Antartic Peninsula landing encounter — 1956-01-08

Jan. 8, 1956; Robertson Island near the Antarctic Peninsula Before 7 a.m., according to FSR (1968, Mar., p. 20), a Chilean field party of four saw the following: two cigar-shaped craft of similar sizes with their long axes vertical were hanging motionless; through binoculars the objects had smooth, polished, apparently metallic surfaces; at 9 am one of these objects almost directly above turned from a vertical to a horizontal position, changed to display a spectrum of colours, made rapid changes in direction, stops and accelerations for about 5 minutes, all silently, after which it went back to a vertical position, regaining its metallic appearance; the second object then went through a similar routine, stopping after about three minutes to resume its vertical position; a flash-type Geiger counter showed radioactivity 40 times normal background values; numerous colour and black and white photographs were taken; by 9 pm the two craft were still in the same positions; the next day, with the two objects still in the same places, a theodolite [an instrument to measure angles accurately], was used to determine that the two objects were at a height of 8 km, that their length was about 150 m, and that their maximum diameters were 25 m; one of the Chileans directed a beam of polarized light at one of the craft, which seemed to respond by moving to a lower altitude and then back up to its original position; calculations showed the speed of the objects was 40,000 km per hour and that the accelerations and decelerations appeared to be instantaneous; at 11 pm the second day, the sky clouded over and the radioactivity level dropped; Air Technical Intelligence Centre (ATIC) in the U.S. was informed of the details of this case.