Cigar UFOs in Australia and the World

From UFO Reporter Volume 1, Number 2 (June 1992) From UFO Reporter Volume 1, Number 2 (June 1992) [Image] Cigar-Shaped UFOs Cloud-cigars and Cigar Shaped UFOs --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Sowiak-Rudej is a Land Economist and has been a UFO investigator for 20 years. This report was developed from a talk given to UFOR(NSW) members on 9 February 1992. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From reports provided us by observers, we know that UFOs come in all shapes and sizes. A summary of 475 incidents filed with the Australian Centre for UFO Studies (ACUFOS) up to 1980 classified UFO sightings into the following major shape categories: * 29% were said to be spherical * 19% were point sources (like stars or planets) * 12% were elliptical * 9% were cigar-shaped A large number of UFO reports are cylindrical or cigar-shaped. I was surprised to find that cigar-shaped objects have attracted much attention in the UFO literature throughout the history of this subject. Cigars were very prominent during the mid-1960s and remain a significant part of all ACUFOS sightings. Furthermore, eyewitness accounts frequently mention that the slower-moving cigar-shaped UFOs produce a distinctive vapour trail. Frenchman Gene Plantier's theory from the 1950s proposes that all UFOs are propelled by a field of force. When travelling in a straight line at high speed, this force field drags along the surrounding air at a rate inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the craft. That is, the air nearest the UFO is carried along fastest. As the UFO moves through the air, a compressed cushion of air develops in front of the craft. At great speeds this zone of compressed air becomes heated, ionises, and incandesces. Plantier proposed that for cigar-shaped UFOs, this motive power is concentrated at each end of the cylinder. During movement, these end points incandesce and produce an elliptical-shaped zone of light overall, or a ball of light at very high speed. The air behind the moving cigar is rarefied and cools quickly leaving a trail of condensed water vapour - perhaps the distinctive vapour trail observed in so many ACUFOS reports. (The Truth About Flying Saucers, Aime Michel 1957: pg 132-3, p 138.) Jacques Vallee's 1966 UFO classification system places cigar-UFOs in their own category - as Type II (Vallee System) objects. These are 'sky objects with a vertical cylindrical form, often associated with a diffuse cloud'. There are two sub-categories within Vallee' s classification: * Category IIA are cylindrical objects observed to have erratic behaviour * Category IIB are stationery cylindrical objects which give rise to secondary phenomena (Challenge to Science, Jacques Vallee 1966, pg 54.) The following case studies indicate some of the diversity of this particular UFO type. [Image] Case 1: Paris, France - September 1954 Mr Rabot was driving along the N7 motorway south of Paris, when he saw a red cigar-like object, with what seemed to be luminous smoke escaping from it. The observation lasted several minutes - enough time for him to stop the car and watch the large object move slowly and majestically by. At the same time, while returning from Fontainebleau along the N7 , Mrs Gamundi of Paris also observed the phenomenon. She stopped her car and watched a stationary, vertical red cigar surrounded by clouds. More than a dozen small disk-shaped objects fell out from the lower part of the cigar one after the other and flew away. (Challenge to Science, Jacques Vallee 1966, pg 55) Observers frequently report that when a main cylinder travels with smaller satellite disks, the cylinder travels in a straight line and the satellites zigzag around it. When at rest, or hovering, the satellite disks are vertical. As they increase speed the disks tilt up at a slight angle - possibly due to some fluid-dynamic effect. [Image] Case 2: Kununurra, WA, Australia - August 1966 Cotton farmer Philip Johnston saw what first looked like a very large star travelling earthwards. As the 'star' came closer he could see it was a white light with a red light behind. It appeared to slow down, then stopped and the red light went out. The white light then disappeared behind a hill. (Mr Johnston stopped his tractor and turned the lights off. He