Unknown (USA?) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Paula Brite EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986. REMARKS: The absolutely brief information says that at

23:00 hours in an unidentified location, a Miss Paula Brite “photographed a circular disc-shaped flying object hovering overhead”.

(46) DATE: 3 September 1954 LOCATION: Dallas, Texas (USA) FORMAT: Picture (32 frames) PHOTOGRAPHER: Robert J. Waste EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: International UFO Reporter, Volume 8, Number 5, September-October 1983, pages 6-7. Paul Cerny. REMARKS: This episode, narrated by the widow of the

alleged witness, is not in the Blue Book files. A FOIA’s opportunity?

(47)
DATE: 9 September 1954 LOCATION: Nelson (New Zealand) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: K.M. Gibbons EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Orbit (CRIFO), Volume 1, Number 8, November 5, 1954, pages 5-6, quoted in Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964), pages 89 and 92; Thomas Olsen, The Reference for Outstanding UFO Reports, 1966, page 3-30; Dr. Richard F. Haines, Project Delta: A Study of Multiple UFOs (L.D.A. Press, Los Altos, California, 1994), page 95; and in Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: September, 1991, pages 13 and 15. Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, 1955), plates. Gianfranco de Turris and Sebastiano Fusco, Obiettivo sugli UFO. Fotostoria dei Dischi Volanti (Edizioni Mediterranee, Roma, 1975), page 115, quoting NICAP. Peter Hassall, The New Zealand Files (David Bateman, Auckland, 1998), pages 69-70. Actas do Simpósio Internacional Fronteiras da Ciencia, Anomalía, 5, 2001, page 135. Not consulted: Flying Saucer News,7, 1954-1955, page 20. Otto Binder, What We Really Know About Flying Saucers (Fawcett, 1967), pages 42-44 (not found in the Fawcett Gold Medal Book paperback edition). Harold Fulton/Murray Bott. REMARKS: Nil
(48)
DATE: 18 September 1954 LOCATION: Baldwin Park-Azusa, California (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel W. fry EXPLANATION: Fake by (in)famous contactee. Object is a 12-channel knob off a Westinghouse TV set (as per Larry Robinson). REFERENCES: Jimmy Guieu, Black out sur les soucoupes volantes (Editions Fleuve Noir, 1956), plate 17, quoting Max B. Miller. Flying Saucers Pictorial, from the Editors of Real Magazine (Arizil Realty and Publishing), page 10. Larry Robinson. See the gallery of UFO photos by Stéphane Bernard:

http://moumra.onzenet.com/moumraV12/soucoup/ddnbdate/ 19540918ddnbus52341.jpg

REMARKS: Poor information

(49) DATE: 22 September 1954 LOCATION: Paris (France) FORMAT: Non-event PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known

EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986. An alleged weird case from a “writer living at the foot of the Eiffel Tower” who became “depressed about the insensibility of humanity” who did not notice the Saturn-shaped UFO he had photographed. REMARKS: French sources are not aware of any UFO photo being taken that date at the France capital. In Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: September, 1991, pages 38, 43 and 49, some sightings in the area are included. Quoting from Paris journals France-Soir, September 24, 1954 and Le Parisién Liberè, October 1, 1954, it is told that “near the Champ de Mars, a writer spotted a mysterious ball of light...the intellectual walked the streets to study the curiosity of the typical Parisian (to discover that) no one seemed to pay any heed to the motionless spot in the heavens”. Further, the writer contacted Aimé Michel “marveling at the indifference of the crowds”. It seems it refers to the individual above and the added photographic story is spurious.

(50) DATE: 24 September 1954 LOCATION: Grenoble (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Jacques Baccard EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (Citadel, 1955), plate. Jimmy Guieu, Black out sur les soucoupes volantes (Editions Fleuve Noir, 1956), pages 128-130 and plate 12. Gianfranco de Turris and Sebastiano Fusco, Obiettivo sugli UFO. Fotostoria dei Dischi Volanti (Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1975), page 115. See the gallery of UFO photos by Stéphane Bernard:

http://moumra.onzenet.com/moumraV12/soucoup/ ddnbdate/19540924ddnbfr5364.jpg

REMARKS: Nil

(51) DATE: 27 September 1954 (approximate day) LOCATION: Savigny, Rhone department France) FORMAT: Movie PHOTOGRAPHER: Bene Valery EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Italian newspapers: Il Mattino (Naples) and Corriere di Sicilia (Catania), September 29, 1954, Giornale di Trieste (Trieste), Giornale del Mattino (Florence) and La Nazione Italiana), September 30, 1954, Il Gazzettino (Trento) and Il Mattino, October 1, 1954, and Milano Sera (Milano), October 1-2, 1954. Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, 1955), pages 229-230. Donald Johnson’s UFOCAT. REMARKS: Nil

