UFOs and Intelligence: A Timeline October 10, 2023 Aggregation by George M. Eberhart 2023 After an effort of many years, I have prepared a comprehensive timeline of UFO history that will be useful to UFO researchers and historians. UFOs and Intelligence is an up-to-date retrospective of UFO history (from Agobard of Lyons to the newly appointed US investigation agency All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office), intertwined with events in US and world history concerning military and civilian intelligence agencies and the cult of secrecy. It is now 935 pages and more than 860,000 words (including a substantial Sources and Further Reading appendix). Readers will discover or rediscover many events, people, and UFO cases they may not be familiar with. Some will find it useful for current or planned research projects. Military cases, those involving commercial aircraft, close encounters involving physical traces and other evidence, reports involving occupants or entities, and events surrounding military and sensitive nuclear sites are emphasized, but this timeline covers the full spectrum of UFO history, from contactee experiences to misidentifications of mundane phenomena and notorious hoaxes. Links to online sources are given, and links to biographical information are provided when available. A timeline like this allows us to view events from a different perspective, letting us make connections we might not otherwise see. It forces us to view the big picture, amid the grand flow of UFO cases, military security decisions, a vast swathe of personalities, and world history. As of 2022, all references have proper bibliographical citations with embedded links; if you have a version with raw URL links, it is an earlier version. Dead links will be repaired as quickly as possible. 812 Agobard, the archbishop of Lyon, France, writes De Grandine et Tonitruis (On Hail and Thunder), in which he condemns pagan folk beliefs, such as the notion of a certain region called Magonia, from which ships, navigating on clouds, set sail to transport back to this same region the fruits of the earth ruined by hail and destroyed by the storm. He cites an episode in which some foolish peasants capture three men and one woman who they said had fallen from these ships. Brought out in front of an enraged mob, Agobard intervenes and prevents their lynching, persuading the crowd that the charges are false and absurd. Some ufologists interpret this as a visitation from an alternate reality or an abduction case, while Jean-Louis Brodu observes that in the 9th century the atmosphere was likened to an ocean in which aerial ships could navigate from point to point on the earth. Miceal Ross argues that Magonia is a corruption of Magonianus, relating to the city of Mahn, the port of the island of Menorca, Spain. (Jean-Louis Brodu, Magonia: A Re-Evaluation, Fortean Studies 2 (1995): 198215; Miceal Ross, Anchors in a Three-Decker World, Folklore 109 (1998): 6375; Valle, Magonia, pp. 2324; Clark III 12131214; Valle and Aubeck, Wonders in the Sky, Tarcher, 2009, pp. 7073; Pierre Chambert-Protat, Florus de Lyon et les Extra- terrestres, Florus de Lyon, November 4, 2014; Pierre Lagrange, Agobard, la Magonie et les ovnis, Actualit, no. 440 (October 2017): 2829; Wikipedia, Magonia (mythology)) 1252 A bright globe of light nearly as large as the moon is seen above Padua, Italy for one hour before vanishing. It moves faster than the moon, just as fast as a falling star. (Rolandino of Padua, Cromica in Factis circa Facta Marchiae Trivixane, a cura di Antonio Bonardi, in Raccolta degli Storici Italiani...ordinate da L. A. Muratori, 1440 Nicholas of Cusa publishes On Learned Ignorance, in which he advocates not only the idea of a plurality of worlds but also the existence of life on the moon and sun. (Wikipedia, De Docta Ignorantia) 1457 French theologian William Vorilong agrees that God could create another inhabited world, but adds that Jesus of Nazareth only redeemed this world. God would have to address the issue of sin in other worlds on an individual basis. (David Darling, Encyclopedia) 1532 Juan Maldonaldo, a Spanish cleric, writes Somnium, in which he travels to the Moon in a dream. There he is taken to a lunar city, whose houses around the square are identical and symmetrical. The building is exceptional, with fine materials which remind him of the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. The temples central location and its wonderful execution stand out. It describes the courtship between the king and the queen in detail, which surprises him a lot. He finally comes back to the Earth, to a city of America, where he talks to locals who are Christians. (Utopian Texts) December 15 Mariners in the port of Hamburg, Germany, see a fireball moving to the south. Its rays are so hot that