said he was 'really scared and felt like crawling under the tractor') The bright light reappeared along with four red-coloured lights which donated as the white light faded and went out. The white light suddenly came on again, brighter than before. It lit up the surrounding area, hovering some 200 metres away for about 5 minutes. The object then rose slowly and banked before moving off leaving a vapour trail behind. Against the starry sky, Johnston could see the outline of an object, a 4050 metre long cigar, about 2.5 metres wide (that is, 150 ft by 8 ft). (Australian UFO Review , Dec 7 1969 Vol 10:30) [Image] Case 3: Atlantic Ocean - May 1963 A group of 50 NATO personnel were travelling in an Air Canada DC8 from Europe to Ottawa Canada. At 36-38,000 feet in clear weather Mrs King saw a , gigantic, stationary dark-grey torpedo' with no windows, portholes, or wings. It was perhaps some 2,000 metres long - see Figure 1. (FSR, Vol 27 No 3 1981: pg 17 ) [Image] [Image] Case 4: Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK - February 1978 [Image] A mother and daughter in Killingworth, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, heard a loud noise that gradually become deafening. Thinking an aircraft was about to crash both women rushed to their own bedroom windows. Each saw an object shaped like 'the tins that cigars come in'. It was silvery but not shining and had a string of 20-25 lights down each side. These were not like windows, but more like light globes. The object was 9-10 metres long and 2.4 metres high (35ft by 8 ft), and there were no signs of any doors or wings. The object was travelling slowly, at around 60 kph, and cruised between two high points of the house about 7.6 m above the ground - see Figure 2. (FSR Vol 24 No 4 1979: pg 29-31.) [Image] Case 5: Plymouth, UK - November 1978 A cigar-shaped UFO was seen at Estover. Observed from a moving [Image] car, it had a long black cigar shape, with one bright white light on the front and a smaller white light at the back. It seemed to be pacing the car and made no noise at all. At Millers Way, the object stopped for a moment before shooting off up into the sky. On 28 November 1978, Mr B of Devonport saw a cigar-shaped object at about 3,000 metres altitude. It was 'twice the size of a Jumbo Jet which we see a lot around here' (that is, around 130 metres long). The observation lasted a minute. ('UFO Over Plymouth' , Plymouth UFO Group, 1983: pgs 8-10) Diagrams of assorted cigar objects reported from around southern England are shown in Figures 3 to 6. [Image] Case 6: Kempsey, NSW, Australia - September 1972 Kempsey greengrocer Mr Allan James noticed a long cigar-shaped UFO [Image] while ascending a hill on the Armidale Road west of Georges Creek. He stated, 'it was 100 times bigger than a Boeing 707, and small objects - flying saucers came from each end'. The discs grouped into an arrowhead formation before heading south-east. Mr James said the small objects left the larger object like fighters leaving an aircraft carrier. Once the discs were out of sight, the larger craft climbed at such a high speed that it disappeared from sight within seconds. This observation occurred in broad daylight and lasted for 10 minutes. Mr James estimated that the large cigar was several thousand feet above the ground, when the smaller discs appeared - see Figure 7. (FSR Vo121 No 6 1976: pg 3. ) [Image] Case 7: Zanthus District, WA - August 1968 Two Air Services pilots returning from Adelaide to Perth in a Piper Navajo VH-RTO reported a group of objects while travelling westwards over the Zanthus district of Western Australia. They saw the objects at 0940 hours GMT while cruising at 190 knots and at 8,000 feet. Captain Smith said the formation was 'some distance ahead at the same level, and about 50 degrees' to his right (from his seat on the right hand side of the plane). In the middle was a large craft and to right and left of it were four or five smaller aircraft: 'We were on track 270 degrees and these objects maintained station with us.' (FSR Vol 24 No 5 1979: pgs 9-13 Mother Ships over Australia, Paul Norman) [Image] Case 8: Siberia, USSR - December 1989 An unusual object hovering over Chelyabinski in central Siberia was reported by Mr Vladimir Kuzn, an experienced jet pilot instructor, while flying a two-seater