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

An identical CIA Information Report to CIA-UAP-013 (same control number 00-B-93674): a November 1955 letter from a Hungarian niece to her US-based uncle describing 'so-called flying cigars' and a rumored speed of 12,000 km/hour that had 'kept the people in a nervous state' for weeks. This release additionally includes a fuller transcription of the letter's surrounding personal/holiday content (Christmas greetings, family news) around the UFO passage.

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 Identical evidentiary basis to CIA-UAP-013: a third-hand personal letter with an unsourced rumored speed figure, no named witness, and no independent corroboration.

As described in the file

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

Pentagon files

DocumentCIA-UAP-018Release 3
CIA-UAP-018, Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity (Hungary letter, copy B)
Open the original on war.gov

What the file claims

Unverified
A Hungarian civilian's Christmas letter mentions 'fast-rushing heavenly phenomena' moving at 12,000 km/hour that had excited scientists and kept people busy talking about it.

On the map

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

Show on the map