passengers cannot remain inside the ships. Thinking the vessels are about to burn, they hide and take cover. (Simon Goulart, Thrsor dhistoires admirables et mmorables de nostre temps, Geneva, 1600, vol. 1, p. 55) April 14 Dusk. A frightening vision is seen in the sky above Nuremberg, Germany, said to be observed by many. Printer Hans Glaser describes in his broadside many blood-red, blue, and black balls or discs near the Sun. They were three alongside each other, sometimes four in a square, and several alone, and between these balls blood- colored crosses are seen. Two great pipes (cannon) are also observed, and everything starts to fight against each other. The battle lasts about one hour, then the burning balls fall to the earth and vanish on the ground. Although cited as a possible early UFO report, the narrative is simply about a battle in the sky by phantom armies told as an allegory of what awaits an unrepentant humanity on Judgment Day. A meteorological cause is also possible. (Hans Glaser, Himmelserscheinung ber Nrnberg am 14. April 1561, Holzschnitt, 1561; Carl Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies, Mentor ed., 1969, pp. 103104, between pp. 120 121; Nrnberger Flugblatt von 1561, Wikipedia; Frank Johnson, Nuremberg 1561 UFO Battle Debunked, Ancient Aliens Debunked, December 12, 2012; Ulrich Magin, A UFO in the Year 1561, Fortean Times 283 (February 2012): 4042; Ulrich Magin, Ein UFO im Jahr 1561?) July 2728, August 7 Sunrise. In Basel, Switzerland, numerous large black balls are said to have been seen passing around the sun, apparently engaged in a fight. Many turn red and are extinguished. Ulrich Magin suggests that the description is an apocryphal sky battle that is a warning sign from God. (Samuel Koch, Seltzame gestalt so in diesem M.D.LXVI. Jar Gegen auffgang und nidergang, under dreyen malen am Himmel ist gesehen woorden, zu Basel auff den xxvij. Und xxviij. Hwmonat und volgends auf den vij Augsten (Basel, Samuel Apiarius, 1558); Basler Flugblatt von 1566, Wikipedia) 1634 German astronomer Johannes Kepler writes Somnium to describe what practicing astronomy would be like from the perspective of another planet and to show the feasibility of a non-geocentric system. The manuscript, which disappears after changing hands several times, describes a fantastic trip to the Moon; it is part allegory, part autobiography, and part treatise on interplanetary travel, and is sometimes described as the first work of science fiction. (Wikipedia, Somnium (novel)) 1627 English bishop Francis Godwin writes The Man in the Moone, describing a Spaniard named Gonsales who flies to the Moon (with the help of some swans) and visits people there who are Christians living in a utopian society. The Lunars speak a language consisting not so much of words and letters as tunes and strange sounds, which Gonsales succeeds in gaining some fluency in after a couple of months. He discovers that their unruly children are swapped out for better-behaved kids on Earth. (Wikipedia, The Man in the Moone) January 25 7:00 p.m. German astronomer Wilhelm Schickard observes a bright-white oval or egg-shaped object in the northern sky above Tbingen, Germany. The object is later joined by two other white shapes, although in differing stages of intensity. One looks like an overturned cauldron, while the other is similar to a long whetstone ground down on both sides. The cloud-like objects do not flicker like stars but seem to fade in and out of visibility. Colored lights also appear around the original object over a period of three hours. (Wilhelm Schickard, Beschreibung des Wunder-Zeichens, welches Montags den 25. Januar 1630 gegen Norden gesehen worden, 1630; Andreas Mller, Prof. Wilhelm Schickard (15921635): UFO-Zeuge und Deutschlands erster UFO-Forscher, grenzWissenschaft-aktuelle.de, August 19, 2023) 1632 Italian astronomer Galileo Galelei writes in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems that if life exists on the Moon, it must be extremely diverse and far beyond our imagining. (Wikipedia, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems) 1638 English clergyman and philosopher John Wilkins writes The Discovery of a World in the Moone, in which he highlights the similarities of the Earth and the Moon (seas, mountains, atmosphere) and concludes that the Moon is likely to be inhabited by living beings, whom the calls Selenites. (Maria Avxentevskaya, How 17th Century Dreamers Planned to Reach the Moon, Real Clear Science, December 2, 2017) 1638 Night. John Everett and two companions are crossing the Muddy River near Boston, Massachusetts, in a boat when a great light appears above them. It darts back and forth across the river, sometimes hovering and flaming up, for about 23 hours. After they stop watching it, they discover that their boat has moved about