1961: Hovering Cigar-Shaped Object

THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: November 22, 1961

Sighting Time: 7:00 p.m.

Day/Night:

Location: Near Grafton, Nebraska

Urban or Rural: -Urban

Hynek Classification: CE-II (Close Encounter II) Observation of an object in close proximity to the witness, where physical traces (impression, burn, medical effect, etc.) are left or (electrical effect, heat) are felt

Duration: 10 minutes.

No. of Object(s): 1

Size of Object(s):

Distance to Object(s):

Shape of Object(s): Cigar

Color of Object(s): reddish

Number of Witnesses: Multiple

Source: NICAP / Richard Hall, 1964 (original case in “The Honeywell World,” Jan. 1962)

Summary/Description: A Minneapolis Honeywell metallurgist, Melvin C. Vagle, Jr., and his wife saw a cigar-shaped UFO while driving along U.S. Highway 81. “At the lower end. . . there was a bright ‘flashing white light ann at the upper end there was a steady red light. Along the length of the fuselage there was a row of square-appearing ports, illuminated with a white yellowish light.”

Full Report

A Minneapolis Honeywell metallurgist, Melvin C. Vagle, Jr., saw a cigar-shaped UFO on November 22, 1961. NICAP later learned of the sighting through the Honeywell newspaper and obtained a first-hand report from Mr. Vagle, as well as a detailed painting of the UFO done under his supervision. [See sketch.]

It was a clear starlit night about 7:00 p.m. (CST). Mr. and Mrs. Vagle were traveling north on U S. Highway 81 approaching Grafton. A red light in the sky west of the highway up ahead attracted their attention, then other associated lights made them think it might be an aircraft. As they neared the site and pulled alongside they saw “a cigar-shaped object hovering at a sharp angle over a plowed field. . At the lower end. . . there was a bright ‘flashing white light ann at the upper end there was a steady red light. Along the length of the fuselage there was a row of square-appearing ports, illuminated with a white yellowish light.”

The UFO seemed to be motionless until, when the Vagle’s son started crying, they drove on. Then the UFO appeared to drift westward across the highway. Earlier the same evening a farmer in the Grafton area had seen a reddish cigar-shaped UFO west of Grafton and reported it to an area newspaper. Accompanying Mr.Vagle’s report to NICAP was a letter from the farmer confirming the basic points of his sighting, which occurred at sunset. The farmer could not see any “ports”, only a dull reddish glow from the UFO. The object vanished behind a dark cloud after about 10 minutes.