(52)
DATE: 28 September 1954 LOCATION: Bjuv, Scania (Sweden) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Tord Olsson EXPLANATION: Jet plane and exhaust contrail REFERENCES: Anders Liljegren and Clas Svahn. Le Figaro (Paris), September 30, 1954 and October 2, 1954 (cited in “A Provisional Catalogue of UFO Photographs”, by J.B. Delair and E. Cox, The UFO Register, Volume 10, Part 2, March 1980). The New York Herald Tribune, December 10, 1954, quoted in Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December, 1991, page 53. REMARKS: Defense Staff investigated
(53)
DATE: 4 October 1954 LOCATION: Lagny-Rigollet,Seine-Marne (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing “IRC Printout, source G 9V 1362M”. REMARKS: Poor information
(54)
DATE: 5 October 1954 LOCATION: El Qantara (Egypt) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: (Lieutenant) Tewrik EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Harold T. Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, 1955), pages 231-232. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: October, 1991, page 12. REMARKS: Poor information
(55)
DATE: 8 October 1954 LOCATION: Lyon, Rhone (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Adrien Marguin EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: M. Figuet & J-L Ruchon, OVNI:Le Premier Dossier Complet des Rencontres Rapprochées en France (Alain Lefeuvre, 1979), page 135. REMARKS: Poor information
(56)

DATE: 12 October 1954 LOCATION: Arroyo de los Ángeles, Málaga (Spain) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Juan Coll and José Antonio Baena EXPLANATION: Most probably a fake REFERENCES: Madrid (Madrid), November 10, 1954. Ya (Madrid), November 11, 1954. W. Girvan, Flying Saucers and Common Sense (F. Muller, 1955), plate opposite page 97. The APRO Bulletin, November 15, 1954, page 7, quoted in case card of Civilian Saucer Intelligence (New York). See: http://www.rense.com/FSM/overseas5.htm REMARKS: As usual with events from non-English-speaking countries, the case has appeared in press under several different dates.

(57)
DATE: 14 October 1954 LOCATION: Santhiá, Vercelli (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Balloon REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(58)
DATE: 14 October 1954 LOCATION: Torino, Torino (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Balloon REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(59)
DATE: 15 October 1954 LOCATION: Anchorage, Alaska (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Richard Beaulieau EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing a “confidential source”. REMARKS: Poor information
(60)
DATE: 16 October 1954 LOCATION: Sedan, Ardennes (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Lunar lens flare (as per Eric Maillot)

REFERENCES: L’Ardennais, October 19, 1954, released in Jean-Michel Ligeron’s O.V.N.I. en Ardennes, 1981, page 134. Eric Maillot. REMARKS: Nil

(61) DATE: 16 October 1954 LOCATION: Haute-Provence Observatory, Alpes de Haute- Provence (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: P. Berthier and R. Mévolhon EXPLANATION: Balloon, launched by the Padua University (Italy) for the study of cosmic rays REFERENCES: P. Berthier and R. Mévolhon, Revue de la Société Astronomique de France, November 1954, page 416. Aimé Michel, Los misteriosos platillos volantes (Pomaire, Barcelona, 1962), pages 261-266; Mystérieux objets célestes (Planète, Paris, 1966), pages 218-224; and Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery

(S.G. Phillips, New York, 1958), pages 178-180. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: October Supplemental Notes, 2002, page 42. Giuseppe Stilo. Eric Maillot. See: http://ufologie.net/1954/16oct1954hauteprovencef. htm

REMARKS: Nil

(62) DATE: 17 October 1954 (approximate day) LOCATION: Monte Mario, Rome, Rome (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Turi Mattarella EXPLANATION: Probable bird (as per Giuseppe Stilo)/ Graduation cap thrown to the air (as per Larry Robinson)/ Dubiously authentic (as per Solas Boncompagni et al) REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), pages 58-60, quoting daily newspapers Il Messaggero (Roma), October 20, 1954, La Gazzetta Padana, October 21, 1954, and Il Corriere Lombardo, October 20 and 21, 1954. Flying Saucers, Cowless and UPI editors (Cowless Education Corporation, 1967), page 105. Gianfranco de Turris and Sebastiano Fusco,

Obiettivo sugli UFO. Fotostoria dei Dischi Volanti

(Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1975), page 116.Giuseppe Stilo. UFO Forum, July 1998, page 25. REMARKS: Given as November 6th by Cowless and UPI, an error. The Italian press disclosed the photographer being a member of a “Martian Club”.

