Afghanistan saucer reports (1956)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 24 January 1956 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 56 |
| Year | 1956 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1956 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
On 24 January 1956 Afghanistan's Bakhtar news agency reported "flying saucers" seen in several parts of the country, and the governor of Kataghan province reported that a saucer-shaped metal object had landed near Baghlan. U.S. intelligence followed the reports, and Project Blue Book logged the case, concluding it was probably a balloon.[1][2]
The reports
Bakhtar described objects that were round, square and glowing, seen at Herat, Behsud, Shala and elsewhere. The governor of Kataghan, in the north, reported that a "moving object" had come down near Baghlan, at about 36°25′N 69°05′E: a saucer-shaped metal craft about 15 metres in circumference with thick glass windows around its edge. Local people were said to be trying to transport it to Kabul for the Minister of Defence, though the report noted it was not certain a vehicle was available.[1]
The U.S. response
The U.S. air attaché in Kabul was alerted, and a flight was scheduled for 25 January 1956 to confirm the report, but the trip was cancelled. There is no record of any follow-up or recovered object.[1]
Blue Book
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The reports reached Air Force intelligence and were logged by Project Blue Book as case 7340, which concluded "probably balloon" and "insufficient data for evaluation".[1][2]
Context
The case shows U.S. intelligence following foreign UFO reports during the Cold War, when Afghanistan bordered the Soviet Union. In January 1956 the United States launched Project Genetrix, which sent hundreds of camera-carrying reconnaissance balloons drifting across the Soviet Union and neighbouring regions — a plausible source of some of the sightings.[2][3]
People and topics
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — The Ohio air base that housed Project Blue Book and is linked to the Hangar 18 legend.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
On the Timeline
- Bernard Schriever and Wright Field technical intelligence (1956) — Gen. Bernard Schriever's testimony describes close work with technical intelligence at Wright Field.
- Ruppelt's account of the Estimate of the Situation (February 1956) — Edward Ruppelt writes he once saw a top-secret 'Estimate of the Situation' on UAP.
See every 1956 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Thread summarising Blue Book case 7340, Afghanistan, January 1956, Thread Reader · threadreaderapp.com · archived copy
- CIA reading room: UFO documents · cia.gov · archived copy
- Project Genetrix — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- FOIA UFO documents index — Patrick Gross · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- archive.org · archive.org · archived copy
Further reading
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Hangar 18 (the legend and 1980 film) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- UFO documents — CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
- Pentacle memorandum — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
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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