UFO Study Programs and US Military Technology

In the aftermath of the disclosure of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, (AATIP), a new UFO investigation was launched, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force. In July 2020, spokesperson Susan Gough issued a statement to the press describing its purpose:

"...to gain knowledge and insight into the nature and origins of UAPs, as well as their operations, capabilities, performance, and/or signatures. The mission of the task force will be to detect, analyze, catalog, consolidate, and exploit non-traditional aerospace vehicles/UAPs posing an operational threat to U.S. national security and avoid strategic surprise."

Exploit? Yes, and that mission began long ago.

From the moment flying saucers were first seen in 1947 there’s been an effort to understand them and duplicate the reported flight performance. There have been many independent efforts ranging from the sincere to the fraudulent, but that’s not what his piece is about.  This is an examination primarily of US military sponsored efforts to study UFOs for technological advancements.

When Kenneth Arnold spotted a formation of nine unidentified flying objects in June of 1947, the notion that they had come from outer space was not given much serious consideration. The main possibility discussed was that the objects were new military aircraft, and since the US wasn’t claiming them, the fear was that the saucers belonged to the Soviet Union. If so, that meant the Russians had developed supersonic craft with great range and unconventional maneuvers capable of outflying anything known to man. The US military response to this was essentially, “If these things are real, we’ve gotta figure ‘em out and learn how to fight ‘em.” The Cold War was on, and if the Reds had saucers, we wanted some too. For this purpose, the US set up an advanced aerospace threat identification program to study these alleged enemy weapons systems. 

The Air Force’s Air Technical Intelligence Center was put on the job, and the nickname for it was Project Saucer, but officially Project Sign, then later Grudge and Blue Book. “During World War II the organization that was ATIC's forerunner, the Air Materiel Command's secret ’T-2,’ had developed highly effective means of wringing out every possible bit of information about the technical aspects of enemy aircraft. ATIC knew these methods, but how could this be applied to spaceships?” From The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Edward J. Ruppelt, 1956

Spaceships were actually on a lot of people's minds well before saucers entered the picture. Not only were some science fiction writers also engineers, some scientists were in turn inspired by the fantasy. They were already reaching for the stars, but the saucers made things an immediate non-abstract military problem.

"The Air Technical Intelligence Center is responsible for the prevention of technological surprise." From the Air Force Manual dated May 1953, AFM 200-3, Chapter 9, Page 3.

The Twining Memo and the Engineering Challenge 

 On September 23, 1947, Lieutenant General Nathan F. Twining, the Air Materiel Command commander replied to Brigadier General Schulgen’s request for Technical Intelligence Division's analysis of “flying discs” to date. It’s chiefly remembered for Twining stating that “The phenomenon is something real and not visionary or fictitious.“ Less attention has been given to his thoughts about how we could build our own saucers:

“It is possible within the present U.S. knowledge—provided extensive detailed development is undertaken—to construct a piloted aircraft which has the general description of [a metallic flying disc] which would be capable of an approximate range of 7000 miles at subsonic speeds.”

 Alfred Loedding

Circular aircraft had previously been flown to varying degrees of success, though nothing that speedy, so it did seem possible. One of the engineers brought in by Air Force’s Project Sign to study the sucer puzzle was Alfred Loedding, who specialized in low aspect ratio aircraft, such as flying wings, delta and swept-wing planes. The study looked at previous craft and made extrapolations, but concluded that even though a disc might be flown, no known power source could provide the control or propulsion needed to mimic the UFOs. Loedding left the program early on, but interestingly, he filed a patent for a saucer-like plane in 1948, however it never went beyond the model stage. There were many subsequent projects over the years that used a lenticular or disc-shaped platform due to the efficiency of the form, but our focus is on the military tech based on performance, not just the saucer shape.

Donald Keyhoe quoted “the chief design engineer of a major aircraft manufacturing company” in his article and book, The Flying Saucers are Real:

“Certainly the flying saucers are possible,” he said.  “Give me enough money and I’ll build you one.  It might have to be a model because the fuel would be a problem.  ...they may be powered by atomic energy… or by some other fuel or natural force that our research hasn’t yet discovered.  But the circular airfoil is quite feasible. It wouldn’t have the stability of the conventional airplane, but it would have enormous maneuverability — it could rise vertically, hover, descend vertically, and fly at extremely high speed, with the proper power.  Don’t take my word for it.  Check with other engineers."

 

Other engineers were on the job. The New International Year Book: A Compendium Of The World's Progress For The Year 1950, reported: “Rumors and reports of ‘flying saucers’ were rampant throughout the year of 1950… One thing accomplished by these stories, though, was that they prompted considerable research along the lines of new airframe types with more lift and less parasitic drag. Among the new developments which were accomplished during 1950 in connection with military aviation research was that of a new lightweight titanium alloy, as strong as high-strength steel and only half as heavy, for use in new jet planes.”

Saucers prompted developments in other areas as well. Since an early hypothesis was that saucers were remotely controlled unmanned probes or missiles, it likely reinforced the importance of testing in this area. An unmanned aerial vehicle could fly faster, higher and farther without the burden of supporting a human pilot. White Sands Proving Ground was working on the “development of a tactical supersonic missile with the remote control and which would intercept flying aircraft at speeds up to 700 mph at altitude between 8000 and 60,000 feet.”

If nothing else, the threat of flying saucers pushed the US military to develop faster planes and better radar to detect them. The saucer’s  provided other inspiration, the stealthy low profile,  reconnaissance capabilities and vertical take off and landing. As for the propulsion, considerable effort went into attempts to develop nuclear energy and anti-gravity as power sources for flight. On another front, saucers awakened the worry of the vulnerability of an attack from outside the atmosphere, so that made space exploration a national priority.

Lockheed and Flying Saucers

Clarence "Kelly" Johnson of Lockheed’s serious UFO interest can be documented going back at least as far as 1949. He was their chief research engineer and wrote the Air Force on behalf of one of his employees who’d witnessed two flying discs. Evidence suggests that his interest in saucers played a role in aerospace research and development. 

In the early 1950s - Lockheed’s Nathan C. Price designed a VTOL saucer, and applied for a patent in Jan. 1953. While never developed, he described it as a supersonic aircraft “designed not only for vertical ascent and descent to facilitate landing and taking off at small fields or landing areas but also for long range flight at a Mach number of, say, 4, and at altitudes in the region of 100,000 ft.”