(63) DATE: 18 October 1954 LOCATION: Salerno, Salerno (Italy) FORMAT: Picture

PHOTOGRAPHER: Benito Silano EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), page 146, quoting Il Mattino, Il Resto del Carlino and Il Lavoro, dated October 19, 1954. REMARKS: Nil

(64)
DATE: 20 October 1954 LOCATION: Borgo Panigale, Bologna, Bologna (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(65)
DATE: 22 October 1954 LOCATION: Palermo, Palermo (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Giuseeppe Marretta EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), page 176, quoting newspaper Giornale di Sicilia, October 24, 1954. REMARKS: Nil
(66)
DATE: 24 October 1954 LOCATION: Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas de Calais (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Emile Turpin EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Lumières Dans La Nuit, 129, November 1973, pages 16-17. REMARKS: Several sources have misplaced or misdated this case. For instance, the Larry Robinson database has it as Ambleterre, October 10, 1954. I believe it is the same case. While the Stevens and Roberts 1986 book has it as both Ambleteuse October 1st, Ambleterre October 2, and also as Boulogne Mer October 2.
(67)
DATE: 24 October 1954 (approximate day) LOCATION: Marina di Massa, Massa (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Newspaper La Nazione Italiana (Florence), October 28, 1954, in Solas Boncompagni et al´s UFO

in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), page 231. Giuseppe Stilo. REMARKS: Poor information

(68)
DATE: 24 October 1954 LOCATION: Gravataí Air Force Base, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Brazilian Air Force EXPLANATION: Non-event REFERENCES: Antonio Ribera, Platillos volantes en Iberoamérica y España (Pomaire, 1968), pages 245-246, describes a UFO sighting over the base and he quotes journalist João Martins (of the Barra da Tijuca fake case fame) who, writing in O Cruzeiro magazine from Rio de Janeiro, stated that “there circulated well-founded rumors that the Brazilian Air Force achieved to obtain at least two photographs of the objects observed over the Gravataí Air Force Base”. The sighting (without any mention to any photographs taken) is cited by Richard Hall’s The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964), page 119, as well as by Donald
E.
Keyhoe in his book The Flying Saucer Conspiracy (Henry Holt, 1955), page 212. Ample information is reported by Loren E. Gross in UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December Supplemental Notes, 2002, pages 20 and 63-66. Again, the Brazilian Air Force gives no indication of photos, in spite of the full disclosure of details. REMARKS: An extensive report was published in the December 24, 1954 issue of O Cruzeiro. It was an account of a UFO conference held by Col. Adil de Oliveira, chief of the Brazilian Air Force’s UFO investigation. There it was specifically stated that “No photos had been taken during the sighting. The Base photographic section was closed, it was Sunday. Nobody had a camera at hand...” (Olavo
T.
Fontes, the report’s translator, comments that “I have the information that at least two pictures were taken, but I cannot swear it”. This account is to be found in Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954:October Supplemental Notes, 2002, pages 79-89.
(69)
DATE: 25 October 1954 LOCATION: Und, Györ-Sopron Province (Hungary) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Janos Biro EXPLANATION: Bolide (fireball) REFERENCES: Ion Hobana and Julien Weverberg, UFO’s From Behind the Iron Curtain (Souvenir Press, 1972), pages 193-194, quotes newspaper Esti-Bud of October 27, 1954 and AFP newswire that date, as well as Tükör magazine, September 10, 1968, which dates the incident

as October 15th. Skylook, April 1974, page 10. Joe Brill. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: October, 1991, pages 54 and 103 (and page 85, the meteor was also seen from Yugoslavia). OVNI Presence, 33-34, December 1985. Richard Hall’s The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964), page 123, reports sightings took place also in Austria and Italy. REMARKS: Nil

(70)
DATE: 26 October 1954 LOCATION: Pittu Longu, Olbia, Sassari (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: A Signore (Mr) Fancello EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), pages 220-221, quoting daily press Unione Sarda, October 27, 1954, and Nuova Sardegna of both October 27 and 28, 1954. REMARKS: Nil
(71)
DATE: 27 October 1954 LOCATION: Firenze, Firenze (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Antonio Belluci EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Anything to do with famous case of “bambaglia silicea” (angel hair) over Firenze that day? Apparently no connection exists.
(72)
DATE: 28 October 1954 LOCATION: Montecatini Terme, Pistoia (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Guido Rastelli EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(73)
DATE: 28 October 1954 LOCATION: Siena, Siena (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Fake REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), pages 244 and 247, quoting La Nazione Italiana,

October 29, 1954. Giuseppe Stilo notes that the case was labeled a hoax created by a professional photographer by newspapers L’Unita (Communist Party’s daily newspaper) of October 30th and Il Nuovo Corriere of October 31, 1954. REMARKS: Nil