L-29 single-engine jet plane. The dark grey, cigar-shaped object w as observed for more than 8 minutes and was in direct view for over 4 minutes.Within hours Mr Kuzn developed a strange crust-like coating over part of his face which persisted for 11 days. He drew the object as a cigar-shaped UFO with a length-to-thickness ratio of 8:1 and slightly-rounded ends. (IUR Vol 16 No 6 1991: pgs 12-13, Encounter over Siberia) [Image] Case 9: Manchester, UK - November 1977 Four middle-aged witnesses saw 'a huge dark oblong ... it was dark [Image] grey, a kind of blackish metal covering... I cannot be sure of what the front end was like but I think it was a cone and on this was a huge pulsating red light. The light itself was the apparent size of the full moon. This pulsed at a slow rate about once every three seconds ... most of the time the light was off. It came suddenly, grew bright, quickly faded and then came on about 3 seconds later...The size of the thing was amazing...it seemed to take so long to pass over...it seemed ages before we saw the back of it...' The sighting occurred close to the Shell Carrington oil refinery and a The sighting occurred close to the Shell Carrington oil refinery and a [Image]power station and an array of grid power lines - see map. It approached the area shining a large floodlight, like those used at sports events, with a panel visible between the lights - see Figure 8. The police regarded this brightly lit object as a 'phantom helicopter' because it seemed to hover down low, near the plant. (FSR, Vo124 No 4 1979: pg 22) [Image] Case l0: Galisteo Junction (now Lamy), New Mexico, USA - March 1880 Three men heard loud noises from a 'large balloon the shape of a [Image] fish' which approached rapidly from the west. The object appeared to be entirely under the control of 8-10 occupants 'in a car[riage]' slung below it, and guided by a fanlike apparatus. It was monstrous in size - see Figure 9. Other Australian Cases [Image] [Image] Perth, WA - July to October 1957: [Image] A yellow cigar-shaped object some 7 cm long (apparent size) was seen through a refracting telescope (30x magnification) traversing the moon. [Image] Cambridge Plateau, Casino NSW - July 1982: Small, vibrating pinkish-yellow 'pencil' 300 by 8 mm hovered above the ground at a height of 1 metre. [Image] Tully, Deluca Hill, North Queensland - October 1982: A colourful cigar-shaped object with a smaller conical object was observed for seven minutes see Figure 10. [Image] Hexham, NSW - December 1984: [Image] A large grey cigar-shaped object with three smaller discs, one behind and one each side moved slowly over the Ponderosa Caravan Park, some 60-90 metres overhead (see account earlier in this issue). The three smaller discs joined the larger object and zigzagged around it. The side ones swapped sides and reformed at the rear of the cigar 'like a tail' as the cigar moved along. The cigar had a bright white light in front which lit up the area of the caravan park. (Figure 11) Cigar-shaped object reports from UFOIC's Australian UFO Review No 10 for December 1969 is reprinted at the end of this page. Summary [Image] The common elements of class IIA and IIB (Vallee) objects which distinguish them from other UFOs are: * Size: the very large objects (1001,000 meters long) are usually squatter - the length to width ratio is about 2.2 to 1. Small craft (less than 1 m across) are not usually found with these objects * Cigars which have conical ends are usually illuminated at the cone tip.Cigars with blunt ends are usually unlit * Cigar UFOs are usually a dark metallic grey colour * Cigars move slowly at low altitudes * Cigars usually follow horizontal trajectories or move straight upwards * Cigars often include intense searchlight facilities * Cigars are seen in isolated areas late at night or near power stations, oil refineries, military bases, or over water * Any disc-shaped UFOs associated with cigars position themselves alongside, slightly trailing the cigar, or trail along behind in a straight line formation * Cigars tend to be seen at very low altitudes (below 200 metres) * Cigars are usually silent Further considerations [Image] From their characteristic of producing smaller craft, cigars have often been termed 'mother ships'. Their function may be similar to terrestrial naval aircraft