1951 in UFO history
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📅 Year
Contents 5
| Year | 1951 |
|---|---|
| Events | 3 |
| Decade | 1950s |
| Topics | Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic), Ocean & underwater (topic), Beings & bodies (topic) |
| Timeline | 1951 on the UAP Timeline |
1951 in UFO history — the UAP Timeline records 3 events in 1951, mostly about government programs and congress & law. People named in these events include Urner Liddel, Anthony Mirarchi, Dewey Fournet, Edward Ruppelt, Donald Keyhoe.
Overview
In 1951 the Air Force's UFO work was at a low point. Angered by the poor quality of Project Grudge's investigations, the Air Force Director of Intelligence reorganised it in late 1951 and put Captain Edward Ruppelt in charge. It became Project Blue Book in March 1952.[1] That autumn, in August and September, formations of lights seen over Lubbock, Texas, the "Lubbock Lights," drew national publicity and an Air Force investigation. Ruppelt wrote that officially all the sightings except one radar contact were "unknowns."[2] The year also brought The Day the Earth Stood Still, a Cold War film about an alien visitor who arrives with a warning for humanity.[3]
The timeline's 1951 entries show a public argument over balloons. On 27 February Office of Naval Research physicist Urner Liddel wrote in a magazine article that all UFO reports were mirages or balloons and that trained observers were being fooled.[4] The same day Anthony Mirarchi, former head of Project Twinkle, told the Associated Press that the Navy was misleading the public. He said real UFOs showed "maneuvered motion" and that ignoring them could lead to "a worse Pearl Harbor." The FBI and Air Force considered prosecuting him.[4][5] The timeline also reports that Blue Book's Major Dewey Fournet ran a private, Navy-assisted inquiry into undersea and aerial objects, whose case files were mostly lost.[4]
Events
- Dewey Fournet's motion study and Navy inquiry (1951) — A Blue Book officer reportedly runs a private, Navy-assisted inquiry into undersea and aerial UAP.
- Urner Liddel's Skyhook balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — A Navy physicist publicly says all UAP reports are mirages or balloons.
- Anthony Mirarchi's challenge to the balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — The head of Project Twinkle tells reporters the Navy is misleading the public and real UAP show controlled motion.
People
- Urner Liddel — Office of Naval Research physicist who said in 1951 that Skyhook balloons explained saucer reports.
- Anthony Mirarchi — Air Force scientist behind Project Twinkle who publicly challenged the balloon explanation in 1951.
- Dewey Fournet — Pentagon Air Force intelligence liaison to Project Blue Book who produced a 1952 study of UFO motions.
- Edward Ruppelt — Head of Project Blue Book in 1952–53 and author of The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects.
- Donald Keyhoe — Retired Marine officer, author and director of NICAP who campaigned against UFO secrecy.
- Michael Swords — Historian of the Air Force UFO projects.
- Thomas Mantell — Air National Guard pilot who died chasing a UFO in 1948.
- Kenneth Arnold — Pilot whose 1947 sighting gave rise to the term "flying saucer".
- James E. McDonald — University of Arizona atmospheric physicist who campaigned for serious UFO research in the 1960s.
- Lincoln LaPaz — Meteor expert who argued the 1948–49 green fireballs over New Mexico were not ordinary meteors.
Nearby years
1950 in UFO history · 1952 in UFO history
References
- Unidentified flying object — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Lubbock Lights — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- The Day the Earth Stood Still — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- UAP timeline published with Michael Shellenberger's 2024 congressional testimony, entries for 1951 · oversight.house.gov
- UAP timeline (Shellenberger testimony), entry for 27 February 1951 (continued) · oversight.house.gov
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “Unidentified flying object”, “Lubbock Lights”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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