(74)
DATE: 29 October 1954 LOCATION: Firenze, Firenze (Italy) FORMAT: Movie PHOTOGRAPHER: Marino Marchi EXPLANATION: Fake REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(75)
DATE: 29 October 1954 LOCATION: Firenze, Firenze (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: A Signore (Mr) Levi EXPLANATION: Fake REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(76)
DATE: 30 October 1954 LOCATION: Firenze, Firenze (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Possible airplanes REFERENCES: Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil
(77)
DATE: 1 November 1954 (approximate day) LOCATION: Welferding, Moselle (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Jean Geraut EXPLANATION: Fake REFERENCES: Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker, La Grande Peur Martienne (Nouvelles Éditions Rationnalistes, Paris, 1979), pages 192-193 and plates. It quotes the original source, the journal L’Aurore, November 2, 1954, and the magazine Radar, November 14, 1954, which reveals the deceit. REMARKS: Nil
(78)
DATE: Early November 1954

LOCATION: Rome, Rome (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Paese Sera, November 3, 1954, quoted in Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil

(79)
DATE: November 1, 1954 or before LOCATION: Porta Pia, Rome, Rome (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Newspaper Nazione Sera, November 2, 1954, in Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), page 298. REMARKS: Poor information
(80)
DATE: 4 November 1954 LOCATION: Marseille (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: An unnamed US Navy marine EXPLANATION: Lenticular clouds REFERENCES: The New York Times, July 3, 1955. M.K. Jessup, The UFO Annual (The Citadel Press, 1956), plate. Look (special issue on Flying Saucers), 1967, pages 28-29. REMARKS: There are sources placing the case as 3 July 1950 or 7 June 1954.
(81)
DATE: 4 November 1954 LOCATION: Santa Margherita a Montici, Firenze (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Mario Romoli EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), page 317, quoting La Nazione Italiana, November 11, 1954, and Spazio e Vita, January-February 1959. Flying Saucer Review, Volume 1, Number 3, July-August 1955, page 5. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December, 1991, page 9. Ernesto Thayaht. UFO Forum, July 1998, page 28. Giuseppe Stilo. REMARKS: Nil
(82)
DATE: 5 November 1954 LOCATION: La Roche-en-Brenil, Côte-d’Or (France)

FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Raymond R. EXPLANATION: Non-event REFERENCES: Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia (Henry Regnery, 1969), page 242, case #329. Lumières Dans La Nuit, 125, May 1973, pages 22-24. Ouranos, Number 9, th quarter 1973, page 8. GABRIEL. Charles Garreau and Raymond Lavier, Face aux extra-terrestres (Jean-Pierre Delarge, 1975), pages 47-52. Michel Figuet and Jean-Louis Ruchon, OVNI: Le premier dossier complet des rencontres rapprochées en France (Alain Lefeuvre, 1979), pages 207-210. Gérard Barthel and Jacques Bruker, La Grande Peur Martienne (Nouvelles Éditions Rationnalistes, Paris, 1979), pages 40-45 and plates. VLJ, April 1985, pages II-III. Jan Heering. Eric Maillot. Loren

E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December Supplemental Notes, 2002, pages 10-11. For a complete overview of this episode, see: http:// ufologie.net/1954/5nov1954larochef.htm (Patrick Gross). REMARKS: UFO landing and humanoid presence. The French UFO group GABRIEL qualified the case as “a doubtful affair”. Jan Heering found a discrepancy in the report from the Vallée’s summary to the larger Garreau/ Lavier’s text on the source of the paralyzing beam of light. In a personal communication, Eric Maillot informs that the alleged witness Raymond R. “seems not to have ever existed” and that “(none) has ever seen this photograph”.

(83)
DATE: 6 November 1954 LOCATION: Padre Island, Texas (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Ray Stanford or John McCoy EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Saucers, March 1955, pages 2-8; and December 1955. Fate, May 1956, pages 12-18. Flying Saucer Review, Volume 3, Number 6, November- December 1957, pages 30-31 (Brinsley le Poer Trench book review). John McCoy, They Shall Be Gathered Together, 1957, pages 10-15. Ray and Rex Stanford, Look Up, 1958, pages 7-13, following one and page 52. REMARKS: Ray Stanford and several others took turns to hold a camera steady atop a pointed-topped fence post, while clicking the shutter. They cannot know for sure who took the successful photo, yet everything points to either Ray Stanford or McCoy. (Personal communication from Ray Stanford.)
(84)
DATE: 6 November 1954 LOCATION: Padre Island, Texas (USA) FORMAT: Movie (blank) PHOTOGRAPHER: David Pillar

EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Personal communication from Ray Stanford. REMARKS: David was a member of the Ray and Rex Stanford’s crew (see above). The film turned blank. Exactly so described by cameraman: “I took it out to view it, and when I arrived at the place where the picture of the saucer should have been, I noticed that the film has changed texture...it seems to be turning clear. This is only happening to this particular section of the film.”

