ATS POTKTH

FROM TO

ATS POTKTH

PRKJRITT . .

FOREIGN SERVICE

AaCongen, KIBGSTQ1I

TUB DEPARTMENT OF, ST

& DO NOT TYPE IN THIS SPACE: - O

SUBJECT:. "Unexplained Sighting1*, off Grand Cayman

.'?-. On the evening of August 19, Sir Kenneth Blackburne, Governor of Jamaica* -/

telephoned my residence to say that he had Just received a garbled telegram from

Hajor Alan H* Donald, Commissioner for the Cayman Islands, a dependency of Jamaicayr saying in effect that an unidentified disturbance seemed to be taking place some -

ten miles off the north coast of Grand Cayman, that something like firing had been

heard, that what appeared to. be- smoke was plainly visible from the coast, and'that-

.a launch was being sent to investigate.. It was: suggested that the Governor might

wish, to enlist the services, of the United States Navy at Guantanamo if, as it 7"^:

^appeared, a serious situation was developing*. I agreed to stand by the telephone

ready to be of assistance if necessary* We speculated that there might have beea,.;

some sort of minor clash between the Cuban authorities and a gun-runner*- , . : :cj;;.

0) -: ^Hbthing further was heard of the-mystery until August 22* when the Governor ,

received reads, as

a f

shortnotey=dated

August

20*. from

the

Commissioner,

the

body

of

which:-;-So1>9"

I an Borry to have bothered you yesterday evening with the

-,r

*mexplained sighting*. A restrained and sober report from tin

10

s Risible menlent-the-occurrence-more gravity than might other--

wise have bsen. the. case, and so* since that one afternoon of ail

?!

afternoons wehad neither aircraft nor ship-available* I thought it better to give youa little forewarning in. case the worst

EH.

proved true and we had to ask for help from Guantanamo Bay.. The

original report was of something which appeared like a pall of

SJ?ke on the horizon which had vanished before glasses could b*

trained on it - it could* they said, have been a water spout,

only there was no cloud over it, and it looked not unlike a high-

sweeping wave from the bows of a speed boat, only the speedboat

nould have had to be close enough in for it to be impossible for

it to disappear in the few seconds necessary to obtain field

Classes. A later report from some children was that about half

1to0r. nhaoduor11e,waritlhierred(3flpa.mnues)

they had seen a black column, "like a at the bottom*: We sent out the only

.

.

Available craft, a ?miAii motor boat with no radio equipment, ^

and after about 2^ hours they got back to say they had found norn

trace of anything to suggest a ship in distress. Later " ' ' ~

ranged from whales to a strayed missile* . v - i

AHRIn

It

REPORTEH

ACTION COPY -- DEPART MEiST OF STATE

Tba action'office most return thla permanent record copy to RM/R flies with an endorsement of action taken.

Pagr 2 _0f 2 pages

Encl. No

-

Dap. No 62

Kingston

the tendency now is to treat the matter as a joke,' there admittedly remains the possibility that the. smoke and flame may have been caused by a meteor or perhaps a missile fragment*

Arthur R. $&gwalt American Consul General

AIR PRIORITY"*'; ?*" ;V.;CFgI5:a?l'SE gg-

FOREIGN SERVICE DESPATCH

AmConsul,

THE DEPABTMENT OF STATE. WASHINGTON.

DO NOT TYPE IN THIS sf>ACE

H_j ^?

0; =

SUBJECT:

Unidentified Flying Object Sighted;Over Ch

On Sunday, February 9, 1958,. at approximately 6:107p%ra/, various^pcople in

Chiengmai sighted a low flying "object moving at high sreed^^tewitnesses, including several Americans, were of the general opinion: tod^frjectNcas moving from v

west to east at an altitude variously reported as from 600 to 800 feet. An esti-

mate of the object's speed was not ventured except by such statements: "as fast

as you.could turn your head,""like the rush of a' jet plane," "as fast as a shooting

star.* .Descriptions of the object were in general agreement:." "like a ball of

\ .fire .with white 'vapor or smoke, trailing behind." , Some few claimed to .have seen a

rocket-shaped object"and described the various{colors of the rocket (viz., white

nose piece, orange body, black"tail). Some claimed to have heard a rushing or ;swooshing noise as the object passed, but most said they heard nothing.

(

A single report"was provided the Consulate .-by.a. French Catholic priest who (

stated that at 6:05 p.m. on February 9, 1958," he .was on foot approximately sixty f

niiles due west of Chiengmai when he sighted an-object in the sky at an altitude o

.of approximately 2,000 feet. He said the object was moving with tremendous

C

speed, west to east, and appeared to him only as white vapor followed_by inter-

mittent' puff s of green vapor or smoke. His impression of a shape was-that it

A

.was round. There was no noise.

???^vT''-; ?.'?'-'

: . -?;: :

v

'"?'?' About mid-rcorning of the next .day (Jlbnd^V February;10,-.1958)'-reports "vrere i

cn received from the town of Sankampaeng, lli kilometers west of.Chiengmai, that the

object had landed in the mountains east.of the town and that^tremors as from an'

explosion had been felt. One report stated an.object "as long as a big tree? * - . 03

had been sighted in the forest.- .

? .

Action Taken

' ' ? . ,.? -

?

? Vice Consul Robert G. Brewster, with Political Analyst BANCKOP (FSL), and several Chiengmai newspaper reporters proceeded to Sankampaeng immediately.. Here they interviewed various officials and townspeople who gave statements essenti-

ally as above. The group, augmented by a police/guard and several officials, proceeded by Land Rover into the mountains and on; foot when the oxcartv.track ended. Later, in conversation with some woodsmen who claimed to be eyewitnesses, they said.the object sped by at a low height over .the trees and crashed either: ?-'

near the summit or just over the other side. They'said they felt earth"tremors

Las though from an explosion or high speed impact.

JWBHussey/dae

REPORTER*

.J3F5ICIAJ. .USE.QNK.

JV: GOPY .

STATE

The acUon office must return -this permanent record copy to DC/R flies with an endorsement or action taken.

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Page

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Due to the lateness in the day and lack of camping equipment to stay in the mountains, the party then returned to Sankampaeng and Chiengmai. Vice Consul Brewster gave the woodsmen a sum of money to hunt for the object.

On the following Saturday, February l?, 19?8, Political Analyst EANCHOP (FSL)

led a group of reporters and Sankampaeng officials back to the same area. They

walked and camped in the area until Monday night, February 17, 1958? The results

of their search were negative, although they did meet other people in the forest

who gave eyewitness accounts essentially the same as the woodsmen. Some felt

?tremors, others did not. All said, however, the object was very low and appar-

ently descending, and thus must have crashed. ,....-?

..??..

Summary Comment

, .

'

.

From the several reliable eyewitnesses interviewed, apparently some object

was sighted in the sky.. Altitudes"given by both ;the French priest and the

Americans in Chiengmai are questionable, since the object to have reached Chieng-

mai from the west would have required a minimum altitude of k,000 feet, and to

have hit "near the suramit" or "just over" the mountains east of Sankampaeng would

have to be moving at a minimum altitude of 3,850 feet. All eyewitnesses stated :"'

the flight was horizontal rather than vertical or, at an.angle, such as the path

of a meteorite might be. Although some ground search was made, it was not ex-

tensive and the forest might well conceal an object until found by happenstance.

A limited search of the area was made by Thai police helicopter.

.

No further action is being taken by the Consulate. '

;....- . .

William B. Hussey American Consul

cc: AmEmbassy, Bangkok . Army Attache, Bangkok

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