Flying saucers over Belgian Congo uranium mines

by CIA

 

	CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY	REPORT NO.	00-W-23602
	INFORMATION FROM FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS	CD NO.	--
COUNTRY	Belgian Congo	DATE OF INFORMATION	1952
SUBJECT	Military; Scientific - Air
HOW PUBLISHED	Daily newspaper	DATE DIST.	16 Aug 1952
WHERE PUBLISHED	Vienna	NO. OF PAGES	2
DATE PUBLISHED	29 Mar 1952
LANGUAGE	German	SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT NO.
	THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SOURCE	Die Presse.

FLYING SAUCERS OVER BELGIAN CONGO URANIUM MINES

Fritz Sitte

Recently, two fiery disks were sighted over the uranium mines located in the southern part of the Belgian Congo in the Elisabethville district, east of the Luapula River which connects the Meru and Bangweolo lakes. The disks glided in elegant curves and changed their position many times, so that from below they sometimes appeared as plates, ovals, and simply lines. Suddenly, both disks hovered in one spot and then took off in a unique zigzag flight to the northeast. A penetrating hissing and buzzing sound was audible to the onlookers below. The whole performance leasted from 10 to 12 minutes.

Commander Pierre of the small Elisabethville airfield immediately set out in pursuit with a fighter plane. On his first approach he came within about 120 meters of one of the disks. According to his estimates, the "saucer" had a diameter of from 12 to 15 meters and was discus-shaped. The inner core remained absolutely still, and a knob coming out from the center and several small openings could plainly be seen. The outer rim was completely veiled in fire and must have had an enormous speed of rotation. The color of the metal was similar to that of aluminum.

The disks traveled in a precise and light member, both vertically and horizontally. Changes in elevation from 800 to 1,000 meters could be accomplished in a few seconds; the disks often shot down to within 20 meters of the tree tops. Pierre did not regard it possible that the disk could be manned, since the irregular speed as well as the heat would make it impossible for a person to stay inside the stable core. Pierre had to give up pursuit after 15 minutes since both disks, with a loud whistling sound which be heard despite the noise orf his own plane, disappeared in a straight line toward Lake Tanganyika. He estimated their speed at about 1,500 kilometers per hour.

Pierre is regarded as a dependable officer and a zealous flyer. He gave a detailed report to his superiors which, strangely enough, in many respects agreed with various results of research.

The sketch below shows the construction principle of the "flying saucers." The captions are, in part, purely conjecture, based on reports by pilots who pursued the disks; in part, they were learned from secret research institutions. The central core contains the explosive (SP) and the installations for radar steerage (R). It has catapult knobs (KZ) and antennae (AN) as well as counter-pressure housing (GD). Around this core, a rim rotates which has jets (D) on its upper and lower side, plus fuel chambers (DB). The roller bearing is shown by the letter L. The launching occurs at a sharp angle in the manner of a discus throw; the revolutions per minute of the rim probably amount to 22,000. The jets on the bottom of the rim serve to propel the disk vertically upwards; lateral steerage results from switching on and off various jet groups.

[Appended sketch follows:]