 

Kelly Johnson went on to develop the U-2 spy plane for the CIA, which (though exaggerated) was responsible for generating many UFO reports. For more on Kelly Johnson, Lockheed and flying saucers, see The Lockheed UFO Case by Joel Carpenter. (We have a bit more on Lockheed later on.)

Government Contractors Studied Saucer Tech

According to author Donald E. Keyhoe, following a Sept. 24, 1959 incident near Redmond, Oregon, where a UFO exhibited gravity-defying maneuvers, Air Force “headquarters persuaded scientists, aerospace companies and technical laboratories to set up anti-gravity projects, many of them under secret contracts. ...In 1965, forty-six unclassified G-projects were confirmed to me by the Scientific Information Exchange of the Smithsonian Institution. Of the forty-six, thirty-three were AF-controlled. The Navy had three; the Army, one; the Atomic Energy Commission one; NASA, two, and the National Science Foundation, six. In addition, there were at least twenty-five secret contracts which could not be listed.” (Aliens from Space, 1973)

Engineering interests went back much earlier than that, and several prominent figures in the aerospace industry were involved.

Paul Hill of NASA (then National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Collection, NACA) had a UFOs sighting on July 16, 1952, which was reported to Project Blue Book. It ignited his lifelong interest in UFOs, and some of his research in the topic was supported by NASA, such as“Flight Tests of a Man Standing on a Platform Supported by a Teetering Rotor,” which explored his notion of how saucer maneuvered in flight. 

The Douglas Aircraft Company conducted a study of "Unconventional Propulsion Schemes/Systems" for the US Air Force’s ATIC from 1954-55, headed by Dr. Wolfgang B. Klemperer. Exactly how the research was used is unknown. For further information, see: Documents located from that 1955 "secret" UAP study by Douglas Aircraft Company by Keith Basterfield.

Aviation executive and inventor William P. Lear announced his belief in the existence of flying saucers in 1955, stating that he believed they originate from outer space and “serious efforts are now in progress to prove the existence of anti-gravitational forces..."

“Guided missile… or flying saucer, AC is ready now!”

AC/General Motors ad, Air Force Magazine, May 1956.

Douglas Aircraft Corporation had an independent study that is well documented. From 1967 - 1969, Robert Wood and a small group of engineers at Douglas Aircraft took UFOs seriously and studied them in detail, with a view to developing a new method of propulsion. 

See the collection of files at Douglas Aircraft - UFO Research Documents

The US Preparations for Man-made Saucer

Throughout the 1950s the media continued to speculate that flying saucers were a secret weapon of the US military, but officials regularly denied it. The Air Force was doubtful that anyone else had them, but they were a little worried. Project Blue Book’s Capt. Ruppelt wrote in 1952:

“It should be stressed that USAF intelligence has no indication that any foreign nation has a super-weapon capable of flying anywhere in the world it will, nor that craft from outer space are coming near our planet earth. It would be foolish, however, to say that either is impossible, no matter how highly improbable it may sound. Fifteen years ago, the atomic bomb was highly improbable.”

There were efforts in the US and abroad, though. By 1952, the Central Intelligence Agency realized there was the potential to use flying saucers as a psychological weapon of some sort. Manipulating the enemy into a state of confusion may have been what they had in mind, and one way to do that was to make UFOs appear on enemy radar. By the early 1960s, the CIA’s Project Palladium was capable of creating ghost radar targets to distract the enemy and provide cover for flights of spy planes.

As for physical flying saucers, there were plans. Air Force Regulation No. 200-2, Aug. 18, 1954 stated their UFO objectives, including:

“Air Force interest in unidentified flying objects is twofold: First as a possible threat to the security of the United States and its forces, and secondly, to determine technical aspects involved. ...Technical. ...To measure scientific advances, the Air Force must be informed on experimentation and development of new air vehicles ...The possibility exists that an air vehicle of revolutionary configuration may be developed."

Air Force Intelligence Digest, Dec. 1954 carried the article, "The Flying Disc,” discussing the possible development of: “New type of jet aircraft, powered by a turbine larger than any now in use, is expected to take off, land vertically, and be able to hover. It may cruise at 1,500 knots and have a range of 15,000 nautical miles.” It also gave readers something to worry about:

“One of the big questions now facing the United States is this: What are the Soviets doing in the disc-aircraft field? ...If the Soviets now have such an aircraft in operational use, would the United States air defense system be able to detect, identify, intercept and destroy a bomber or reconnaissance aircraft moving at a 1,500 knot clip at an altitude of 65,000 feet?”

On Oct. 25, 1955, Air Force secretary Donald A. Quarles announced that the public should prepare to see a “new phenomenon in our skies,” man-made objects that could resemble flying saucers.

The News-Herald (Franklin, Pennsylvania) Oct. 26, 1955

Forged on Earth

John Frost of Canada had been developing a saucer-shaped craft, and the US decided they wanted it. A summary from the Wired story, “A Saucer From Mars? Nope, Canada” by Charles Mandel: 

“In 1952, Frost began work on the saucer, showing prototypes in 1953... Among the visitors who saw the first scale model... was Lt. Gen. Donald Putt, head of the research and development command of the United States Air Force. Putt gained NASA's approval to start development of a saucer prototype, providing $2 million to $3 million annually. ...This early saucer, partly funded by the CIA and known as Project Silver Bug... In the late 1950s, during testing, one of the engines misfired, leading to a complete evacuation of the testing facility.”

Overlapping Silver Bug was another saucer project in 1957. The US Continental Army Command (CONARC) wanted Frost to build a “flying jeep.” It became known as the Arocar. From A History of Army Aviation,1950-1962, section, Flying Saucer:

In 1957, “a letter was sent to the Chief of Research and Development, Department of the Army, on 22 October, stating CONARC interest in the flying saucer concept and requesting initiation of a feasibility study of a ‘manned flying saucer.’ The Chief of Research and Development replied on 21 November, advising that he had reviewed a current Air Force project with AVRO Aircraft, Ltd., of Canada, which was similar to the Aircrafts Armaments proposal and which appeared promising. … a successful flying saucer concept could revolutionize the Army's aircraft development and vehicle program and might be capable of reducing the Army's inventory of aircraft and vehicles to a minimum.” 

Here's a good illustrated dossier on the Avro Canada VZ-9 AV Avrocar.

The US Army produced the television series The Big Picture from 1950 to 1967. The 1960 episode, "A Sharper Sword and Stronger Shield," which looked to a saucer-shaped armored craft to replace helicopters on the battlefield.

