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Operation Mainbrace

FilthyleDog

Gone But Not Forgotten
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I was flicking through a book I rediscovered at home yesterday(I'm at work now and can't remember the title - typical) written by Aime Michel and published by Corgi in 1958.
In it he mentioned Operation Mainbrace, which, as all we UFO buffs know, was a NATO military operation staged in the mid-fifties that was subject to quite a lot of UFO activity.

The cynics amongst us will remark that this is possibly more than just coincidence or "them" taking an interest in "us", but one thing was mentioned that I found intruiging, that I've never heard mention of in articles on the subject before.

Apparently one of the ships that was buzzed (possibly the Franklin D Roosevelt??) had a cameraman on board and he filmed a silver disk overflying the ship at close quarters.

Has this film ever been released or pursued under an FOIA request does anybody know? Should make for interesting viewing and should provide evidence enough that real nuts and bolts unidentified flying objects are flying around, or at least were in the fifties, to me the "Golden Age" of UFOlogy...
 
Here is some additional info I looked up. I couldnt find anything about a video but there are alleged photos...

"About September 20, personnel of the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier participating in the Mainbrace maneuvers, observed a silvery, spherical object which was also photographed. (The pictures have never been made public). The UFO was seen moving across the sky behind the fleet. Reporter Wallace Litwin took a series of color photographs, which were examined by Navy Intelligence officers. The Air Force project Blue Book chief, Captain Ruppelt stated: "[The pictures] turned out to be excellent. judging by the size of the object in each successive photo, one could see that is was moving rapidly." The possibility that a balloon had been launched from one of the ships was immediately checked out. No unit had launched a balloon. A poor print of one of the photographs appears in the Project Blue Book files, but with no analysis report. "

Of course there is no real way to varify any of this...

Found some less than convening photos.
http://www.geocities.com/hbccufo/MainBracePhotos.html
 
Film

Those aren't very good photos - you're right!
The story you allude to is only part of it it seems. From what I recall (in work again I'm afraid, without book) there were numerous visual and radar sightings, including aircraft followed, ships overflown and this was over a wide area - a large section of the North Atlantic and North Sea. The book specifically referred to a movie film shot from on board the Roosevelt.

Another cover up..?:rolleyes:
 
UFO Article:
“OPERATION MAINBRACE SIGHTINGS -
In the vicinity of Denmark & Norway -
September, 1952”


http://www.nuforc.org/Mainbrace.html
https://realtvufos.blogspot.com/2018/01/ufo-article-operation-mainbrace.html

September 13--The Danish destroyer Willemoes, participating in the maneuvers, was north of Bornholm Island. During the night, Lieutenant Commander Schmidt Jensen and several members of the crew saw an unidentified object, triangular in shape, which moved at high speed toward the southeast. The object emitted a bluish glow. Commander Jensen estimated the speed at over 900 mph.
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This is early on in 1947. Here are five of them emerging from the sea off Australia. They later are seen flying in formation partially cloaked over the land casting shadows on the ground as large as locomotives. I think they might be the same ones myself and others have seen over the years.

Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Monday 17 February 1947, page 2
National Library of Australia
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shutterstock-489713194.jpg
 
This is early on in 1947. Here are five of them emerging from the sea off Australia. They later are seen flying in formation partially cloaked over the land casting shadows on the ground as large as locomotives.
I think this one has also been badly misinterpreted. The fact that they 'caused a shadow' is more likely to be a result of their luminosity, which (to me) suggests they were fragments of a bolide or superbolide that was bright enough to cast shadows on the ground.

It is very difficult to observe the shadow of an aircraft, because it fades out at a fixed distance below the craft. Even when a plane is coming in to land at an airport you rarely see the shadow.
 
The interesting thing is the five objects emerging from the ocean, a day earlier, earlier five objects are seen flying quickly in formation. A lot of anomalous events for a couple of days. I suppose the glowing objects flying in formation might be interpreted as bolide breaking up, but you know what I think :) They are not bright, no smoke, don't explode. And they are pink like the objects seen here:

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