ufo_data/bin/rr0/tran1949.md

-   Secretary of Defense [Forrestal](ForrestalJamesVincent.html)
    is forced to resign after it is discovered that forces are
    preparing for war in Korea.

-   Beginning of construction of installations at [Groom Lake](Area51.html) on a zone of Nevada belonging to the [AEC](AEC.html).

- **January**


- In New Mexico, proliferation of phenomena of flying fireball at very high speed. Another phenomenon featuring groups of small lights in "V" formations and changing color, is also observed.


-   **January 1st:** In Jackson (Mississippi), Mr. and Mrs. T. Rush, while landing in a Stinson, observed 200 m ahead of them a short-winged cigar or a wingless aircraft of 20 x 3 m, with a tapered back. The object quickly disappeared at an estimated speed of 900 km/h.


-   **January 4th, 2 PM:** At Hickam Field (Hawaii), USAF pilot captain Paul Storey observed from the ground a white, elliptical but flattened object with a matte circular top, oscillating from right to left, and leaving at high speed [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #275 unexplained\]]{.source}.


-   **January 25:** A report from the [Sign](Sign.html) project indicates that only 20% of the 210 cases recorded are explainable.

-   **January 27, 10:20 PM:** At Cortez-Bradenton (Florida), Captain Sames, in charge of the Air Apparatus Branch at the Eglin USAF base, and Mrs. Sames, observed for 25 minutes an object shaped like a cigar, of a length comparable to two Pullman cars, with 7 small square light openings emitting sparks, all descending and rising like bounces, at an estimated speed of 400 miles/h [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #284 unexplained]]{.source}.


-   **January 30, 10:45 PM:** More than a hundred observations of an unknown aerial object are made by witnesses in the cities of [El Paso](ElPaso.html), [Albuquerque](lieux.html#Albuquerque), [Alamogordo](lieux.html#Alamogordo), [Socorro](lieux.html#Socorro) and [Roswell](lieux.html#Roswell), as well as by personnel attached to the research facilities of the [AEC](AEC.html), and the White Sands [weapons testing base](WhiteSands.html). Everything seems to indicate an accident or a landing.


"-   **January 31**"


- According to the [MJ documents](MJDocs.html), establishment of a plan (MJ-1949-04P/78) proposed to disclose to the public the truth about UFOs.


- An FBI agent stationed in San Antonio reports in a memo that he has been informed by the 4th Army's G-2 division that the case of unidentified aerial objects, or unidentified aerial phenomena, also known as flying saucers, flying discs and fireballs, is considered very secret (*top secret*) by US Army and USAF officers. The FBI memo states that an average speed of 43000 km/h was observed for such objects during recent observations, and they were flying at an altitude between 9600 and 10600 km. The objects are described as ending their flight with a sudden vertical descent towards Los Alamos.

- **February**


-   The journalist [Sidney Shallet](ufologues.html#ShalletSidney)
    is contacted by the people of the [Grudge](Grudge.html) project
    to discredit the UFO phenomenon.


-   At Los Alamos (New Mexico), during a conference of scientists, it was concluded that the phenomenon of green fireballs is a natural phenomenon, of an unknown nature.

-   **4 h:** Near Valparaiso, Chile, a couple and their two daughters are awoken by an intense light shining through the shutters. They see an octahedron of 5 or 6 m in diameter hovering in the air and then landing on the beach on three legs. The object has the shape of a dome with some sort of bright blue portholes. A beam of light comes out of it and three beings descend. They are tall, wearing suits, and each bury 10 tubes 25 cm long and 10 cm in diameter before returning to their craft. All this will last 4 h 38. A watch will stop, and the skin will flake off for 3 days [\[Doc. LDLN, R. Otahi, 1973\]]{.source}.


-   **February 11:** The project [Sign](Sign.html) is transformed into the project [Grudge](Grudge.html).


-   **February 15:** General [Charles P. Cabell](CabellCharlesPearre.html), head of the US Air Force's intelligence services ([USAF](USAF.html)), signs a memorandum distributed to various agencies specializing in national defense information ([FBI](FBI.html), [CIA](CIA.html), etc.) as well as all major US Air Force services and units worldwide. This memo outlines the [USAF](USAF.html)'s needs for information on UFO sightings.

-   **February 16, 1 PM:** A secret conference is held at [Los Alamos](lieux.html#LosAlamos) to discuss the UFO phenomenon, particularly the [green fireballs](GreenFireballs.html) that have been widely reported in the area. Among the scientists and military personnel present are [Edward Teller](TellerEdward.html) and [Lincoln La Paz](LaPazLincoln.html), whose expert opinion is requested during the conference [\[Good 1987\]]{.source}.


-   **February 18:** A memo from the [AFOIA](orgsMilitaires.html#AFOIA) written by Major Boggs confirms the report from the [Sign](Sign.html) project of January 25.

