Helsinki, Finland, January 1948 - Incident Number: 99January 1948

On January 3rd and 5th, 1948, residents of Finland reported seeing unusual objects in the sky. According to a cable from the U.S. Military Attache in Helsinki, a brightly shining object with a long tail was spotted near the city of Vaasa on January 3rd. It moved from west to east and remained visible for about 30 seconds. A few days later, on January 5th, another shining object was seen near Pletarsaari, traveling from north to south and visible for roughly 10 seconds. Eyewitnesses reported that flames appeared to come from the objects and that grey streaks were left behind in the sky.

The U.S. Military Attache noted that the Finnish press had begun using the term "flying saucers" to describe these light phenomena. He also mentioned that this sighting followed an earlier report from December 20th near the Norwegian border. The attache acknowledged that the press claimed many witnesses to these events but cautioned that evaluating press reports was difficult.

In its analysis, the Air Force concluded that information given in the case was insufficient to establish even a tentative identification. The file suggests the object seen could have been a fireball, though the length of time it remained visible seemed unusually long, and investigators noted this observation was subject to considerable error.

The complete case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in its 6 scanned pages.