The Big Picture: "A Sharper Sword and Stronger Shield"

  

The benefits of developing saucer-like craft were discussed in The Ground-Cushion Phenomenon: Hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics: U.S. House of Representatives, Eighty-sixth Congress, 1959.

 

The actual development of the Army saucer project fell far short of expectations. Seth B. Anderson wrote, “[NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California] was involved in wind-tunnel and flight tests of an 18-foot-diameter circular platform vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft built by the Canadian Avro Aircraft firm in the 1960s. ...In retrospect, the configuration was unquestionably ahead of its time. Certainly, it had inherent stealth features that would help defy radar detection. However, with three turbojets and a large high-speed fan, it could be heard long before being seen. ...Although appealing in an aesthetic sense, it had poor overall performance potential... In essence, it turned out to be a low-performance ground-effect machine capable of leaping over 10-foot ditches with comparative ease.” He did concede that later fly-by wire technology could have solved some of its stability problems, though.

Memoirs of an Aeronautical Engineer: Flight Testing at Ames Research Center: 1940-1970
by Seth B. Anderson, 2000.

1959: The CIA’s Flying Saucer and Area 51

In 1959, the CIA wanted a spy plane, and they wanted it to be as swift and stealthy as as a flying saucer.

Eyes in the Sky: Eisenhower, the CIA, and Cold War Aerial Espionage by Dino A. Brugioni, 2010.

Robert Widmer was asked about his work designing a replacement for the U-2 in the 1999 documentary, Billion Dollar Secret, 1999. In late 1957, Bob Widmer was the head of design at what was then General Dynamics, Convair Division, working on a program called FISH—short for First Invisible Super Hustler, to develop the B-58B, a fast-flying spy plane for the CIA, competing against Lockheed. Widmer described what they were asked to do:

“We had a program called the Super Hustler. The CIA came here and visited me one day and they said, wasn't there something I could do with this technology, so we tried to come up with an airplane that was as near as possible to a saucer... and we did... that's the Fish… but it really wasn't [saucer-shaped], it was as close as we could get it. It was always the ideal... sort of the goal that we used.”

The plane was a low-profile, delta-shaped wing design, and in some respects resembled the F-117 built two decades later. The plane that won the competition was ultimately the Lockheed-built A-12 Oxcart. It was tested at Area 51, and the necessary secrecy resulted in many new UFO legends.

 

Lockheed’s Kelly Johnson and his successor Ben Rich both had an interest in saucers. In the 1970s, when developing stealth aircraft, its engineers considered disc-shaped designs. In his 1994 book, Skunk Works, Ben Rich wrote, "Several of our aerodynamics experts, including Dick Cantrell, seriously thought that maybe we would do better trying to build an actual flying saucer. The shape itself was the ultimate in low observability. The problem was finding ways to make a saucer fly.” The technology available resulted in the multi-facetted arrowhead-shaped F-117 Nighthawk. Once again, Lockheed’s spy plane test flights generated a number of UFO reports in the southwest.

Unmanned Flying Objects

Flying saucers were once suspected to be unmanned surveillance devices from other planets here to spy on us from afar. Part of the rationale behind that is that not only were some of the saucers were seemingly too small to contain inhabitants, but the extreme maneuvers they performed would kill anyone inside from the G-forces generated. Attempts to duplicate saucer performance also faced that problem even with the limits of conventional technology. In recent years, that’s not so much a problem since pilots are often no longer necessary, and free of that baggage, these devices come close to duplicating the feats of flying saucers.

Often referred to as “drones” remotely piloted aircraft are most commonly referred to as unmanned aerial systems (UAS) today. They’ve had a long history, but even in their adolescence the technology was capable of outperforming manned flight. On May 10, 1972, John C. Smith, commanding officer of the Top Gun school, as RADAR operator and chief tactician joined three other combat veterans in F-4 Phantom fighters versus a Teledyne Ryan Firebee remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) controlled by Cmdr John Pitzen, and Al Donaldson, who manned the remote control station. New Scientist, Aug. 10, 1972 described the outcome:

“The unmanned fighter, operating with only half the projected capability of future RPVs, executed 6g turns without loss of altitude, evaded Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles fired by the Phantom, and scored several simulated ‘kills’ against the manned aircraft.”

Technology has made huge advances since that 1972 Firbee test, and today’s UAS are manufactured in a variety platforms carrying sensors to weapons systems, and capable of covering great distances and operating at high altitude for extended periods. 

The champ in long endurance flight and altitude is the Pentagon's X-37B, which is a bit like an unmanned Space Shuttle. Setting a new record, the OTV-5 landed at Cape Canaveral in October 2019 after spending 780 days in space. 

What is its military mission? Popular Mechanics reported it conducted “seemingly mundane orbital experiments for the Air Force Research Lab... testing ‘experimental electronics... in the long duration space environment.’ Later, observers of the X-37B program discovered it also quietly released three satellites... Their purpose remains unknown.”

Saucer Weapons Systems Tests

Electromagnetic interference has been reported in saucer sightings since the early days, most famously associated with the Levelland, Texas, case in 1957 where several automobile engines were reported to have been killed in the presence of a massive UFO. James T. Westwood has an interesting background encompassing electronic warfare, unmanned aerial vehicles, cryptology and was a Sovietologist working as a military intelligence consultant. 

Westwood also had an interest in UFOs, and wrote several articles, including, “Why do the Lights Go Out?” in UFO Magazine, May/June 1994, which examined, electrical failures related to UFOs, but he also looked at microwave radiation as a weapon to produce similar effects:

“Military uses of the microwave region include: radars of many types, missile weapons control systems, navigation and electronic warfare (EW) applications that include jamming, electronic deception and passive intercept.” 

Westwood went on to state: “Since about 1980, the overall intent of military uses of the microwave region (whether of pulsed or continuous waveforms) has been for both traditional and exotic forms of electronic warfare. ...actual lethal burning (heat ‘frying’) of electronic systems; functional jamming of radar and communication receivers and spoofing of electronic systems at long ranges. Such techniques and devices exist and are tested against surrogate ‘enemy’ systems for subsequent use in combat.”

“Since about 1980…” That’s when a certain Army Lt. colonel started raising eyebrows.

John B. Alexander, UFOs, and Next Generation Weapons Systems 

While the Star Trek reference might lead you to believe UFOs were discussed, John B. Alexander’s "The New Mental Battlefield:Beam Me Up Spock," in Military Review, Dec. 1980, was about how psychotronic weapons could be developed by studying the paranormal. He discussed the remote viewing studies of Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff and their potential military applications. As for psychotronic weapons, he also saw much potential, saying, “with development, these weapons would be able to induce illness or death at little or no risk to the operator. Range may be a present problem, but this will probably be overcome if it has not been already.” As an example, he cited work by the Soviets, who have “examined the effects 

of electromagnetic radiation on humans and have applied those techniques against the US Embassy in Moscow.”