-   **March 17-18, 7:52 PM:** At the base of Killeen, Camp Hood (Texas), guards of the 2nd Army Division waiting for the start of a "flare firing" observed for an hour 8 large luminous objects of green, red and white color flying mostly in a straight line [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) # 319 unexplained\]]{.source}.


-   **March 25:** A memorandum from the [FBI](FBI.html) indicates that according to a confidential and reliable source, flying saucers are rockets built by men, and that during the last 4 years, the USSR was conducting experiments to develop an unknown type of flying saucer.


-   **April 3, 11:55:** At Dillon, Montana, the owner of a construction
    company Gosta Miller and three other people observe an object
    resembling two plates stuck together. The lower part is dull, and
    the upper part seems to be of a shiny aluminum. Its diameter is 20
    feet, and its thickness is 4 to 5 feet. It swings or rotates in 6
    cycles, down, swing, fly, swing again, all very quickly.
    [[unexplained Blue Book case](BlueBook.html)]{.source}


- **April 4**


- Creation of the [OTAN](OTAN.html).


-   **10:20 PM:** In Merced, California, former USAF Major and pilot William Parrott observes a generally circular object with a rounded base and dull color. The object emits a clicking sound until they fly over it. Parrot's dog reacts [\[unexplained Blue Book case\]]{.source}.


-   **April 24, 10:30:** At Arrey, New Mexico, General [Mills](MillsJohnStewart.html), meteorologist and balloon expert [Charles Moore](MooreCharlesB.html), and other Navy personnel of a balloon launch team observe a round, elliptical white object, about 2.5 times longer than wide [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #358, unexplained\]]{.source} [\[[Hynek](HynekJosephAllen.html) 1974\]]{.source} [\[DD-10\]]{.source}.


-   **April 26:** Shallet publishes his first article.


-   **April 27:** The [Grudge](Grudge.html) project communicates its first M-26-49 US-AF summary report on a preliminary study related to UFOs to the Intelligence hierarchy of the [USAF](USAF.html). The report considers the existence of strange extraterrestrial animals instead of superior entities (!).


-   **April 28, 5:45 PM:** In Tucson, Arizona, Howard Hann, Hubert, and Tex Keahey observed an object shaped like a sausage for 40 minutes. It spun and flew quickly [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #361 unexplained\]]{.source}.


-   **April 30:** [Hynek](HynekJosephAllen.html), a scientific advisor tasked with providing an astronomical interpretation of each case, makes a report. He will later admit to having pushed too hard to find a natural explanation.


-   **Early May:** The 1st report of the [Grudge](Grudge.html) project is released.


-   **May 3:** Launch of an American Viking probe rocket.


-   **May 5, 11:40:** At Fort Bliss (Texas), Major Day, Major Olhausen, and Captain Vaughn of the US Army observed 2 white oblong discs, flying at an estimated speed between 200 and 250 miles/h. It made a slight turn during the 30 to 50 seconds of observation [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #376 unexplained]]{.source}.


- **May 6**


-   **9:35:** At Livermore, California, C. G. Green observed two bright, disk-shaped objects spinning around each other, and changing direction. Then one of them rose with a gray trail and joined the other. The observation lasted 5 minutes [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #379, unexplained]]{.source}.

- The highly decorated Soviet Air Force pilot Arkadii Ivanovich Apraksin conducted a test flight over Kapustin Yar and encountered an object at an altitude of 15000 m similar to the one from 1948. The object again sent its light rays towards the plane, still at 10 km distance, and Apraksin managed to land his aircraft without systems or engine. He woke up in the Saratov hospital and left a detailed account of his encounter. 2 and a half months later he was put in charge of a special medical commission in Moscow which sent him to a psycho-neurological institute where he was given electroshock treatment and psychotherapy. Afterwards he was declared unfit for any service [\[Timothy Good, _Above Top Secret_, page 225\]]{.source}.


-   **May 9, 2:30 PM:** In Tucson, Arizona, Sergeant-Chief Troy Putnam observed 2 round, flat, metallic-looking objects, approximately 25 feet in diameter, flying between 750 and 1000 miles/h in a stable turning position [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #384 unexplained]]{.source}.


-   **May 20:** At the Lowell Observatory (Massachusetts), Professor Hall observed with binoculars and a theodolite a bright disk of metallic appearance, with a diameter of 10 to 20 m, moving slowly.


-   **May 22:** Secretary [Forrestal](ForrestalJamesVincent.html) officially commits suicide in a fit of madness. According to MJ documents, he then leaves his place vacant in the [MJ-12](MJ-12.html) group.


-   **May 27, 2:25 PM:** In Southern Oregon, Joseph Shell, a North American Aviation SNJ trainer, is on a convoy from Red Bluff (California) to Burns (Oregon). He observes between 5 and 8 oval objects, twice as long as wide, and half as thick. They fly in single file, with an interval of 3 to 4 times their length, except for the 2nd and 3rd which are closer [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #404 unexplained\]]{.source}.


