ufo_data/bin/rr0/tran1956.md



-   **January 13:** [Morris Jessup](scientifiques.html#JessupMorrisKetchum) receives the first letter from [Carlos Allende](AllenCarlMeredith.html).


-   **February 3-24:** Off the coast of New Zealand and the Fiji Islands, 5 unknown origin rockets were seen in the sky, a kind of submarine, a dark object, a strange ship without mast or chimney, then a violent explosion in the sky.


-   **February 9:** A memorandum titled "Responsibilities Related to Unidentified Flying Objects" assigns the [ASD](ASD.html) the archiving of files related to the subject.


-   **February 12, 11:25 PM:** In Goose Bay (Labrador), Bowen, pilot of an F-89, and Crawford, radar observer, observe for 1 minute a red and green object quickly circling around their aircraft. They also see it on the radar [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #3969 unsolved\]]{.source}.


-   **February 17th, 11 PM:** Echoes on radar at 3600 km/h on Orly, optical observations, and communication jamming.


-   **February 19, 6:07 AM:** In Houston (Texas), the crew of an Eastern Airlines Super Constellation sees an intense white light moving 4 to 5 times faster than their aircraft. It is avoided by the pilot [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) # 3977 unsolved\]]{.source}.

- **April**

-   **April 4, 3:15 PM:** In McKinney (Texas), Roy Hall, a retired US Army Captain, Charles Anderson and other witnesses observe with a 6 inch telescope --- others with a 55-200x telescope --- a huge oblong object with 2 lines around its middle, remaining stationary for 6 hours [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4050 unsolved\]]{.source}.


-   Captain [George T. Gregory](GregoryGeorgeT.html) succeeds [Charles Hardin](HardinCharles.html) as head of the [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) project.

- **June**

-   **June 1st:** First stone of the Chinese site of Jiuquan.


-   **June 6, 5:30:** In Banning, California, Mr. Bierman saw a thin disc with a small dome, with silver reflections, hovering in flight at about 100 yards for 8 to 10 seconds and then flying away [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4127 unsolved]]{.source}.

- Sergeant O. D. Hill, who worked for the [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) project at [Wright-Patterson](WrightPatterson.html) base, told Tom Comella and ufologist Edgar Smith that USAF ([USAF.html](USAF.html)) planes were disappearing from time to time after encounters with UFOs. To back up his claims, he gave two examples, intentionally omitting names, places and dates. One of them seems to be, with one or two details changed, the Kinross case (November 23, 1953). For the second one, Edgar Smith's notes indicate: A transport plane with 26 people on board was quickly approaching its base. It was about 16 km from the coast. On the ground, in the radar station, the operator was carefully following the transport plane and maintaining constant radar contact with it. Suddenly, the operator discovered a second trace on his screen. He immediately contacted the transport plane by radio and warned the pilot to be careful of the unidentified object. The UFO was moving at a very high speed, about 4000 km/h. It was jumping on the screen like a tennis ball. Suddenly, the mysterious "blip" flew straight to the transport plane's one and, before the operator had time to warn the pilot, the two objects became one on the screen. The remaining trace then disappeared into the sky at a dizzying speed. The search revealed no trace of oil on the surface of the water. Nothing but a general's briefcase floating. The plane had disappeared without a trace [["Have UFOs "swallowed" Our Aircraft", Fate, May 1961]]{.source}. American researcher Jerome Clark has noted that no one, neither Sergeant Hill nor the USAF, had denied Tom Comella's allegations. Moreover, *Fate* is a well-known magazine in the Anglo-Saxon world and the article had specifically named certain people.


- The revelations made to Doctor Rolf Alexander in summer 1951 are revealed, without citing the persons involved.


-   **July 22-23:** In the night, a C-131 twin-engine aircraft was struck by some sort of fast and heavy object, as its pilot, Commander Stenvers, would later declare. By an incredible luck, only the tail had received the shock and no injuries were reported. Something unknown had hit the plane from below. According to the investigators, this veteran, with thousands of flights under his belt, was wrong: the tailplane rivets popped out on their own\... In other words, the rivets made a depression, broke all ties with the Convair to go their own way, no doubt\...


-   **July 26:** [Nasser](dirigeants.html#Nasser) nationalizes the Suez Canal.

- **August**


-   **August 8th, 11pm:** 20 miles South of Quarsite (Arizona), attorneys W. B. Buttermore and J. W. Smith observed a pulsating blue-white light flying quickly and horizontally for 5 to 7 minutes [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4270 unsolved\]]{.source}.


-   **August 13, 9:30 PM:** Start of [the Lakenheath incident](1956-08-13_Lakenheath.html).


-   Some time after [the Lakenheath incident](1956-08-13_Lakenheath.html), 2 pilots from the [RAF](RAF.html) were flying over the sea between the Isle of Wight and Bournemouth when they received orders to intercept a target detected by a secret radar not far away. They quickly found the object and, having it clearly in sight, described it as follows: it was a shiny disc that reflected the sunlight and that awaited them, motionless, as they headed straight for it. When the two planes were only a few km away, the object turned on its side and moved away at an incredible speed. A few moments later, the craft had disappeared.


"-   **August 27**"


-   The UFO photographed by the [RCAF](RCAF.html) pilot. See photo at images/1956-08-27_RCAF_UFO.jpg.
    

