Ben Guerir guards' sighting (1960)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 1960 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Military encounters (topic) |
| People | Robert Hastings, Larry Rogers |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 63 |
| Year | 1960 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1960 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 4 |
In February 2013 former U.S. Air Force security guard Larry W. Rogers told researcher Robert Hastings that in 1960, while guarding the runway at Ben Guerir Air Base in Morocco, he and other dog handlers watched about six glowing objects manoeuvre over the Atlas Mountains while jet fighters flew towards them, after which the guards were interrogated and made to sign non-disclosure statements.[1]
Background
Rogers, an Airman 3rd Class, served in 1960 with the K-9 section of the 3926th Air Police Squadron at Ben Guerir. France was then conducting its first atomic tests at Reggane in the Algerian Sahara, about 600 miles southeast; the first French atomic bomb, "Gerboise Bleue", was exploded on 13 February 1960, and four tests took place in the Sahara during Rogers's posting. Rogers said that although he never saw a flash, the sky was coloured at sunrise and sunset for days after the tests.[1]
The sighting
Rogers said that one night, shortly after a test, he and five other handlers guarding the north end of the runway with German Shepherds saw about six bright objects hovering roughly 90 miles away, apparently above the Atlas Mountains. The guards alerted the squadron command post. Four or five jet fighters, which he believed came from Zaragoza Air Base in Spain, flew past with afterburners lit towards the lights, which began moving suddenly and erratically, with sharp turns and loops, for about 45 minutes before the fighters left.[1]
The debriefing
Afterwards the guards were driven to headquarters, separated and questioned by two uniformed officers, one of whom tried to intimidate him; Rogers suspects they were from the Office of Special Investigations. He was shown a UFO regulation marked "AFR 200-2" and ordered to sign a non-disclosure statement, and the guards never discussed the incident again.[1]
Assessment
Rogers was the first veteran to answer a January 2013 call by Hastings for witnesses, and supplied his discharge papers confirming his service at an Air Force base in North Africa. He could not establish the date. Hastings suggests the objects might have been drawn by the French tests, while acknowledging this is speculation. The account is the only one of the incident, although Project Blue Book has a file on a Morocco sighting from September 1960.[1][2]
People and topics
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- Robert Hastings — Researcher who has collected accounts of UFOs at nuclear weapons sites, author of UFOs and Nukes.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Larry Rogers — Air Force dog handler who described UFOs over Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco, in 1960.
- Air Force Regulation 200-2 — Air Force Regulation 200-2
- Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
On the Timeline
- Hillenkoetter's 1960 call for hearings (22 June 1960) — Former CIA Director Hillenkoetter tells a newspaper UFOs are under intelligent control.
- Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (1961) — Texas Instruments sets up a research center that hires gravitational physicists.
See every 1960 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Robert Hastings, "UFOs observed by U.S. Air Force security guards during French atomic testing in Algeria" (Feb 2013) · ufohastings.com · archived copy
- Blue Book file: Morocco, September 1960, UFO Scans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- ufohastings.com · ufohastings.com · archived copy
- nicap.org · nicap.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.
No discussion yet.