one mile against the current to the place where they had embarked. (John Winthrop, The History of New England from June 6 French philosopher Ren Descartes in a letter opines that he sees no reason why God would not create intelligent creatures in the stars. (Letter to Pierre Chanut, in Oeuvres des Descartes, ed. Charles Adam and Paul 1657 The French dramatist Cyrano de Bergeracs novel, LAutre monde ou les tats et empires de la Lune is published, detailing his attempts to reach the Moon to prove there is a civilization that sees the Earth as its own moon. (Wikipedia, Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon) August 15 12:00 noon. The faithful gathered in a church in a village near Lake Zarobozero, Vologda Oblast, Russia, hear a loud noise outside and see a large ball of fire descend from the north and then head south following the lake, low over its surface. The fireball seems to measure about 140 feet across and has blue smoke issuing from its sides. Two fiery rays extend from its front part. Less than an hour later, a similar fireball reappears over the same lake. Moving from south to west, the object again disappears. It reappears a third time a short while later, this time larger than before, and stays over the lake for an hour and a half. Peasants in a boat try to get close to it, but the heat is too intense. The water of the lake is illuminated to a depth of 30 feet, and fish are seen swimming away from the object, which then flies off to the west. (Akty istoricheskie, sobranye i izdanye Arkheografischeskaia Kommissiia, Vol. 4, Saint Petersburg, 1842, pp. 331332; Hobana and Weverbergh 5461; Jacques Valle and Chris Aubeck, Wonders in the Sky, Tarcher, 2009, pp. 215217; Thomas E. Bullard, Defending UFOs, IUR 34, no. 2 (March 2012): 31; Stonehill and Mantle, Russias USO Secrets, Flying Disk, April 8 6:00 p.m. Numerous wonders are seen in the sky over Stralsund, Germany, including ships, large flocks of birds, fire, and smoke, as well as a dark round flat form like a plate and like a big mans hat that hovers above St. Nicholas Church for one hour. Witnesses include several fishermen who later complain of tremors in their hands and feet. (Eine abgebildete Beschreibung von dem wunderbarlichen Stralsundischen Lufft-Kriege und Schiff-streite, Leipzig, 1665; Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough, Return to Magonia: Investigating UFOs in History, Anomalist, 2015, pp. 2338; Andreas Mller, UFO 1665: Sonderausstellung in der Kunstbibliothek Berlin widmet sich historischen Darstellungen unidentifizierter Flugobjekte und Phnomene, grenzWissenschaft- aktuelle.de, May 3, 2023) 1686 French philosopher Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle writes Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, in which he speculates on extraterrestrial life. He imagines Venusians to be little black people, scorched with the Sun, full of fire, very amorous. (Wikipedia, Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds) 1698 Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens has a work posthumously published, Cosmotheoros (or, in its English title Celestial Worlds Discoverd: Or, Conjectures Concerning the Inhabitants, Plants and Productions of the Worlds in the Planets) that will within two decades be available in five languages beyond its original Latin version. He speculates that other planets also harbor plant and animal life. (Christiaan Huygens, Celestial Worlds Discoverd, December 5 5:00 p.m. Physician Thomas Short witnesses a blood-red luminous display in the sky around Sheffield, England, which moves from west to north and then to the east. The cause seems to be one or more clouds in which are embedded brilliant lights as bright as the full moon that give off slow-moving streamers or rays. The display is accompanied by unseasonable heat and lasts until 10:30 p.m. Short hears that a similar phenomenon is seen at the same time in Venice, Italy, and Kilkenny, Ireland, where it appears as a bursting fireball. (Thomas Short, An Account of Several Meteors, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 41 (1741): 625627) December 6 Afternoon. A large, blood-red object is seen in the western sky at Bucharest, Wallachia [now Romania]. It lingers for two hours before splitting up then reuniting once again. The phenomenon is said to have occurred at night in the Banat region. (Hobana and Weverbergh 222; Romania 4) September 21 Dawn. Parson-naturalist Gilbert White wakes up at his vicarage in Selborne, Hampshire, England, and finds the neighboring clover fields matted all over with a thick coat of cobwebs, laced with dew. The dogs are blinded by it when they attempt to hunt. At 9:00 a.m. more cobwebs fall from the sky and continue until dusk. They are perfect flakes or rags; some near an inch broad, and five or six long, which fell with a degree of velocity that showed they were considerably heavier than the atmosphere. The fall extends to the neighboring villages of New Alresford and Bradley. (Gilbert White, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789), Letter XXIII) December 16? 