In the years since, Col. Alexander has become heavily involved with the UFO community and says he’s been interested in the topic all his life. His hobby has an influence on his business which is chiefly the development of non-lethal weapons. Col. Alexander probably knows more about military projects relating to UFOs than anyone else on earth - or anywhere else.

In his 2011 book, UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities, Alexander described how in 1984 he began working on a project called New Thrust to coordinate next generation weapons systems, and it led to him meeting Dr. Ron Blackburn of Lockheed’s Skunk Works. Their common interests led them to form an informal UFO study, the Advanced Theoretical Physics Working Group. JacquesVallee described the ATP assembly in Forbidden Science - Volume III , 2016. He wrote that the key meetings took place under US Department of Energy supervision on May 20-25, 1985:

“… participants were Samuel Finch, Oke Shannon and John Kink of Los Alamos National Laboratory; Bill Wilkinson from CIA; Howell McConnell from NSA... Hal Puthoff and Jack Houck; Ed Speakman of INSCOM (Army Intelligence); Bill Souder and Bob Wood of McDonnell Douglas; Jake Stewart of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; Bert Stubblebine of BDM; Ron Blackburn, Milt Janzen and Don Keuble of Lockheed; Ralph Freeman, Gary Bright, radiologist Paul Tyler, Ed Dames and Lt. Col. Mike Neery."

ATP members included Ed Dames, Jack Houck, Bob Wood, Hal Puthoff and John Alexander.

Alexander stated that one of ATP’s goals was to: “Study of the UFO data could provide a potential for a leap in technology. This would not require access to a craft, but could be derived from scientific examination of the reports determining the theoretical physics required to achieve such results.”

Through Dr. Blackburn, Alexander met Lockheed’s Ben Rich (but he didn’t join ADP). “My several contacts with Rich spanned nearly a decade... Of course our mutual interests covered far more than UFOs and included work on advanced aviation concepts for military purposes.” He went on to say: “Rich was extremely attentive to what we presented to him about UFOs... In fact, he had a shopping list of technologies that he wanted to get his hands on. The top priority was propulsion, but other technologies were of interest including navigation and the means for disappearing from radar.”

Modern Government UFO Contracts

Dr. Alexander’s ATP dissolved in 1988 since no agency wanted to fund it project as an official government project. However, that didn’t exactly mean the end, as Alexander and many of the members remained interested in the UFO topic and moved on Robert Bigelow’s  National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) from 1995 to 2004. 

Beginning in 2007, NIDS was replaced by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), with Hal Puthoff and some of the team remaining either directly or as subcontractors. BAASS was contracted by the US Defense Intelligence Agency’s Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) for the stated goal:

“The objective of this program is to understand the physics and engineering of these [advanced aerospace weapon system] applications as they apply to the foreign threat out to the far-term, i.e., from now through the year 2050.” The program contract directe that, “The contractor shall complete advanced aerospace weapon system technical studies” on 12 topics, such as propulsion, power generation, materials, configuration, structure and directed-energy weapons. 

Bigelow conducted UFO studies under the AAWSAP contract using the cover story that their work was for “the goal of BAASS achieving breakthroughs in commercial technology.”

AAWSAP became known as AATIP, for Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, Bigelow’s contract with the DIA ended, and then the program officially folded in 2012. Luis Elizondo was a participant in AATIP, and insists it continued as a portfolio when he resigned in 2017. 

 

Elizondo left to join the company created by Tom DeLonge, To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science, co-founded with Hal Puthoff and Jim Semivan. TTSA’s organization boasts many ex-government figures, from former contractors to military intelligence agents. Luis Elizondo, according to the Washington Post, “chose to join the private venture because he believed it was the best way to continue the work he was unable to complete as a government employee.”

Part of that work was in military systems applications, and the TTSA press release of Oct. 17, 2019

announced their work with the US Army: “...a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command to advance TTSA's materiel and technology innovations in order to develop enhanced capabilities for Army ground vehicles,” but the CRADA title is: “Novel & Emerging Technology Exploitation.” TTSA’s CRADA FAQ  explains their position about possibly becoming a defense contractor. 

The US military’s basic goals remain consistent over the decades, and it seems they are still trying to duplicate flying saucer characteristics and performance. The players may change, but the game remains the same.

TTSA press release, Oct 11, 2017

 We’ll close with some thoughts on the flying saucer threat from 1947, by aviation pioneer Orville Wright.

The Dayton Herald, July 8, 1947.

. . .

For Further Reading

The above article barely scratches the surface on the possibly military saucer-related aircraft projects, which also includes many other platforms from circular wing aircraft to anti-gravity projects.

The Hiller Flying Platform

John B. Alexander, UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities, 2011

Keith Basterfiled, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena - scientific research:

 Aerospace companies and secret UAP studies, Also See: Aerospace Companies

Curt Collins, Princeton University's Flying Saucers for the US Army

Thomas P. Ehrhard, Air Force UAVs The Secret History, 2010

Michael D. Hall and Wendy A. Connors, Alfred Loedding & the GreatFlying Saucer Wave of 1947, 1998

Bill Rose and Tony Buttler, Secret Projects - Flying Saucer Aircraft , 2007

The saucer-shaped missile developed by the US Air Force 1957-1961: Pye Wacket

AVRO, Project Silverbug, Project Y, and Project 1794 and John Frost:

Project 1794 Final Development Summary Report

. . .

That lurid magazine cover in our header illustration was from Man’s Life, July 1954

Jessie Roestenburg’s 1954 UFO Encounter and Beyond

This article was originally intended for STTF, but published instead at Blue Blurry Lines on October 19, 2018. It's an epic examination one of the UK's most famous close encounters from the 1950s.

Jessie Roestenburg’s Oct. 21, 1954 encounter with a UFO might have been forgotten had it not been chronicled by Gavin Gibbons in his 1956 book, The Coming of the Space Ships. I provided the basis for almost all the subsequent accounts throughout ufology. Charles Bowen based his entry in the Flying Saucer Review Special: The Humanoids, 1966, on it, and the short version below is all that most people know of the story.

