| ID | #1548944173 |
| Added | Thu, 31/01/2019 |
| Author | July N. |
| Sources | NICAP / Richard Hall, 1964 (citing Nairobi Sunday Post, Feb. 25, 1951)
|
| Phenomena | |
| Status | Research
|
Initial data
One of the earliest and most spectacular reports from Africa concerns the discovery of a huge cigar-shaped UFO which hovered over famous mount Kilimanjaro 19 February 1951. The UFO was photographed from the East African Airways plane flying nearby. Remaining stationary for a considerable period of time, the object suddenly rose and disappeared.
The observation was described in detail in "theNairobi Sunday Post," February 25, 1951 captain Jack Bicknell, the pilot of the aircraft East African Airways.
Excerpts from the report of captain Bicknell:
The plane "Lodestar" left Nairobi West at 7:00 in the morning. At 7:20 am the radio operator Merrifield (DW Merrifield) drew my attention to a bright object like a white star hanging motionless at an altitude of about 10,000 feet above Kilimanjaro. My first reaction was silence. We looked at it three minutes. Then we told the passengers about it. One of them was a very powerful pair of binoculars, and he began to examine the object. At the same time we passed a radio message to Eastleigh with the description of the object. Eastleigh asked us to check if it was a weather balloon. Then I have a few minutes I examined him through binoculars.
Through it I saw a metal object in the shape of a bullet, which was supposed to be longer than 200 feet. At one end was a vertical fin of square cross-section. Its color was silver, and at regular intervals along the fuselage were vertical dark bands. His outlines were clear, there was no turbidity. He was absolutely motionless and remained so for 17 minutes.
Captain. Bicknell claims that during this time he photographed two passengers.
Then the object began to move East, rising at the same time. He disappeared at an altitude of about 40,000 feet. This strange mAshina didn't leave a trail of steam and had no visible means of movement. I was under the impression that this is definitely some kind of aircraft.
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
Original news
One of the earliest and most spectacular reports from Africa concerns the sighting of a huge cigar-shaped UFO which hovered over famous Mt. Kilimanjaro February 19,1951. The UFO was photographed from an East African Airways plane flying in the vicinity. After remaining motionless for a considerable period of time, the object suddenly climbed steeply and disappeared. The movie film was developed and reportedly showed a clear and sizeable image of the object, according to the Natal Mercury.
The sighting was detailed in the Nairobi Sunday Post, February 25, 1951, by Capt. Jack Bicknell, pilot of the East African Airways plane. Extracts from Capt. Bicknell’s report: “The Lodestar plane left Nairobi West at 7:00 a.m. At 7:20 a.m., the radio officer (D. W. Merrifield) drew my attention to a bright object like a white star hanging motionless about 10,000 feet above Kilimanjaro. My first reaction was to say nothing. We watched it for three minutes. Then we told the passengers about it. One of them had a very powerful pair of binoculars with him and he began to study it. In the meantime, we put a radio message through to Eastleigh describing it. Eastleigh asked us to check whether it was a meteorological balloon. I then examined it for several minutes through the binoculars. . . [At this point the plane had approached to within about 50 miles of the mountain]…
“Through the glasses I saw a metallic, bullet shaped object which must have been over 200 feet long. At one end was a square- cut vertical fin. Its color was a dull silver, and at regular intervals along the fuselage were vertical dark bands. Its whole outline was clear and sharp and there was no haziness about it at all. . . It was absolutely stationary, and remained that way for 17 minutes. . . [Capt. Bicknell states that two passengers were taking photographs at this time]
“Then it began to move eastwards, rising as it did so. It disappeared at about 40,000 feet. . . The machine left no vapor trail, and it had no visible means of propulsion. . . My impression was that it was definitely a flying machine of some kind.”
Hypotheses
Investigation
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