Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan
- Date
- 19 Feb 1968 to 25 Mar 1968
- Place
- Ladakh (India), NE Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
A 1968 CIA report (via a teletype/CIRCUIT OUTPUT search referencing Dr. Edward Condon's Air Force-sponsored civilian UFO study) tabulates seven reported UFO sightings across the Himalayan border region between February 19 and March 25, 1968: fast-moving lights, a blazing/flashing object accompanied by thunder-like sound that disintegrated over Kulu, and one entry describing 'a huge metallic disc-shaped object with a 6-foot base' allegedly found in a crater at Baltichaur, with portions of a similar object reportedly found at another site.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
The file gives no official explanation.
- Agency
- CIA
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- 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
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- Yes: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- Yes: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating A tabulation of regional secondhand sighting reports with no named witnesses, no instrumentation, and an unverified crash/crater-debris claim carried only as unsourced hearsay with no chain of custody or examination described.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- Local observers across multiple separate locations (unspecified numbers per sighting)
- Sensors
- Visual
- Shape
- Varies: white light, reddish/bright light, rocket-like object with a smoke trail, metallic disc (crater find)
- Lights and colour
- White, reddish, bluish depending on the sighting
- Motion
- 'hedge-hopping'/contour-following in one case, fast-moving in others
- Altitude or range
- One entry estimates 20-25,000 feet
- Effects
- Thunder-like sound following several sightings
Pentagon files
CIA-UAP-016, Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
A large metallic disc-shaped object with a six-foot base was reportedly found in a crater at Baltichaur, with portions of a similar object found at another site.
On the map
29.30° N, 85.90° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map