Bowen  compounded an error, calling the witness Jennie, instead of Jessie, and misspelled the location of Ranton. Gibbons had spelled the family name RoestenBERG, but it should have been BURG. Most UFO literature since has followed his version. Throughout, we’ve corrected quotes using “Roestenberg” to the proper Roestenburg.

It’s a famous sighting, one of the best-known early UK cases, but few know that her family experienced at least six UFO sightings, with Jessie being involved in all but one. Like her first, most of the additional sightings involved multiple witnesses. 

L, drawing of the Ranton humanoid type.

R, art by Mike Rogers based on the abduction story by Travis Walton.

The Original Incident: Eye Contact

In 1954 Jessie Roestenburg, her husband Tony and three young children lived in a cottage at Vicarage Farm, Ranton, Staffordshire, England. It was an old house three and a half miles from Stafford, and without the modern conveniences like electricity or indoor plumbing. It was almost like they were quietly living in the past, but that all changed on October 21, 1954.

Vicarage Farm

Mrs. Roestenburg was inside with her two-year-old daughter, Karin, and her two sons, eight-year-old Anthony and six-year-old Ronald were just home from school and playing in the garden.

The time was 4:45 p.m.

The Wolverhampton Express and Star Oct. 22, 1954: 

Midland Woman says flying saucer terrified herRanton, near Stafford, A woman today told the “Express and Star” that she and her two children had been terrified by a flying saucer, carrying “two long-haired human-like creatures in tight-fitting jerseys.”The machine landed in the garden, she stated.When she heard a noise like a crashing aircraft, yesterday, Mrs Jessie Roestenburg, of isolated Vicarage Farm, ran out into the garden. She found her two children lying prostrate and terrified. The next house to Vicarage Farm is about two miles away.Above the children was a huge, saucer-like object with a dome, the front part of which was transparent, stated Mrs. Roestenburg.Staring at the children from the machine were two “unsmiling, human-like creatures, with long faces and long hair.”

Mrs. Roestenburg told our reporter that she ran to the back of the house in fright. The object then  moved over the house, hovered for about 15 seconds, and then shot off at high speed.

From another section of the story, she’s quoted as saying the object was "about 15 to 20 feet in diameter.”

Captions from the Wolverhampton Express and Star:

This is a sketch, made today by Mrs. Roestenburg, of the object that she states she saw in her garden, It appeared to be of “a dull silver metal,” and the outer rim seemed to be revolving.

Mrs. Roestenburg, with her two sons keeping close beside her, points to the place where, she says, she saw the flying saucer hovering above her home.

UK flying saucer researcher Gavin Gibbons wrote a report for Flying Saucer News, Winter 1954/55, "Full Report on the Ranton Affair," which included the above illustration.

The Coming of the Space Ships

Gavin Gibbons’ 1956 book, The Coming of the Space Ships, covers the flap of UFO sightings that began in June of 1954 in the Stafford area, and devotes two chapters to the story of the Roestenburgs, which he regarded as the “the most informative and, in some ways, astounding of all the sightings...” Although Gibbons provides the best documentation on the story, he was a linguist and scholar, not a journalist, and with his own UFO experience approached things as one of the awakened. As his title suggest, Gibbons regarded flying saucers as extraterrestrial space ships, and was persuaded by the reports from the Contactees. Wishing to retire the phrase “Flying Saucer,” Gibbons preferred the Atlantean/Sanskrit term “vimanas” (chariots of the sky) for disc-shaped scout craft. He invented other UFO terms to match, such as vunu for cigar-shaped spaceships.

Based on his interviews with the family, Gibbons gave a more detailed account of the Roestenburg story and what was seen:

...they looked very like Earthly men, with white skins and long hair down to their shoulders. Their foreheads seemed immensely high, with the features almost entirely in the bottom half of their faces. Their heads were enclosed in what appeared to be some sort of transparent helmet and they were dressed in clothes of turquoise blue that resembled ski suits that Mrs. Roestenburg had seen.

The saucer’s exit:

It was hovering over the house! Very low and completely silent, a queer round thing was standing in the air immediately over the little cottage... Their heads were in a whirl... As Jessie Roestenburg watched, appalled, the vimana began to move, flashing a purply blue light from the front of it as it did so. At an angle of 45° it started to ascend, making no sound as it moved, but continuing the flashing the whole time. With a gasp of relief Jessie ran into the house, intent on finding pencil and paper to sketch what she and the children had seen. As she looked for the stub of a pencil, the boys called out again from the garden. With fear returning once more to her heart she ran outside to see the Saucer coming back again, this time from north to south. It circled the house in an anti-clockwise direction one and a half times and then streaked skywards. It had gone at last.

The section of Gibbons book describing the sighting was excerpted as an article in Model Aircraft magazine, March 1957, “Space Ships ‘a Coming.” It’s archived, found on page 39 of the PDF, at

https://rcbookcase.com/data/media/12/03Model_Aircraft_March_1957.pdf

However, like most accounts, it only covers Oct. 21, not the subsequent events or the other UFO encounters of the Roestenburg family.

The Rest of the Story

Gavin Gibbons was not a detached journalist or scientific observer - he became part of the story. Gibbons spoke Mr. Roestenburg’s native language, Dutch, and it drew them closer, and he became friends with the Roestenburgs, making frequent visits to their home, educating and advising them on the topic of UFOs. In the narrative, he introduces Mr. Roestenburg first and regards it as Tony’s story, not Jessie’s. 

2nd Sighting: Tony’s Cigar

The second sighting was around 2:30 on the next Sunday, Oct. 24, 1954. The Roestenburg’s had a friend visiting, man whose name was not given. According to Gibbons, Tony thought there was a slight possibility that the saucer had dropped something on their roof. “He had a queer hunch, too, that it was his turn to see something.” From an upstairs he made his way to the roof, but found nothing, but remained to scan the skies.

“Suddenly he caught his breath and stared hard at the sky towards the south-west. His premonition was right after all. There, flying slowly along in a great semi-circle, was an enormous, cylindrical, sausage-shaped object.”

Tony called for Jessie and she and their guest  ran out to see “the huge machine looming in the sky, not more than a mile away, and watched with him as it carried on its curved course, eventually disappearing into a bank of cloud to the north.”

Mr. Roestenburg came down and asked Jessie if it was what she’d seen, but she said, no, that this was colossal, the saucer-shaped machine she’s seen was much smaller. the three discussed the sighting, but at first the friend said that he had thought that he had seen dark patches where wings might have been, but after careful thought he withdrew this idea.  Gibbon reports that Tony “became intensely interested in the subject of U.F.O.’s and kept a careful watch from then on, scanning the sky at every possible moment he could spare and hoping with all his heart to see another visitant.”