-   **July 24, 12 PM:** At Mountain Home (Idaho), Henry Clark, an
    air service manager, flies in a *Piper Clipper*. He observes 7
    objects in the shape of delta wings, from 35 to 55 feet in
    wingspan, 20 to 30 feet long, 2 to 5 feet thick. They are light
    colored except for a dark circle of 12 feet in diameter at the
    back of each. They fly in a tight formation 2 in front 1 behind,
    and make a perfect turn, but without inclining. During the 10
    minutes of observation, they display gentle decreasing
    oscillations. Clark's engine coughs during the observation, and
    upon landing it is found that all its spark plugs have been
    consumed [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #483 unexplained]]{.source}.


-   **July 30, 9 PM:** At Mount Hood (Oregon), Captain Thrush of the
    *Northwest Airlines*, 2 operators from the Portland control tower,
    and a flight instructor observe an object with 1 white light and 2
    red lights performing maneuvers and remaining stationary [\[case
    [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #496 unexplained\]]{.source}.

- **August**

-   Officers Harbaugh and Kosirowski are examining a device found in Glen Burnie [UFX]{.source}. See photo at images/images/1949_GlenBurnie.jpg.
    
-   **August 12:** Explosion of the first Soviet atomic bomb.


-   **August 19:** In Death Valley (California), Mace Garney and Buck Fitzgerald, 2 prospectors, [see an object crash in the desert.](1949-08-19.html) It has the shape of a disc and measures 7 m (24 feet) in diameter [\[Local Bakersfield Journal, August 20, p. 13\]]{.source}.


"-   **August 20**"


-   [The Tale of Garney and Fitzgerlad](1949-08-19.html) about the incident from the day before is published in a Bakersfield newspaper.


- At Las Cruces, the famous astronomer [Clyde Tombaugh](TombaughClydeWilliam.html) (working at the rocket test range of [White Sands](WhiteSands.html) 65 km away) his wife and his mother-in-law observed 6 to 8 (1 only?) rectangular flying objects in an ellipsoidal formation. The UFOs were yellow-green in color and moved from northwest to southeast. In [1957](1957.html), he declared about this experience, "I was so unprepared for such a strange sight that I was truly petrified with surprise."


-   **August 22:** Seymour L. Hess, a meteorologist from the University of Florida, observed through a telescope under the clouds a disk of metallic appearance. He estimated its size to be 1.5 m in diameter and its altitude to be 2500 m, going against the wind.

-   **August 30:** [Clyde Tombaugh](scientifiques.html#TombaughClydeWilliam) observed with the naked eye an object flying in the shape of a cigar radiating a green-blue light, and with "portholes" lit by a greenish light: During the thousands of hours I spent observing the sky, the famous astronomer commented, I have never seen anything so strange [\[VSD 2007 H\]]{.source}.


-   **Before 1950:** Roy L. Dimmick, head of sales for the Los Angeles
    company *Apache Powder,* claimed to have discussed with a Mexican
    and an Ecuadorian who had seen a saucer crash near the city of
    Mexico. The story is told by [Frank Scully](ScullyFrank.html) (who
    was not shy to repeat the strangest rumors circulating at his time
    without verifying them).


-   **September 21:** Test of Soviet missile [R2](appareils.html#R2).


-   **September 23:** President [Truman](TrumanHarryS.html) announces that the Soviet Union has detonated an atomic bomb.


-   **September 29:** 1st test of the French ground-air missile SE 4100.

-   **1st October:** Mao founds the People's Republic of China.

-   **7 October:** Founding of the GDR.


-   **October 14:** A meeting is held to discuss the sightings of green fireballs. Representatives from G-2 section of the 4th Army (possibly including some members of the [IPU](IPU.html)), the *Armed Forces Special Weapons Project*, [FBI](FBI.html), [AEC](AEC.html), the Geophysical Research Division of the [AMC](AMC.html), and the [AFOSI](AFOSI.html) are present, a memo of which states: A logical explanation has not been issued concerning the origin of the green fireballs. It was generally concluded, however, that the phenomena existed and should be scientifically studied until these cases are satisfactorily explained. Especially since the continued occurrence of unexplained phenomena of this nature in the vicinity of sensitive installations is a cause for concern. [[Good 1987]]{.source}.

- **December**


- The popular magazine *True* publishes a series of articles in favor of the extraterrestrial explanation of UFO observations: according to well-informed sources, the UFOs that appeared some time ago in Scandinavia were interplanetary vehicles driven by men belonging to a different and more advanced civilization than ours.


-   **December 27:** The annual 629-49 US-AF report of the [Grudge](Grudge.html) project based on the Hynek's report of April 30th states: Flying saucers do not exist, summarizing the technical report that closes the [Grudge](Grudge.html) project (102-AC-49/15-100 UFO\\PG Grudge Report): - of 237 cases, there are still 23% of observations that we cannot explain, but to which we must nevertheless find an explanation because we do not believe in flying saucers. And the report concludes with the need to reduce the study.