FLYING SAUCERS IN EAST GERMANY

This intelligence report, issued by the Central Intelligence Agency on August 23, 1952, details the sworn testimony of Oscar Linke, a 45-year-old former mayor of Gleimershausen, West Germany. Linke, who had recently escaped from the Soviet Zone of Germany with his wife and six children, provided an account of an encounter with an unidentified aerial object. According to Linke, he and his 11-year-old daughter, Gabriella, were traveling near the town of Hasselbach when they encountered an object described as a 'huge flying pan' with a diameter of approximately 15 meters, resting in a forest clearing. Linke observed two individuals near the object, noting they wore shiny metallic clothing. He approached to within 10 meters of the craft, observing two rows of holes along its periphery and a black conical tower approximately 3 meters high on its top. Linke reported that one of the individuals had a lamp on the front of his body that illuminated at regular intervals. As the observation continued, the object began to emit a slight hum, its color shifted from green to red, and it began to rise from the ground while rotating like a top. Linke described the object being supported by a cylindrical plant that eventually retracted into the center of the craft. The object then rose, surrounded by a ring of flames, and moved toward a neighboring town before disappearing over the forests in the direction of Stockholm. Linke noted that other residents in the area reported seeing an object they believed to be a comet. Upon returning to the site after the object had departed, Linke discovered a circular, freshly dug opening in the ground. Linke stated that he had no prior knowledge of the term 'flying saucer' and initially assumed the object was a new Soviet military machine. He expressed fear regarding the Soviet authorities' restrictions on movement in East Germany, suggesting they were aware of such phenomena.