Gibbons was of the opinion that Jessie had seen a disc-shaped scout ship and aliens just as George Adamski had described, while Tony had seen the massive cigar-shaped mother ship.

3rd Sighting: Tony’s Fireball

Another hunch.  On or about December 15, 1954, Tony’s skywatching paid off. He saw a ball of fire slowly, silently moving at an angle of about 45° above the horizon. It was about two or three inches across when measured at his arm’s length, but when he went around to the other side of the house to follow its path, “It was now about eighteen inches at arm’s length!” It seemed to be moving lower and slower until it was almost stationary. As he watched, he heard the sound of an airplane coming from the east, and as the plane got closer,” the fireball suddenly moved, shooting northward at incredible speed and disappearing from sight within a few seconds... He had seen another Flying Saucer!”

The Family’s Transformation

The aftermath of the sightings on the family is discussed in chapter 8, Gibbons’ book. Jessie told him that afterward, her daughter Karin seemed to cry constantly and the two boys had become unruly and disrespectful. “I can see a tremendous change in them. Whether it’s a reaction after their fright or what, I don’t know, but they are much naughtier now than they ever were before it happened.”

Jessie herself was stressed, and had a blotchy rash on her skin, “It’s on my face and arms and I don’t know what it is.”

Her condition had developed sometime after the sighting, and Gibbons asked if she knew the cause.

“Just nerves. The same as my edginess and bad temper.”

Gibbons noted, “nervous strain will do peculiar things to the human body. I hoped that these bad after-effects would soon wear off, for, as I explained to Mrs. Roestenburg, I was sure that the men in the saucer had no intention of frightening her and the children.”

Jessie made no mention of having any other symptoms or of receiving any medical treatment.

When Gibbons visited the Roestenburgs in their new home southern edge of Stafford in March and May of 1955, he found them all changed for the better. He asked Mr. Roestenburg what had made the difference, and Tony almost sounded like they were fleeing a haunted house.

“That old cottage,” he answered without hesitation. “Ever since that U.F.O. hovered over it, something snapped there and almost made us snap, too... The move has made a different family of us and that’s a fact!”

Asked if he’d seen any more UFOs, Tony replied, “Not since that last one, but I’m still looking.”

Gibbons could see no motive for a hoax, and he was convinced of their sincerity.“I have gained some new friends. I often visit them in their new home and we talk over the happenings of the day when the Saucer came. The children, and it is best so, have forgotten the incident, but for Jessie and Tony Roestenburg... it is a good memory. Now that the fear has gone and they are....almost beginning to wish that the vimana would pay them a second visit. Almost, I think they said, almost....”

Caption from Gibbons' book:
Mr. and Mrs. Roestenburg and their children,
May 21, 1955, seven months after they had seen the vimana.

1956 - 1957: More Flying Saucers 

Gavin Gibbons briefly returned to the Roestenburg case in his follow-up book, They Rode in Space Ships (1957), but continues the story, describing the lesser-known aftermath and further sightings by the family.

“Tony Roestenburg could hardly be said to court notoriety - he got more and more weary of references to his experiences... He certainly did not seek money-he and his family have gained nothing from an experience now largely forgotten by the children.” 

After summarizing both the original sighting, Tony’s rooftop sighting of the cigar-shaped UFO, Gibbons states, “He was to see another Space Ship later on, probably a vimana, but this has no direct bearing on the argument.” An asterisk leads to a footnote about three further sightings by the Roestenburgs, even after they moved from Ranton to Stafford. In the first one, the Roestenburg’s daughter instead of the boys, takes on the role of sounding the summoning cry:

“Sightings in the Stafford area are still taking place. On 5 December, 1956. Mrs. Roestenburg was called into the garden of their Stafford home by Karin. A bright orange disc, probably a vimana or scout ship was overhead! Seen by neighbours, it disappeared in the direction of Seighford. On to January, 1957, an orange glowing cigar-shaped vunu was seen by many people flying northwards over Stafford towards Stoke-on-Trent. Witnesses included Tony, Jessie, and Karin Roestenburg and Mrs. Daniels, wife of Wilfrid Daniels, the Stafford U.F.O. expert. On 13 May, 1957, a silvery vunu was seen over the west of Stafford by Mrs. Roestenburg, a near neighbour, Mrs. Violet Wilding, and several other witnesses in the area.” 

See appendix, the chronology: Roestenburg Family Sightings

Spiritualism, Psychic Powers and ESP

Gibbon’s second UFO book contrasts the Roestenburgs with someone he did not find credible, George King of the channeler of the cosmic being Aetherius. Gibbons disapproved of mixing spiritualism with UFOs, saying, “But the greatest danger is that spiritualism so easily leads to involuntary fraud or to misrepresentation by people who are themselves quite honest. Although a lot of people, including several well-known public figures, believe in spiritualism, there are many others who turn from it in disgust. As many of these latter believe in Flying Saucers, George King is doing a disservice to the Space Ship movement by associating spiritualism with Flying Saucers.”

Gibbons makes no mention of Mrs. Roestenburg’s psychic powers and experiences in his books. There’s just the tingling in her nose prior to the first sighting, and her husband’s hunch or premonition prior to the second one. Reading between the lines, there’s some suggestion the  Roestenburg’s felt there was something almost haunted at Vicarage Farm, and they were happy to be away from it.

                                                    

Wilfrid Daniels 

At the same time Gibbons was working the case, so was another. Wilfrid Daniels was a UFO researcher living in Stafford. He reported on the local sightings and interviewed Mrs. Roestenburg and was the first to disclose her psychic or ESP claims in Flying Saucer Review Vol. 1, No. 3, July-Aug. 1955 (page 16), “Flying Saucers and the Psychic” by Wilfred Daniels. Here’s a summary of it by UFO historian Loren Gross from The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs: A History 1954 October (1991):

According to UFO researcher Wilfred Daniels, Mrs. Roestenburg had for years felt she was a “psychic,” and that for a number of hours prior to the “space ship appearance,” she had a “queer feeling” something was about to happen, at least that was her peculiar claim. Years before during a seance a medium directed a comment to Mrs. Roestenburg, pronouncing her a psychic of considerable ability, a compliment she never forgot. While denying she was a full-blown spiritualist, Mrs. Roestenburg said she did experience on one occasion a “spirit manifestation of the spectral sort.” Her aunt, she admitted, was a practising “psychic healer.” In Gibbon's mind, and to any UFO buff worth his salt, the possible flaw in the “strange affair at Ranton” was that it had a George Adamski smell, the American who at that time was the darling of England's occult society. 