8:40 p.m. Physician Cromwell Mortimer, secretary of the Royal Society, is walking through St. Jamess Park in Westminster, London, England, when he sees a light ascend from behind the trees and houses in the southwest. When it reaches 20 against the sky, it takes a horizontal path with an undulating motion before disappearing in the northeast after a full 30 seconds. The front part is luminous with a frame-like structure behind it, and it has a faint trail. The date is questionable since Mortimer calls this a Thursday and December 16 was a Sunday. ([A Note by Cromwell Mortimer], Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 43 (1745): 524525) July 14 Astronomer George Costard observes a meteoric stream of fire that persists for at least one hour at Standlake Broad west of Oxford, England. (Part of a Letter from the Reverend Mr. Geo. Costard to Mr. John Catlin, concerning a Fiery Meteor Seen in the Air on July 14, 1745, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 43 November 4 11:50 a.m. The crew of the HMS Montagu watches a large blue fireball, apparently low on the water, head directly toward them from the northeast and explode some 150 feet away from the ship, causing some damage to the mast, before it continues on toward the southwest. The incident takes place in the North Atlantic Ocean some 240 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain. (Chalmers, An Account of an Extraordinary Fireball Bursting at Sea, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 46 (1752): 366367; Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough, Return to Magonia: Investigating UFOs in History, Anomalist, 2015, pp. 6775; Martin Shough and Wim van Utrecht, Redemption of the Damned, vol. 2, Anomalist, 2021, pp. 105114) March German philosopher Immanuel Kant publishes Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, in which he theorizes that distance from the Sun determines the intelligence level of a worlds inhabitants; thus, the people who live on Mercury are the stupidest, and the Venusians are only dimly brightermaking any Jupiterians and Saturnians much smarter than earthlings. (Wikipedia, Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens) 1756 Scottish astronomer James Ferguson writes Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newtons Principles, proclaiming the certainty of a plurality of inhabited worlds peopled with myriads of intelligent beings, formed for endless progression in perfection and felicity. (James Ferguson, Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newtons Principles, 8th ed., London, 1790, p. 6; Matthew Goodman, The Sun and the Moon, Basic Books, 2008, 1758 Swedish theologian and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg writes in The Earths in the Universe that that he has conversed with spirits from Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus, and the Moon, as well as spirits from planets beyond the solar system. From these encounters, he concludes that the planets are all inhabited and that such an enormous undertaking as the universe cannot have been created for just one race on one planet. (Emanuel Swedenborg, The Earths in the Universe, London, 1875; Richard Smoley, Is There Really Life on Other Planets? Swedenborg Foundation, February 15, 2019) April 27 4:00 p.m. Following a clap of thunder, a flat, pale object is seen dancing in the sky over Longdon, Somerset, England. It is joined by three similar objects, all of which move from west to east for 30 seconds and disappear in a cloud. (London Universal Chronicle, May 5, 1759; Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough, Return to Magonia: Investigating UFOs in History, Anomalist, 2015, pp. 8396) August 9 12:00 noon. An amateur astronomer named de Rostan is observing the Sun at Lausanne, Switzerland, when he notices a large, spindle-shaped body moving across the solar disc from east to west at a slower rate of speed than sunspots move. It is surrounded by a thin nebulosity. An observer named Croste in Solothurn, Switzerland, also observes the object, but French astronomer Charles Messier, who is also taking solar measurements in Paris, France, does not see it. It remains visible until September 7, when it passes the Suns western limb. (Observation Astronomique, Histoire de lAcadmie Royale des Sciences, 1766, pp. 106107; An Account of a Very Singular Phaenomenon Seen in the Disk of the Sun, Annual Register, 1766, pp. 120122; Martin Shough and Wim van Utrecht, Redemption of the Damned, vol. 2, Anomalist, 2021, pp. 3345) September 9 A cl