Operation Mainbrace

Operation Mainbrace

Date: September 13-25, 1952

Location: Europe

Shortly after the reply to Churchill dismissing UFOs was issued, a major UFO case developed which, according to USAF officer Edward J. Ruppelt, forced the RAF into recognizing UFOs were a reality. It was these sightings, I was told by an RAF exchange intelligence officer in the Pentagon that caused the RAF to officially recognize the UFO.

Operation Mainbrace was the largest NATO exercise of its time, held during September of 1952, in Europe. Operations commenced on September 13th and lasted twelve days. Approximately 80,000 men aboard 1,000 planes and 200 ships participated in a display of force meant to demonstrate NATO’s effectiveness in the event of the Soviet Union attacking western Europe.

On the first full day, Sept 13th, naval personnel aboard several ships in the Atlantic filed reports about a large, blue/green triangle shaped UFO flying low, at a speed of approximately 1,500 mph. Shortly after, three UFOs were spotted flying in a triangular formation, at a similar speed leaving behind a visible trail in the form of white light exhaust, by the crew of Danish destroyer Willemoes. The incident began a series of sightings during Operation Mainbrace.

On September 19, 1952, Royal Air Force personnel stationed at RAF Topcliffe in England also spotted a UFO as one of their planes was coming in for landing. Multiple radar operators saw the silver, circular object perform impossible maneuvers and accelerate incredibly fast. Lieutenant John Kilburn recalled:

Suddenly it accelerated at an incredible speed towards the west turning onto a south easterly heading before disappearing. All this occurred in a matter of 15 to 20 seconds. The movements of the object were not identifiable with anything I have seen in the air, and the rate of acceleration was unbelievable.

The next sighting occurred the following day and, fortunately, a photographer was present. Unfortunately, the photos he took were never made public. Personnel of the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier participating in Operation Mainbrace, saw a silvery, spherical object. The UFO was moving across the sky behind the fleet.

Reporter Wallace Litwin took a series of color photographs, which were examined by Navy Intelligence officers.

Captain Edward J.Ruppelt said regarding the pictures:

On September 20, a U.S. newspaper reporter aboard an aircraft carrier in the North Sea was photographing a carrier takeoff in color when he happened to look back down the flight deck and saw a group of pilots and flight deck crew watching something in the sky. He went back to look and there was a silver sphere moving across the sky just behind the fleet of ships. The object appeared to be large, plenty large enough to show up in a photo, so the reporter shot several pictures. They were developed right away and turned out to be excellent. He had gotten the superstructure of the carrier in each one and, judging by the size of the object in each successive photo, one could see that it was moving rapidly.

The same day, three Danish Air Force officers noticed a disk shaped object pass them overhead and disappear over the horizon.

On September 21, six British pilots flying in formation over the North sea spot a shiny spherical object rising from the water and approaching their location.

The pilots engaged in pursuit, but the UFO quickly disappeared from their sight. On their way back to base, one of the pilots noticed the object was once again following them. He turned around to chase it but once again, it sped away.

Around the same time, panic ensued at RAF Sandwich in Kent, England, where all radar operators were staring at their screens in disbelief, their instruments had detected a huge unidentified craft the size of a warship, hovering at a high altitude over the English Channel.

By the time Operation Mainbrace was over, dozens of military personnel and civilians had witnessed these extraordinary events.

Rumors say General Dwight Eisenhower was aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt during the operation, which would mean he was exposed to the UFO phenomenon before he became president and allegedly struck a deal with aliens.

Most UFO researchers agree on the cause of these multiple sightings. It would appear that the large gathering of forces attracted the attention of the UFOs, which serves to strengthen the belief that we are being watched.

| Home | About Us | Directory of Directories | Recent Additions | Top 10 Pages | Stories |