Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting in Portugal, 13 May 1952

On May 13, 1952, at approximately 11:00 local time, a sighting of an unidentified aerial object occurred over the Santarém, Alconaca, Caldas da Rainha, and Torres regions of Portugal. The event was reported in the Azores newspaper 'Correio dos Açores' on May 17, 1952. According to the report, hundreds of witnesses observed an object described as having an aluminum color and an intense reflection. The object performed various maneuvers at great altitude, including acrobatics, spinning, and traveling in a circular course from the OTA airfield area toward the west. Notably, the object emitted smoke that formed distinct patterns, such as circles, squares, and both broken and unbroken lines, which remained suspended in the air for over an hour and a half. Following the disappearance of the primary object, two fighter aircraft were observed flying under the smoke clouds in the direction of the OTA airfield. While some witnesses speculated that the smoke patterns were 'Signals from Heaven' or related to 'Flying Discs,' a correspondent for the 'Diario de Noticias' asserted that the object was an airplane, noting its speed and the smoke trails as the primary unusual features. Captain Frank J. Wojtasiak of the USAF Intelligence Division evaluated the report, noting that the location of the incident was approximately 20 miles northeast of Lisbon, near the OTA Airfield. The official assessment suggests that the object may have been one of the new jet aircraft recently delivered to Portugal under NATO provisions, although the report acknowledges that no such reference was made in the local press.