carriers which act as 'floating cities' - cigar-UFOs may act as mostly passive platforms for aerial reconnaissance craft. For such carrier operations, these craft would not want to be seen on radar and hence fly below 200m - their dark gray appearance may help camouflage. If cigar-UFOs operate as reconnaissance-craft carriers, then larger numbers of the smaller UFOs might be reported when cigar-UFOs are reported. Therefore, concentrations of this type of craft might be found from important waves of UFO sightings, such as: * USA: 1947 , 1950, 1952, 1965, 1967 1973 * Australia: 1965 * New Zealand: 1960 * New Guinea: 1959 * USSR: 1962, 1977-78 * UK: 1967--68, 1977 * Western Europe: 1954, 1968, 1973 (The World of the Unknown, Rigby/Usborne 1977: pg 8) Conversely, the Belgian wave from October 1989 to May 1990 reported predominantly triangular-shaped UFOs and not disks or cigars. Joel Mesnard' s report to Flying Saucer Review Belgian wave (FSR Vol 35 No 2 June 1990: pg 3), stated that 'not a single one of these reports was of an object that was near, and not one was of a landed object'. This suggests to me that the Belgian wave may have been of largely terrestrial origin, in keeping with the US Stealth aircraft technology unveiled recently. During April and May of 1992, Australia experienced another UFO flap along its eastern seaboard. Some of these were cigar-shaped craft and may signal increasing UFO activity - cigar UFOs deserve continuing investigation. Cigar Shaped UFOs in Australia (1966-1969) Locality Date Witness Story Adelaide, 26 Apr J. Sheldon Long glowing, cigar-shaped SA 1966 object, about 5.5km distant. Radio interference. Adelaide, 4 Nov J. Hawke Cigar-shaped object, dark band SA 1966 across centre, hovered. Seen two minutes Tranmere, 2 May Chester family(3), White cigar-shaped light at an SA 1967 newspaper witnesses angle to the horizon, tilted further and descended with flashing white light in front. Disappeared behind hills. Dundas, May 1967 J. Searle and Box kite-like object, hovered, NSW neighbour flashed lights and later moved west. Changed colour; visible for 1.5 hours. Pet River 29 Aug M.Hayes Cigar-shaped object 'like Dam, 1967 lighted railway carriage', Tas. 2030 hrs approx. 10 times size of a passenger plane, hovered at commercial aircraft altitude. Red lights lit up crafts rear end and small rocket like objects shot out of tail and disappeared. Craft then crossed from horizon to horizon in seconds, glowing initially, then became a single point of light. No sound heard at all. Hobart, 29 Aug C. Walsh, D. Hull, Lit cigar-shaped object, 200m Tas. 1967 J. above ground, accelerated and Shapman-Mortimer, disappeared. D. Innes (Const) Bendigo, 30 Aug H. & T. Holmberg, Silent object with evenly-spaced Vic. 1967 F. Seddon orange lights; resembling railway carriage. Flashed across sky. Seen for 10 seconds. Mayanup- 13 Oct L. Locke Car immobilised. Iridescent blue Kojonup, 1967 tube of light from cigar-object WA East 24 Feb R. Phillips Small, brilliant white Ipswich, 1968 cigar-shaped object moved north Qld. 1230-1300 into clouds. Emerged then hrs stopped. Black orb visible beneath. Returned to clouds then disappeared into north-west sky. Belmont, 25 August Robertson Family Cigar-shaped object came from NSW 1968 north, heading towards the ocean. Object large, seemed semi-transparent, and resembled neon tube. Seen in daylight (morning). Richards, 10 Jan Eather Family Yellow-orange, noiseless Qld. 1969 cylinder moved slowly across sky, travelling west to east. Seen through binoculars for 7 minutes. Object had large square 'windows'. Norseman, 20 Feb J. Rose Fully-fuelled car 'began to WA 1969 gasp' as if out of fuel. Cigar-shaped object then seen 17 meters away, near the road. Object 10m long, moved away above trees, kicking up dust and leaves. Car then sped ahead. Object disappeared very quickly, taking 10 seconds to rise and vanish. (Sightings data compiled by UFOIC) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Web Author: Scott Hall Revised: Copyright _ 1995-1996 UFO Research (NSW). All rights revert to contributors upon publication. Information in these documents is subject to change without notice. Other products and organisations referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.

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