NUFORC Sighting 65839

Occurred: 1952-10-01 12:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2008-09-22 15:31 Pacific
Duration: 90 sec.
No of observers: 2

Location: Kansas City, MO, USA

Shape: Disk


1952 daylight sighting of multiple discs in formation

In the early Fall of 1952, I was on the playground of my grammar school in Kansas City, MO, when I happened to glance eastward at the horizon. I saw a very large number of disc-shaped UFO's glinting in the sunlight. As I watched in astonishment, the objects passed directly over my head and continued onward until I lost sight of them, in all an event of about 90 seconds. I had the good sense (even as a 10-year-old) to punch a nearby playmate and point upward. He saw them too.

After school the two of us went to my house and called Richards-Gebauer AFB to report on what we had seen. About two or three weeks later, two Air Force officers came to my school and I was called out of class and interrogated by them.

First, they asked me how many objects there were and I said about a hundred. They were obviously shocked and, intimidated, I said maybe there were fifty. I have always believed the number to be closer to a hundred. I explained that the discs flew in perfect formation, in what I would today call a chevron formation. I also explained that they did not fly in an uninterrupted, straight-ahead motion, but displayed a yo-yo motion, almost as if they were intaking air to propel themselves, then resting momentarily before the next intake and move forward, and so on. This they did in perfect unison. The two officers were skeptical and asked me if I knew what ducks look like in formation. I made a V with my fingers and refused to go along with the duck hypothesis. Then they told me that "these things are usually reported in two's and three's, not in large formations." They asked if anyone else saw the event, and I told them the name of my playmate, who was sitting in his classroom, not 100 feet from where we were sitting. They then said they had all the information they needed and left without interviewing the other boy.

Over the years, I have read much of the published UFO literature and have found only one sighting that somewhat resembled my own--that of a U.S. soldier in the South Pacific in 1942. He also saw a large formation of disc-like objects, which at one point made a loud rumbling sound. In my case, there was no detectible sound. The amazing thing is that there were at least 100 children playing on that playground, and as far as I was able to determine at the time, no one else noticed this obvious intrusion into the skies above our school. Had I not thought to signal my playmate, even I might have concluded that I saw an optical illusion. But it was no illusion.

On a couple of other occasions, years ago, I attempted to contact other UFO organizations, but no one got back to me.

Now I am 66 years old and feel strongly that I want some permanent record of what I saw to exist after I am gone. I would also like to explore whether the record of my Air Force interrogation still exists, though I doubt it. I have always felt very privileged to have had this unusual sighting, at the same time frustrated by the official disinformation campaign that obviously is still going on.




NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that date of incident is approximate. PD


Posted 2008-10-31

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