(85)
DATE: 6 November 1954 LOCATION: St. Peter’s square, Vatican City, Rome (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Alberto Perego EXPLANATION: Non-event REFERENCES: Alberto Perego, Svelato il mistero dei dischi volanti (Rome, 1957), pages 16-18,quoted in Solas Boncompagni et al’s UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954(Corrado Tedeschi, Firenze, 1980), pages 326-329 and 331-333. Flying Saucer Review Case Histories, 15, June 1973, pages 3-6. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954:November-December,1991, pages 12-14 (on actual sighting), pages 16-20 (related information on peculiar Dr Perego’s adventures) and pages 83-84 (references). Dr Richard F. Haines, Project Delta: A Study of Multiple UFOs (L.D.A. Press, Los Altos, California, 1994), pages 56-57. Giuseppe Stilo. REMARKS: Italian specialist Giuseppe Stilo explained that this allegedly photo case was first known when the Italian weekly L’Europeo released on February 3, 1957 an interview to diplomatic Alberto Perego, he who had a non-photographic UFO sighting in the Vatican City. In order to better describe his visual observation he provided photomontages to this end (the magazine made it clear these were that). This started a mistake widely reproduced. (Personal communication from G. Stilo).
(86)
DATE: 8 November 1954 LOCATION: Castelnuovo-Montevarchi, Siena (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Giornale del Matino (Firenze),November 24, 1954, quoted in Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi, Firenze, 1980), pages 330 and 335-336. REMARKS: Nil
(87)
DATE: 10 November 1954 LOCATION: Milano, Milano (Italy)

FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Kite REFERENCES: Il Messaggero, November 12, 1954, quoted in Giuseppe Stilo’s “A Catalog of Alleged Italian UFO Photos 1900-1954”, April 18, 2004. REMARKS: Nil

(88)
DATE: 11 November 1954 LOCATION: Saint-François, Lausanne (Switzerland) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: G. Lavanchy EXPLANATION: Hoax by a local student’s society on the arrival of two “Martians” dressed with funny clothes and carrying antennae. REFERENCES: Feuille d’Avis de Lausanne, November 12, 1954, page 40. Bruno Mancusi. REMARKS: Nil
(89)
DATE: 14 November 1954 LOCATION: Ponchartrain, York (UK) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing “IRC Printout, source 9V 1995M”. REMARKS: Poor information
(90)
DATE: 18 November 1954 LOCATION: Cuba FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing “IRC Printout, source O 40HK 32+”. REMARKS: Poor information
(91)
DATE: 19 November 1954 LOCATION: Taormina, Messina, Sicily (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Giuseppe Grasso EXPLANATION: Fake (initially as per Dr Donald Menzel, confirmed after recent reinvestigation by CISU’s Antonio Blanco) REFERENCES: SUFOI Newsletter, February 1974. Ole Henningsen. David C. Knight, UFOs. A Pictorial History from Antiquity to the Present (McGraw-Hill, 1979),

page 680. Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), pages 370-371, quoting local newspapers dated November 21, 1954: Giornale di Sicilia, Il Messaggero, Giornale del Matino and Voce Adriatica. Margaret Sachs, The UFO Encyclopedia (Perigee Books, 1980), pages 318-319. Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December, 1991, pages 41 and 53, quoting The New York Herald Tribune, December 19,1954. UFO Forum, July 1998, pages 22-28. Giuseppe Stilo. UFO Forum, March 1999, pages 39-43 and 47. Antonio Blanco. Edoardo Russo. UFO Forum, July 1998, pages 22-25. REMARKS: Nil

(92)
DATE: 25 November 1954 LOCATION: Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Giulio Lion EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Solas Boncompagni et al, UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi Editore, Firenze, 1980), page 375, quoting the Gazzetta del Veneto, November 26, 1954. REMARKS: Nil
(93)
DATE: 26 November 1954 LOCATION: Calamandra-Canelli, Asti (Italy) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Publicity campaign photo on Italian press, November 26 to 30, 1954 advertising on the local wines. REFERENCES: Newspapers Gazzetta del Popolo, November 27, 1954 and Nuova Sardegna, November 28, 1954, quoted in Solas Boncompani et al’s UFO in Italia. L’Ondata del 1954 (Corrado Tedeschi, Firenze, 1980), pages 476 and 478-479. Corriere della Sera (Milano), November 30, 1954, in Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December Supplemental Notes, 2002, page 39. Ufologia, 5, September-October 1979, page 8. Giuseppe Stilo. Edoardo Russo. Maurizio Verga. Barry Greenwood. REMARKS: Nil
(94)
DATE: Winter 1954 LOCATION: West New York, New York FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Bert Bula EXPLANATION: Fake (“Interior lamps reflected on window”, as per Larry Robinson) REFERENCES: Otto Binder, What We Really Know About

