N. Rome Ciampino, Italy, September 1954September 1954

On the afternoon of September 17, 1954, control tower operators at Ciampino Air Base near Rome, Italy, watched a mysterious cigar-shaped object move slowly across the sky at an altitude of about 1,200 meters (roughly 4,000 feet). The object left a trail of luminous smoke and remained visible for 40 minutes. Several witnesses saw it, including military personnel and civilian visitors at the airfield. One eyewitness, journalist Michael Chinigo, described hearing a strange sound like thunder with a staccato effect as the object passed overhead. The object then stopped in mid-air at about 6,000 feet, sat motionless for several minutes, and then shot upward at tremendous speed, leaving a trail of milky white smoke before vanishing into the sky.

The object changed shape depending on whether it was moving or stationary. When in motion, it appeared as a cigar or half-cigar. When stationary, witnesses described it as looking like a jellyfish or, according to the Defense Department's assessment, like a clipped cone or two stacked semi-circular disks with the larger one on top. The object was silver in color with red-violet streaks. It made no sound while moving, only the loud roaring noise during approach.

Radar operators at Rome also reported detecting the object on their instruments. The radar station tracked it for roughly three minutes. The case file notes that a report on radar confirmation was incomplete.

The Air Force evaluated this sighting as a "probable high altitude aircraft," though the file does not elaborate on the reasoning for this conclusion. The full case file, comprising seven pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.