DOW-UAP-D157, Air Attaché Rome Report: Luminous Sphere over Sassari, Sardinia, Aug. 1952
- Date
- Aug. 27, 1952, 2145 hours per the professor's account (the cover summary says Aug. 28, 1952); report dated Dec. 15, 1953
- Location
- Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- Release 07 (Oct. 23, 2026)
- Type
- document
Summary
The U.S. Air Attaché in Rome (IR-700-53) transmits a translated account by Prof. G. B. Sias, first published in the local Corriere dell'Isola newspaper, of a green-blue, silver-bright sphere slightly larger than the full moon that crossed the sky east to west in three to five seconds. Sias names two other witnesses and quotes calculations of the sphere's position, altitude and size that he credits to Father Junkes, director of the Vatican observatory at Castel Gandolfo; he also asks for a reward for a war-orphans institute. The preparing officer, Lt. Col. Joseph A. Woida, describes Sias as "very eager to tell his story" and close to "fanatic."
Note
Much of the file is the witness's own newspaper article (credited to Sias / Corriere dell'Isola), with calculations he attributes to Father Junkes; the inventory and index date it 1952 though the filename says 1953.