UFO Sighting Report — Surrey, England, June 1951

This document collection details a 1964 correspondence regarding a UFO sighting that occurred in June 1951 in Surrey, England. A witness, who was serving in the army at the time, wrote to Captain Hector Quintanilla Jr. of Project Blue Book to report an incident he had kept secret for thirteen years. The witness described observing a bright, circular, silvery object, roughly the size of a parachute, hovering stationary above the River Thames near Kingston and Richmond. He noted that the object appeared to be made of 'bright zinc' and that its brightness seemed to emanate from within. The witness, who was alone at the time, stated that the object vanished in a 'twinkling' when he moved to seek assistance. The official military response, issued by the Foreign Technology Division in July 1964, acknowledged the report but concluded that the case could not be evaluated. Major Maston M. Jacks and Colonel Eric T. de Jonckheere noted that the significant lapse of time since the 1951 event, combined with the absence of precise timing, location, and weather data, made a positive identification impossible. The military provided the witness with a summary of Project Blue Book and a Form 164 for further reporting, though they expressed skepticism that a definitive conclusion could be reached after so many years. The internal evaluation suggested the phenomenon might have been a 'Sun Dog' observation, but ultimately classified the report as having insufficient data.