REPORTS OF UNCONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT IN FRENCH AFRICA, CORSICA, AND WESTERN EUROPE

This Central Intelligence Agency report, dated 9 February 1953, compiles a series of reports regarding unconventional aircraft sightings across French Africa, Corsica, and Western Europe during the latter half of 1952. The document details several specific incidents. On 3 July 1952, a technical manager at the Hann Center in Dakar observed a flat, tapered object moving west to east at an estimated altitude of 1,500 meters. On the same day in Oran, Algeria, a mechanic observed a silvery disk that revolved rapidly before disappearing. The Algerian weather bureau later suggested that sightings in their region were likely misidentified weather balloons. In October 1952, a spindle-shaped object was reported over Corsica, and a cigar-shaped object enveloped in orange flames was seen along the Algerian coastline. A significant sighting occurred on 27 October 1952 in Gaillac, France, where approximately 100 inhabitants observed a formation of 16 disk-shaped objects that discharged shining particles resembling glass wool. Finally, the report notes that in West Germany, a former pilot named Rudolf Schriever applied for a patent for an elliptical flying object, which he claimed could reach speeds of 4,000 kilometers per hour and possessed a diameter of 40 meters.