Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity

Date: Nov 1955
Place: Budapest-Moscow corridor, Hungary/USSR
Record: Pentagon file
Assessment: Not assessed
Evidence strength

467 case pages by decade; this one falls in 1950s with 49 othersAll cases

What was reported

A CIA Information Report (control no. 00-B-93674) relays a November 1955 personal letter from a naturalized US citizen's niece in Hungary, describing 'so-called flying cigars (rockets)' that kept people nervous for several weeks, with a speed of '12,000 km per hour' estimated by scientific circles per rumor. A sketch is described showing a suspected formation and course between Budapest and Moscow. The source notes this is the first time his niece has mentioned such objects in her correspondence.

What officials concluded

No conclusion stated

The file gives no official explanation.

Agency: CIA
Released in

Evidence profile

Sensors1 of 9

Yes: Visual
No: Infrared
No: Radar
No: Video
No: Photo
No: Film
No: Audio
No: Night vision
No: Other sensor

Witnessescount not stated

No: Civilian
No: Military aircrew
No: Military ground
No: Airline crew
No: Sensor operator
No: Law enforcement
No: Scientist
No: Astronaut
No: Intelligence official
Yes: Other

ShapeCylinder

No: Light only
No: Orb or sphere
No: Disc
No: Triangle
Yes: Cylinder
No: Cube
No: Other shape

Effectsnone reported

No: Physiological
No: Physical trace
No: Electromagnetic
No: Sound
No: Silent

Why this rating Third-hand (personal letter relayed to CIA) account with an unsourced rumored speed figure, no instrumentation, no named witness, and no independent corroboration.

As described in the file

Witnesses: Unnamed niece in Hungary (secondhand, via personal letter) and unnamed 'people' generally
Sensors: Visual (unspecified, secondhand)
Shape: Described as 'cigars'
Motion: Estimated at 12,000 km/hour per rumored scientific circles
Duration: 'for several weeks'
Effects: Kept the local population in a nervous state

Pentagon files

DocumentCIA-UAP-013Release 3
CIA-UAP-013, Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity (Hungary letter, copy A)
Open the original on war.gov

What the file claims

Unverified
A Hungarian civilian's letter reported 'flying cigars' sighted repeatedly over several weeks, with a rumored speed of 12,000 km/h.

On the map

51.60° N, 28.30° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record

Show on the map