Urner Liddel
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 3
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Liddel |
| On the Timeline | 2 events, 1951 |
Urner Liddel was a physicist at the U.S. Office of Naval Research, where he was involved in the Navy's high-altitude research balloon programs, including the large Skyhook balloons.
The 1951 statement
In February 1951, Liddel said publicly that he had studied about 2,000 flying saucer reports and believed the more credible ones were sightings of Skyhook balloons, and that there was no evidence of anything else. His statement, reported in Look magazine and newspapers, caused controversy because Skyhook launches had been secret. On the same day, Anthony Mirarchi, a former Air Force scientist on Project Twinkle, publicly accused the government of misleading people. Researchers still debate how many early sightings were Skyhooks.
On the UAP Timeline

- 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.
References
- 1951 press coverage — Project 1947 · mail.project1947.com · archived copy
- French press on Liddel's claim, Feb 1951 — Patrick Gross · ufology.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Skyhook balloon — Wikipedia · wikipedia.org · archived copy
- James McDonald on the balloon explanation · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Green fireballs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Green fireballs and Project Twinkle (Bruce Maccabee) — NICAP · nicap.org · archived copy
- Project Twinkle final report — Project 1947 · mail.project1947.com · archived copy
- Green fireballs — Wikipedia · en.Wikipedia.com · 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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