Flying Saucers (Fawcett Gold Medal Books, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1967), plate page 175. Not consulted: Flying Saucers: UFO Reports (Dell), 2, 1967, page 31 and rear cover. Flying Saucers Magazine, page 50. Flying Saucers (Ray Palmer), Number 81,1973,page 41. See: http://www.rense.com/FSM/they6.htm REMARKS: Nil

(95)
DATE: Late 1954 (undetermined date) LOCATION: (Argentina) PHOTOGRAPHER: Not available FORMAT: Picture, aircraft gun camera? EXPLANATION: Fake (profile indistinguishable from the edge on pose of one of the faked photos of the series by Ed Keffel, Brazil 1952). REFERENCES: Dr Roger N. Shepard in Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects (U.S. House of Representatives, 1968), pages 229-230. REMARKS: Poor information. Potential non-event.
(96)
DATE: 6 December 1954 LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin (USA) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: identified only as Mr. Holliday EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, citing “IRC Printout, source G 40HL 08+”. REMARKS: Poor information
(97)
DATE: 9 December 1954 LOCATION: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: F.C. EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: The APRO Bulletin, July 1958, pages 1 and 8; September 1958, pages 1, 2 and 5. Coral E. Lorenzen,
Flying Saucers. The Startling Evidence of the Invasion From Outer Space (Signet Books, 1966), plate 4. Flying Saucers: UFO Reports (Dell), 1, 1967, page 47. Gianfranco de Turris and Sebastiano Fusco, Obiettivo sugli UFO. Fotostoria dei Dischi Volanti (Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1975), page 116. REMARKS: Nil
(98)
DATE: 10 December 1954 LOCATION: El Tigre (Venezuela) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: an unnamed US engineer of a petroleum

company EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: The APRO Bulletin, Volume 3, No. 4, January 15, 1955, page 4. Coral E. Lorenzen, Flying Saucers. The Startling Evidence of the Invasion From Outer Space (Signet Books, 1966), page 50. REMARKS: Poor information

(99) DATE: 16 December 1954 LOCATION: Victorville, California FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: The Flying Saucer Review (R.J. Gribble, editor), Volume I, Number 8, page 4, quoted in Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December Supplemental Notes, 2002, pages 58-59. REMARKS: Nil

(100) DATE: 25 December 1954 LOCATION: Cape Province (South Africa) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Aircraft? (A cigar-shaped object producing a heavy vapor trail) REFERENCES: Flying Saucer News, spring 1955, page 16. Loren E. Gross, in UFOs: A History. 1954: November-December, 1991, pages 74-75, quotes (Australian) Flying Saucer Review, ed. Richard Huges, Spring 1955, page 16 (probably a mistake with the F.S.N. above, in reality). REMARKS: Poor information.

(101) DATE: 28 December 1954 (or 29) LOCATION: Wednesfield, Staffordshire (UK) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Harold J. Cummins EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Daily Sketch (London), March 1, 1955. Flying Saucer News, No. 8, 1955, pages 5-6. (Not consulted).

M.K. Jessup, The UFO Annual (The Citadel Press, 1956), pages 102-103. The APRO Bulletin, January-March 1956, page 11. REMARKS: The APRO publication dated it 1955 and placed it in Canada!

Appendix: Some Rarities for this Period

The following first entry is, actually, a failed attempt by a USMC jet aircraft to fix gun cameras on a UFO. It is included here merely as an anecdote.

DATE: 25 March 1954 LOCATION: Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA) FORMAT: Gun camera movie (not finally achieved) PHOTOGRAPHER: Dan Holland EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Donald E. Keyhoe, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy (Henry Holt, 1955), pages 115-116. Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, 1964, page 31 (it gives the date of March 24th). Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: January-May, 1990, page 61. Brad Sparks, “Comprehensive Catalog of 1,500 Blue Book Unknowns: Work in Progress” (version June 18, 2003). Last source cites as references to Dominique Weinstein, Dr Richard Haines’ NARCAP, and Blue Book files. REMARKS: Nil

This is another failed attempt to photograph a UFO in 1954. In this case the witness was not familiar with his new camera’s mechanism and although “he quickly centered the object in the viewfinder and pressed the button, nothing clicked in the camera”. When he got it working, it was too late.

DATE: 19 July 1954 LOCATION: New Orleans, Louisiana (USA) FORMAT: Picture (not finally achieved) PHOTOGRAPHER: Paul Sepas EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History. 1954: June-August, 1990, pages 55-56, quoting Fate, Volume 8, Number 3, Issue 60, pages 34-37. REMARKS: Nil

The following is considered to be a famous case that is not an actual 1954 case, but it is reported here as well because it is frequently attributed to year 1954.