Gross took Mrs. Roestenburg's claims of having psychic powers and supernatural before her sighting as a negative, but in the FSR article he quoted, Wilfrid Daniels thought it might be just the opposite. He speculated that these were exactly the kind of earthlings the spacemen wanted to visit:

But could it not be that just because of their peculiar powers of mental perception, spiritualists, and those with “psychic” sensibilities, maybe the very people better equipped than anybody else to be sought out, or inspected at close quarters, but alien visitors in flying saucers?

Gibbons worked closely with Daniels on the Stafford sightings and must have known about Mrs. Roestenburg's psychic stories. Due to his distaste of missing spiritualism with saucers, it appears he chose to censor it from his account of the Roestenburg case.

Jessie’s story became part of UFO literature, especially in the volumes devoted to Contactees and close encounters. Jessie had made contact with aliens - only eye contact, but still historic. However, for many years, her tale just circulated by repeated versions of Bowen’s 1966 short summary of the encounter.

The 1970s UFO Revival

The public’s interest in UFOs after the Pascagoula Abduction story caused a revival of media coverage, and that included reviewing old cases. 

The comic book, UFO Flying Saucers No. 7, August 1975 published by Gold Key (Western Publishing Company, Inc.) featured a brief adaptation of the first Jessie Roestenburg sighting,  “The Unsmiling Men,” a four page story illustrated by John Celardo.  It’s chief departure from the original account is in the depiction of the saucer occupants, drawn here as weird aliens, not the beautiful angelic astronauts Jessie described. One interesting thing the story does well is to demonstrate is the peculiar angle the saucer would have to tip forward in order for the occupants and witnesses to be able to see each other.

TV Coverage

In 1976, Hugh Burnett was preparing a UFO documentary for the BBC, and he approached Charles Bowen and Gordon Creighton of Flying Saucer Review. They gave him the contact information for Jessie Roestenburg. The documentary was titled Out of this World, and it was first broadcast May 10, 1977 on BBC 1. It’s largely responsible for reviving interest in the case, and today, most people are probably familiar with Jessie Roestenburg’s story via the YouTube clip of her from the program. It’s often shared with comments noting how genuine, sincere and credible she appears. 

She describes the saucer as looking like a Mexican hat, and says occupants, says were beautiful people with long golden hair, wearing  coverings over their heads like a “transparent fishbowl.”

“They just looked, and I was absolutely paralytic with fear. I couldn’t move, although my mind was taking over. And they seemed so sympathetic that I was mesmerized, seemed to be - oh, ages, but it could have only been seconds. After checking on her boys, “I looked up and it was gone.” 

Asked about the size of the object, she says it was “massive,” that it was larger than the roof of the house. She said they saw the object again in the distance, that it circled them three times then it shot off.

A spaceman in a fishbowl helmet, as seen in The Man from Planet X, 1951

More fishbowls from The Net, 1953

Mrs. Roestenburg appeared in another UFO program a few years later, and told her story again on the episode, “U.F.O.s” of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, which was broadcast Nov. 4, 1980. It’s interesting to contrast it with her previous clip from the 1977, Out of this World. Her description of the events are very similar,  sometimes word for word. In both she's quite animated, but here she’s far less emotional, and perhaps convincing. 

She describes discovering the flying saucer:

“To my amazement there, suspended on the top of the roof of this old farm, was this object that I can only describe as a huge Mexican hat. It was that shape, without the bobbles. It must have been fifteen to twenty yards from where I stood. It covered the roof, so in circumference it must have been about sixty feet, it was enormous.  The people in the space-craft were just looking out, I could see them from the waist to the top of their heads. They were very beautiful people. They had long golden hair... (but no mention of the fishbowl helmets). and they just looked at us. Their eyes - the expression in their eyes - were full of compassion.” “And then all of a sudden, I felt the tension leaving me and I felt movement, and I turned around to touch my children and when I looked again it was gone.” Moments later, her younger son pointed it out then, “it circled round the farm three times, then it just shot straight up and away.”

“U.F.O.s” episode of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World  (link)

How Big was the UFO?  

The account from the two shows differ from the original version documented by Gavin Gibbons on several details, and none of the other subsequent events or sightings were discussed. The part about Jessie seeing the saucer ascend, then running inside to look for a pencil was dropped, and instead she remains outside for the entire sighting. Also, when seen again, the saucer makes not 1 /1/2 circles, but 3 around the farm on its exit, but perhaps that’s an unimportant difference.

The biggest difference seems to be the size of the UFO. The figure Jessie gave for the saucer’s size in the first account was, "about 15 to 20 feet in diameter,” which matches the drawing she made for the newspaper. In her sketch, it depicts the saucer as room-sized, not house-sized. In the Jul-Aug 1955 FSR, investigator Wilfrid Daniels gave the size as “a 25-ft. saucer.” In her later television interviews the spaceship was described to be enormous,  large enough to cover the entire roof of the cottage. 

Thirty Years Later, New Details Emerge

Excepts from Jenny Randles’ Abduction (aka Alien Abductions), 1988, pages 68-70, Chapter 5, “Alien Abductions - The British Catalogue,” Type II: Contact Cases 

21 October 1954 - Ranton, Staffordshire This case is legendary in UFO circles, having featured in several books during the 1950s, but no one seemed to have looked at it recently, so on 6 August 1987 I interviewed the chief witness, Mrs Jessie Roestenburg. She was in her late twenties in 1954 and had two children, Anthony (aged eight) and Ronald (six). They do remember the events, but only vaguely. Jessie had felt 'tingles' all day, prior to 4:45 p.m., when the incident occurred. (Recap of sighting.)“It felt like hours passed, but it must have been seconds. Time was suspended. I was also paralysed. It was like I was in a vice. But my mind was working overtime.” 

“...nothing Jessie said indicated to me that she was familiar with UFO cases...”Since then she has often thought about it: 'This was something absolutely marvellous. The saddest part to me is that I have never been able to fully understand the greatness of this thing.'However, she says that she has since had a 'great, almost extreme, development of ESP. I know things about people. I understand situations. All this probably sounds crazy, but it is true.' Some of the things that have happened include seeing the aliens again in her house '. . . out of the corner of my eye .... But I think it could be a "thought thing". It could be my imagination'. 

These contacts have implanted feelings into her mind about the aliens: 'I think they'll be here when I need them .... They are surveying us. They're afraid that we might panic. But some of them are living amongst us.’