-   **21 h 55 :** In Juniata (Pennsylvania), Miss R. S. Pope saw a bright disc with a transparent dome flying vertically, then towards the North. A very cold breeze seemed to have been caused by the object during the 3 minutes of observation. [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4348 unsolved]]{.source}


- **September 4, 9 PM:** In Dallas, Texas, Marine T/Sgt. R. D. Rogers and his family saw a large star turn red, remain stationary for 20 minutes, then head West at 200 knots (230 mph). The observation lasted 23 minutes. [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4379 unsolved]]{.source}

-   **September 14, 1 AM:** In Highland, North Carolina, police officer O.S. Gryman sees 14 yellow-to-red round objects with incredible trails flying in a vague formation from Southwest to East, Northeast and back again, darting up and down. The observation lasts 1.5 hours. [[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4399 unsolved]]{.source}


-   **September 27:** The Bell X-2 rocket plane reaches Mach 3.2.


-   **October 23:** Soviet intervention in Budapest.

-   **October 29:** Suez Crisis.


-   **November 1st, 5:30 PM:** 60 miles East of St. Louis (Missouri), USAF Captain W. M. Lyons, Chief of the Intelligence Division (Air Weather Reconnaissance Bureau) is piloting a T-33 training jet. He sees an orange light with a blue tint flying through the sky for 2 minutes [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4489 unsolved\]]{.source}.


-   **November 6:** Re-election of President [Eisenhower](EisenhowerDwightDavid.html).


-   **November 30, 0:48:** At the USAF base in Charleston (South Carolina), Major D. D. Grimes, USAF navigator, sees an object flying over the water for 10 minutes at an estimated altitude of 100 feet [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4543 unsolved\]]{.source}.


- **December 31, 2:10 AM:** At the island of [Guam](lieux.html#Guam), USAF 1st Lieutenant Ted Brunson pilots an F-86D interceptor jet and observes a round, white object flying beneath his aircraft. He is unable to turn as sharply as the object [\[case [Blue Book](BlueBook.html) #4577 unsolved\]]{.source}.


-   **End of the year:** 6 pilots from the [SAC](SAC.html) begin U-2 pilot training at [Groom Lake](Area51.html) [\[Rich 1994\]]{.source}.


-   [Ruppelt](RuppeltEdwardJ.html) publishes *The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects,* a book in which he makes various revelations.


- During an aerial reconnaissance of the USSR's ice in Greenland, the crew spotted a disc-shaped aircraft without wings, antennas, windows, exhaust or condensation trails. Thinking it was an American aircraft, the Tupolev hid in the clouds. When it emerged 40 minutes later, the unknown aircraft was still to its left. After 15 minutes of parallel flight, the craft rose and disappeared at an incredible speed.

-   Release in France of *Alerte dans le ciel* and *Black out sur les soucoupes volantes.*


-   [Donald Keyoe](KeyhoeDonaldEdward.html) resigns from the US military and founds the [NICAP](NICAP.html) in Washington.


- In a movie theater in New Jersey, for 6 weeks, viewers were the recipients of two subliminal messages projected on the screen for 3 milliseconds, every 5 seconds. One of the messages simply said Coca-Cola, and the other said Eat Popcorn. Sales of *Coca-Cola* increased by 18%, and those of Popcorn by 57%. The organizer of this experiment, a New York firm, the *Subliminal Projection Co. Inc.*, announced that it was patenting its process and would soon be ready to offer it to companies wishing to advertise in the cinema or on television in the most subtle ways ever used to extol the virtues of a product [\[Newsweek\]]{.source}.


- Release of *Earth Versus the Flying Saucers* which freely draws inspiration from the UFO research conducted by [Donald Keyoe](KeyhoeDonaldEdward.html). It contains many images similar to those that [Betty and Barney Hill](temoins.html#Hill) will evoke following their abduction in 1961: contact on a deserted road; the saucer appearing first in the form of distant light; the witness's initial skeptical reaction; subliminal messages inaccessible to conscious recall; the witnesses' torpor; and interference with watches as an indication of what happened.


- Release of the movie *U.F.O.*, distributed by *United Artists* and produced by Greene-Rouse Productions (Los Angeles). When [Robert Barrow](BarrowRobert.html) asks Clarence Greene why he decided to make this film, the latter responds: I saw a UFO [\[[Robert Barrow 1976, UFO Magazine, February 1977](http://www.nicap.dabsol.co.uk/ufochop1.htm)\]]{.source}.


- Valentin Akkusatov, pilot and chief navigator at the North Pole base, is doing a reconnaissance above a strategic ice region near Greenland. As they emerge from the clouds into a clear area, they see to their left an unknown object flying parallel to them. It has the appearance of a large pear or lens-shaped construction, with pulsating ends. Thinking they were seeing an unknown US aircraft, they return to the clouds to avoid an encounter. After 40 minutes of flight the clouds break again and they see the same strange object again. It has no wings, antennas or windows, and emits no smoke. They decide to approach to get a closer look, but the object then changes its course to maintain its distance from their aircraft. After 15 minutes the object shoots up and disappears, travelling at an "impossible" speed. [[Psychic Discoveries behind the Iron Curtain]]{.source}


-   (or 1957) Henri Lhote discovers the "Martian of Tassili" fresco dating back to -6000.