DATE: 5 March 1954 (non-event) Actual DATE: 5 March 1957 LOCATION: Rouen, Seine Maritime (France) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: Probably a reproduction of the May 11, 1950 McMinville, Oregon UFO photograph. REFERENCES: The first source to this photo seem to be the Bolton (UK) Observer of April 1957 (mentioned by J.B. Delair, E. Cox and R. Twine in their “Provisional Catalogue of UFO Photographs. Part One: 1883-1957”, The UFO Register, Volume 6, Number 2, November 1975). No one else seems to have taken access to the primary source, which is probably the key to this issue. Second source is the Flying Saucer Review, Volume 3, Number 3, May-June 1957, page 2. Just an illustration to an article on a RAF radar picking up a UFO, the photo appeared with the sole following caption “UFO photographed over Rouen, France, at 08.13 hours on March 5”. The third initial source was a Geoffrey Norris article entitled “Something in the Sky” printed in the July 1957 issue of the Royal Air Force Flying Review, Volume 12, Number 11, page 15. The mere few words devoted to the photo follows: “UFO photographed over Rouen in March, this year. Photos of UFOs are rare, never very clear. This is one of the few which seems authentic”. The next published reference to this photo was Richard Hall’s The UFO Evidence (NICAP, 1964), where the year 1954 was first mistakenly introduced. From this onwards, the photo has been reproduced in hundred of places, dated either 1957 or 1954. Deep historical and bibliographical research on the photo has been contemporarily made by investigators like Claude Maugé in France and Dr. David Clarke in the United Kingdom. REMARKS: Dr. Willy Smith, in a unreleased paper dated June 20, 1990, reviews part of the above and concludes that both the 1950 McMinville and the 1957 Rouen photos “are one and the same, i.e., the Rouen photo (which lacks any background details) is only a copy, many generations removed, of the Trent photo”. The paper’s last sentence reads: ”As it stands now, the Rouen incident is only a phantom”. I support that as well. In a January 7, 2004 discussion in the SHG e-List, Dr Bruce Maccabee wrote that the “aspects (of the two photos) are different”. Next, forum member Mary Castner replied that a comparison performed two years ago “concluded they were one and the same object”. Similarly, Loren E. Gross, in UFOs: A History. 1954: October,1991, page 68, writes: “...the Rouen photograph which bears such a strikingly compatible profile with the famous 1950 McMinville, Oregon, picture”.

The following event generated six radarscope photographs, not actual UFO pictures. A book on UFO photos included this case (under a wrong date) in its collection.

DATE: 4 July 1954 (actually, 3 July 1954) LOCATION: BA (by the first source). Bermuda (by the second source) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: Not known EXPLANATION: “Returns definitely identified as USS Mindora in company with six destroyers and one submarine en route Naples to Norfolk”, as per USAF REFERENCES: Wendelle Stevens and August Roberts, UFO Photographs Around the World, 1986, page 232, citing “IRC printout, source 9 40HG 04x”. Dr Richard F. Haines, Project Delta: A Study of Multiple UFOs (L.D.A. Press, Los Altos, California, 1994), pages 171-175. REMARKS: The second source documents the real event in a detailed manner, and thanks to this the wrong entry was clarified.

The following two cases from Australia are dated 1953 but you can find them repeatedly in the literature as if occurred in the year 1954. It is with educational intention that these cases are included in this monograph.

DATE: 1953 LOCATION: Wilcannia, New South Wales (Australia) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: John Gregory and Kevin Power EXPLANATION: Not available REFERENCES: Keith Basterfield quotes the Australian Flying Saucer Review, Volume 5, July 1966, page 15, taken from the Barrier Truth newspaper (Broken Hill), June 9, 1966. REMARKS: This case appears (even under the same sources) as dated both 1954 and 1956. In Flying Saucers Uncensored (The Citadel Press, 1955), page 238, Harold

T. Wilkins has a November 9, 1954 case in Wilcannia that may be also this one.

DATE: October 1953 LOCATION: North Queensland (Australia) FORMAT: Picture PHOTOGRAPHER: W.C. Hall EXPLANATION: Fake (as per Flying Saucer News, Bill Chalker, Luis Ruiz Noguez, and Larry Robinson) REFERENCES: According to Keith Basterfield, the initial source was Sir magazine of February 1955, which is quoted in Flying Saucer News, spring 1955, page 17. REMARKS: This is a standard UFO photograph of the Fifties and Sixties and it was dated innumerable times either as simply 1954 or as July 18, 1954 (even quoting the primary source as well).

Comments

1954 was a special year in the history of reports of UFO occurrences. This effect is plainly seen when collating the annual number of all-category cases in the world. However, FOTOCAT records also a significant increase in the magnitude of events for this period. Figure 1 shows the cases we have in the catalog for the decade of the fifties. Excluding 1954, the average number of reports collected by year is 40. 1954 contributed 101 cases, over 150% more, followed in intensity by 1952 with 83 cases, still 22% less than 1954.