Jessie Roestenburg impressed me because she had not become a 'UFO nut' and had seemingly read no books on the subject since 1954. She had seen the Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind but in typical fashion said about it, ‘I remember thinking whoever did this film has a good understanding of the subject. But when those little funny aliens came on I almost stood up and shouted, "They're not like that!" I don't believe in little green men. Not after what I've seen."  

Excerpts from the interview were carried in an article in The Star, Feb. 29, 1988,

‘Jessie Spots an Alien Crew”

1998

Timothy Good’s  Alien Base, 1998, contains an interview with Jessie Roestenburg that offers details I’d not found documented elsewhere, health problems following her first sighting.

Jessie‘s health began to deteriorate. ‘I went to see my doctor, who had read about what happened,’ she said, ‘but he thought I was round the twist. I insisted on seeing a psychiatrist and he said: “There’s nothing wrong with your mind but you do you need to go to hospital.” He took me himself and they did a blood count. [It] was so low they couldn’t understand how I was still alive. They said they wouldn’t be surprised if I was suffering from radiation sickness. For a while, I was in a terrified mess but gradually got better.

Good quotes Jessie from the news story by reporter Neil Thomas in the Staffordshire Newsletter, August 30, 1996, which gives her name as “Jessica Roestenburg.” She said, “To this day I don’t know what they were, I don’t believe they wanted to do us any harm. They are far more intelligent than we are.”

2011 (probably from 2006)

Sadly, Jessie Roestenburg passed away on May 12, 2017. Luckily John Hanson was able to interview her a few times in her later years for Haunted Skies.

From John Hanson 2006, Haunted Skies-Vol. 1. Photo by David Sankey

Excerpts from the Haunted Skies blog by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway

“Special Blog to celebrate Volume 3”

http://hauntedskies.blogspot.com/2011/09/special-blog-to-celebrate-volume-3.html

Jessie’s religious disclosure

“I seemed to be in some way drawn, or compelled, to the top of the garden - almost as if I was being manipulated by an outside influence, of which I had no control. I glanced around and saw the amazing sight of this flying saucer shaped object hovering 40-50 feet above the roof of the house. Inside the ‘saucer’ I could clearly see what looked like two humans, wearing long golden hair down to their shoulders. I felt a mixture of emotions - amazement and fear run through my body, followed by the thought, ‘God will wipe away all tears’. Immediately, all the tension left me, (something I have never disclosed to anyone before because of its religious significance). I turned to my sons and asked them if they had seen the ‘flying saucer’. They replied, ‘yes’.”

Expanded Account of the Medical Treatment 

After the sighting, she felt revitalized, for a short time, until discovering a strange rash covering her face and front part of the body, accompanied by a considerable loss of weight over a relatively short period, which gave rise for concern. Jessie sought the advice of her Doctor, who was well aware of the UFO incident and intimated there was something wrong with her mental health.Offended by this suggestion, Jessie contacted a Psychiatrist - Dr. Wilson, who confirmed, after a medical examination, there was nothing wrong with her mental state of health. “He asked me if I had been given a chest x-ray and blood tests. When I told him this had not been done, he personally escorted me to hospital, where a chest X-ray was taken but found to be clear. Unfortunately, blood tests showed the blood count was very low. The haematologist said to me, ‘If it didn’t sound so ludicrous, l would say you have been exposed to a massive dose of radiation’. I was given injections of iron, twice a week, which caused all sorts of problems before the correct dosage was established.”

A short clip of Jessie Roestenberg when aged 90; recorded in 2015 by John Hanson and Dawn Holloway of Haunted Skies.

Although the Roestenburg children were involved in several of the UFO sightings, they were treated as bystanders in the news coverage and UFO literature. Gavin Gibbons played with the children in his visits with the family and talked to them about the events. At the time, Karin was two and inside, but Anthony Jr. , eight, and Ronald, six, were outside and as close to the spacemen in the UFO as Jessie. A year or so later, somewhat incredibly,Gibbons noted it was “an experience now largely forgotten by the children.” If they’ve commented on the family’s UFO sightings as adults, I’ve been unable to locate a credible source. Beyond Gibbons book, there seems to be nothing recording Tony Roestenburg’s sightings. Only Jessie’s story really lives to carry on.

. . .

For readers who'd like more information on the Roestenburg story, check out the sources below and the BBL page of additional material, including:

• Epilogue: The Forgotten Witness 
• Appendix: Roestenburg  Family Sightings 
• Bad UFOlogy: Jennie and Apocrypha

Jessie Roestenburg’s 1954 UFO Encounter and Beyond: The Extras

Online Sources and Links to Further Information

They Rode in Space Ships by Gavin Gibbons, 1957 (Online at Daniel Fry.com)

The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs: A History 1954 October by Loren Gross

“The Roestenburg case” (pages 75 - 76)

There was an excellent discussion of the case by Kandinsky from Dec. 2011, on the site Above Top Secret (ATS) that provides a good background on the Roestenburg events. 

“BBC Out Of This World Program (1977) Re: Staffordshire 1954 Sighting”

Flying Saucer Review  Vol. 1, No. 3, July-Aug. 1955 (page 16)

“Flying Saucers and the Psychic” by Wilfred Daniels

Flying Saucer Review  Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan.-Feb. 1957 (page 9)

“Flying Cigar at Stafford”

Flying Saucer Review, Sept./Oct. 1957. Vol. 3, No. 5.

“World Round Up,” Europe, Great Britain. (pages 5 & 6). "Stafford in the news again"

Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 38, No. 1, 1993 carried an article recounting the case, “The Roestenburg Story (1954)” by Gordon Creighton. (pages 6 -9)

Out Of This World - UFO Interview - My Body Language Analysis. Staffordshire 1954 CJB

Craig James Baxter, the author of Unmasked: A Revealing Look At The Fascinating World Of Body Language made a video examining the clip of Mrs. Roestenburg from Out of this World.

His analysis is interesting, and he seems to believe she was sincere. However, his conclusion that there’s a tear shed at the close of the video seems to be in error. Compare the scene with a clip from the original program. No tear is evident. (https://youtu.be/58R7JAQm_yQ?t=37s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keurBtEy81E

UK newspaper story from 1954 - fragment the Wolverhampton Express and Star Oct. 22, 1954

Stafford and Mid-Staffs Newsletter, 5/2/5?, “Staffordian’s Opinon on Flying Saucers,” a profile on Wilfrid Daniels, who discusses investigating the Roestenburg sighting.