100 Mystery Flying Objects Spotted Here

Air Force Permits Ground Observer Corps Release Data on Phenomena Sighted In Past 2 Years, Confirmed Elsewhere

More than 100 "unidentified flying objects" - many of which have been confirmed by the U. S. Air Force at the Baltimore Filter Center - have been sighted over Wilmington within the past two years, it was revealed yesterday for the first time.

The revelation was made by Mrs. Elizabeth C. Bacon, supervisor of the Ground Observer Corps, a civilian auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force, after permission had been granted by the Baltimore Filter Center and by Lt. Col. D. Preston Lee, director of the State Office of Civil Defense, to release the two-year "log" of the corps here.

Colonel Lee and Maj. Richard Dixon, filter center liaison officer to the Delaware CD director, conferred with Mrs. Bacon yesterday and gave her permission to publish the log.

Prior to this, reports made by observers at the GOC headquarters, Ninth and Rodney Streets, had been relayed promptly to the filter center in Baltimore. The Air Force then digested the reports, and advised the local GOC headquarters, but publication of the accounts was restricted to Air Force, CD and similar groups.

Mrs. Bacon said that Air Force and CD authorities formerly felt that releasing the reports to the public might "give people the idea that we are indulging in fantasies."

Ninety-eight per cent of the UFO's sighted have been observed at night, the log shows. A typical log entry is the following:

"July 5 (the most recent) - Southwest of post (Ninth and Rodney Streets), flying southeast, a slow, blinking, greenish light with a fast-moving object, at 9:39 p. m. Air Force (filter center) said it was still trying to find it. It appeared the way the Air Force talked that they knew about it. 9:40 - Air Force confirmed it as UFO." This report was signed by two members of the GOC, Robert O'Connor and Frank Garosi.

A June 14 report contains the following account:

"A bright light southeast of observation post (hovering). (Confirmed by Air Force.) Watched for 20 minutes and reported to filter center. Air Force told observers to keep constant watch. Object 70 miles from Wilmington and 15 miles in air. Thought to have been the one which hovered over Washington June 12. Baltimore Filter Center had it on radarscope for over two hours." The report was signed by Salvatore Pingue, an observer.

The log also brings to light the so-called "mother ship," a mysterious object described as "long, cigar-shaped," which is supposed to have been sighted over Wilmington April 18, 1953, at about 11:15 a. m.

The so-called "mother ship" was sighted by Miss Margaret J. Curran, a ground observer, and was described as flying at a high rate of speed towards the northwest.

Mrs. Bacon explained that the UFO's reported by the GOC, many of which have been confirmed by the U. S. Air Force, are not the only type brought to her attention.

She explained that imaginative people call her home, at 2135 Faulkland Road, Stony Crest, "any time of night or day," reporting such things as "flashing lights" and the popular "flying saucers."

"One woman was so worked up that she told me over the telephone she had sighted a hammer and sickle in the sky. I just couldn't believe that," the GOC head explained, laughingly.

In the case of observers sighting authentic phenomena or any mysterious flying object, the information is immediately relayed to the Baltimore filter Center.