101 reports is a small universe of data. Yet in spite of its size it can convey some significant conclusions. Figure 2 shows the monthly distribution of cases and the first observation to do is that the trend of IFO cases practically mirrors that of the UFO cases. There is a first peak in June (mostly centered on the 30th, the day of the solar eclipse, where most photographs were due to lens flares or solar reflections by sunlight input on the cameras), immediately followed by a worldwide peak in July (most cases unexplained or not properly investigated).

Then we have the October-November wave. Figure 3 splits the monthly cases between origin, with a tally of the two continents which are the major contributors, Europe

(58) and USA (29). (A residual 14 cases from the rest of the world are excluded from the table). Those whose date is known are distributed by month, and we see that no notorious peak is evident in the USA data. Therefore, the October-November wave is exclusively a European phenomenon. Specifically, most of the cases of this wave were provided by France (8) and Italy (23).

The 1954 wave is associated to France, as far as general, landing and occupant events is concerned. This paper shows that Italy probably paralleled France in the magnitude of UFO reporting. I feel the thrust started in France and the furor (either real or media-stimulated) continued to Italy. In the month of September there was a prelude of 3 photographic cases in France that attracted considerable publicity in the old continent. There are grounds to affirm that Italian media was especially sensible to this type of news, by the wide coverage granted to the stories of flying saucers.

Be real, figments of the public’ s imagination or misperceptions of conventional stimuli, lots of reports of French soucoupes volantes peaked in September (not in photographs, unfortunately) and the media in other countries collected the news and expanded the knowledge of the phenomenon. Again, either flying saucers actually crossed frontiers or simply copycat effects were produced, because the two following months produced many UFO reports in other countries, yet in different levels of intensity.

In terms of the geographical distribution of the 101 contributor, with 29 reports scattered throughout the whole

photographic cases of year 1954, 21 different countries year, followed by Italy (25 cases) and France (11 cases), are involved in total, with 12 nations contributing 3 cases basically centered on the September-November period. or more. As Figure 4 depicts, the USA is the largest

By reviewing the actual cases on record for this period, we find that there are not photographs that in the unison are important (real occurrences beyond any reasonable doubt) and unexplained (high strangeness, anomalistic images). We just happen to have either important events with explained images or unimportant events (doubtful and poorly documented) with (supposedly) unexplained images. If we add to this, the lack of simultaneous sightings in some nearby countries (at the same wave level), it gives us an indication that the 1954 wave in Europe may have had a sociological nature. The research conducted by Giuseppe Stilo over the Italian wave of 1954 will disclose how much this assertion is true or not.

Out of 101 reports in the year, 47 cases have been solved

(i.e. potential explanations have been found) and the remaining 54 have the UFO brand on (i.e. the available information does not indicate any possible solution to the event). Figure 5 shows the diversity of explanations for IFO photography.

As expected, most explanations have to do with fakery and non-events (47%). This is probably a conservative estimate, to be assessed when a full analysis of the wave is finally done. The rest represents camera artifacts (23%) and misidentification of actual flying objects or phenomena (30%).

A final word on the preparation of UFO catalogs. Failure

Acknowledgements

of past catalogs has been, in my judgment, that compilers

have basically based their entries just on literature items (books or UFO journals). If the compiler cares to check cases with local researchers and has access to the original sources, it is achieved what I call the second level catalog and many surprises can be found. Normally, those important features were missing or distorted from the initial published accounts and those conventional explanations exist for most events. But this should not really surprise us; on the contrary, it is what we should have expected in the first place, as the consensus of experts is that most UFO photographs are hardly valid pieces of evidence to support the UFO reality because of their ambiguity and hoax risk.

I understand that this is a difficult task, especially for those English-speaking ufologists who cannot manage any other language. In our case, we can handle, in addition to our maternal Spanish (which covers not only Spain but most Latin-American countries), Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Italian and French, which grants us a large potential for communication and access to foreign materials other than US, British, Canadian and Australian. It has allowed creating the largest photographic databank on the 1954 UFO wave to date. I hope to hear soon from other UFO researchers so that this sample is further enlarged and corrected. The ultimate goal is double: (a) to have a full picture of what really happened in 1954 regarding UFO photography, and (b) to discern if there was any UFO image and observation that year defying any conventional explanation.

In addition to the many colleagues named in the text as source of information or comments, I want to specially highlight the valuable cooperation provided by the UFO researchers Larry Hatch, Larry Robinson (United States) and Claude Maugé (France). I am indebted to Loren E. Gross for having contributed generously the full series of his outstanding collection of UFOs: A History monographs. Also, my thanks go to the members of the Sign Historical Group (SHG) and Project 1954 lists for assistance and advise.

Finally, the Italian UFO student and author Giuseppe Stilo, who has made a worthwhile addition as well, has kindly included this paper in one of the 2 volumes he has written on the 1954 wave.

© Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos, Fundación Anomalía (Spain), 2004.