PROJECT BLUE BOOK

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12, CONCLUSIONS
Rn
tie sLOMmEe Ww Boll
el : . 2 m4 r as giioon

17 September 1954 Ciampino, Italy i Probably Balloon

3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ERS Ny: Eesigon
QO Was Aircraft

Local aay {XK Ground- Vi sual 0 Ground-Rador Cl Probably Aircroft

GMT 17) C6L, 52 0 Air Vi sual O Air-Intercept Radar G Possibly Aircraft |
5. PHOTOS 5. SOURCE | O Was Astronomical

0 Yes O Probably Astronomical
(I Ne Military (Italien) QO Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE DO Other a
O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
45 Minutes 1 O Unknown

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING “4 ie ; rr 11. COMMENTS

Cicar shape, in motion with treil-jelly

fish shape when stationary. Sighting gust Fiobable ballcon

before sunset toward clouds. Disannesred ints

clouds. Several observers. Reported to have

been detected by radar ~- Rept not complete

a eee ———

"SC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

eee

et ae

eae

~

———

a

SSIFIED

Tne following is an extract of a series of UFO sightings observe da

over v@ious sections of Bumane durinc the period 31 July-20 Sep 54

Reference ATIC 201047 , dated 29 Oct 54.
LINIC :

Austria - 19 Aug 54 UNCLASSIFIED

Small, gleaming disc-like object, about twice as large as Venus.
Observed for 2 minutes. ATIC Eval: Possible Balloon.

Finland - 14 Sep 54

Circular flying object over Helsinki at night. Flying et 800
meters (alt), it gave off an intense light and left trail of reddish
smoke. Visible for 7 sec. ATIC Eval: Possible meteorite.

France - 30 Aug 54 - Paris
A Paris resident observed a luminuous circular object flying over
the city. ATIC Eval: UNKNOWN - Insufficient dxta.

Somme Department - 7 Sep 54

A 27 year oid mason and his assistant observed a “flying saucer” at
O715 hrs, 7 The object was grey and was observed hovering over 2
field about 200 ater from the observers. The object oscillated slowly
and seemed to have a closed door on its side. When the men nad run about
50 meters toward it, the object began to fly away. Smoke was then
visible from @ sort of exhaust pipe on the underside. After an oblique
flignt of about 15 meters, the obdject rose vertically and disappeared.
No trace of the object was found by police. The object was about 10
meters in diameter and 3 meters in height, did not glow and departed
noiselessly, trailing smoke. Visible for about 3 minutes. ATIC Eval:
UNKNOWN

5 |
a

———e - -

J

——

Aisne Department - 7 Sep 54
A luminuousm red orange disc observed by three persons. The disk
stopped suddenly 300-400 meters from the ground. It seemed to have on its

upper side 4 small luminuous tail forming an integral part of the object.
TIC Eval: UNKNWON - Insufficient date.

Italy - 14 Sep 54

Two inhabitants of Pitigliano report sighting of 2 round, white object
making a strange, loud noise. The object came to a stand still and then
disappeared at high speed. ATIC Eval: UNKNOWN - Insufficient data

Rome - 17 Sep 54

On the afternoon of 17 Sep 54, the control tower at the Ciampino Air
Base observed 2 mysterious object shaped like a half a cigar flying siowly
at an altitude of 1,200 meters. The object, leaving a trail of luminuous
smoke, was visible for 40 minutes. ATIC Eval: Probable high Altitude a/c.

=.

e rae Som 3 é ; om
el Fa D2 SIFY ‘ED DOWNGRADED At AFTER 12 YEARS
DECLA oy) PIR 5200.10

\

Netherlands - 4 Aug 54

Ten fireman observed two "flying saucers” over the Hague on the
ngith of 4 August between 2300 and 2400 hours. They moved at incredible
speed, at times remaining motionless for as long as 30 seconds. They were
flat ovals with a whitish gray light. ATIC Eval: Possible searchlignt
beams.

Note: During the summar and fall months of 1954, there has been 2 marked
increase in UFO sightings throughout Europe. ATIC attributes the majority
of these sightings to two basic reasons.

1. The European press has been quick to publish, in detail, UFO
sightings which has resulted in influencing a great number of persons for
persona} publécity.

2. Mr. D. Keyhoe's book was recently translated into various foreign
languages end went on sale at newstands throughout Europe during the summar
of 1954.

BOWNGRADED AT 3 YEAR INTERVALS:
DECLASSIFIED AFTER 12 YEARS.
ROD DIR 6290.10

st See

—_-

—_— = ee -

‘ No Case (Information Only) 18 sep 54
Rome, Italy

Source: CRIFO Newsletter 12 Oct 1954

C-23, Rome, Italy ...9/18/54) A. P. Wire: Startled Romans who saw a strange
cigar-shaped object streaking over the capital flooded newspaper offices with
calls. Radar operators also reported picking up the missile on instruments.
Technicians at Ciampino Airfield described the "half-cigar'"' as plummeting

toward earth for more than 1000 ft., then rising at tremendous speed before
vanishing. ( Thanks to George Popowitch, Barberton, Ohio. )

An INS release by eyewitness Michael Chinigo states: ''What attracted my at-
tention was the strange sound as it passed overhead. It was like thunder with
a staccato effect... a series of explosions that grew louder as the object got
closer. This was followed by a dead silence as the thing stopped, or appeared
to, at a height of about 6000 ft. Suddenly it shot upward and left an exhaust
trail of milky white smoke. It went straight up into the sky. The Defense
Dept. described it as a 'clipped cone' with a smaller surface on the bottom, or
as two semi-circular disks, one bigger than the other, with a bigger one on
top. To me it seemed like an inverted sawed-off cone. What was strange was
the object's ability to 'park' in mid-air for several minutes. The radar station
at Rome which picked up the 'cigar' or 'cone' said it registered for 3° minutes."
( Thanks to Warren Morse, Palo Alto, Calif.)

Editor's Note; Significant here is the AP and INS release. First they break
us the news on the Labrador sighting in July, then silence, then the Norwegian
space man story in August, now Italy. Foreign sightings all -- a subtle

preparation.

ee ed