PART
FOUR
INVASION
FROM
SPACE?
Western Daily, Press
Bristol, England
March 21, 1968
Hushed-up:
2.1 MAR 1968
The crash
of a UFO
The pilot of the Norwegian Air Force Catalina
flying-boat was bored. For over four hours, as the air-
craft droned deeper into the long Arctic shadows, he
and his crew had seen nothing but a vast expanse of
grey sea and white ice-flo es.
Only occasionally
was the sombre scene
lit by a shaft of dim,
watery sunlight that
coloured the vast ice-
pack off Norway's
North Cape a dim, deli-
cate pink.
It was May, 1952 and
the Catalina was on a
routine ice-survey mis-
sion from its base in
northern Norway.
Ahead of the aircraft,
the jagged snow-capped
peaks of Spitzbergen rose
from the icy sea.
The pilot turned slight-
ly, bringing the Catalina
over the islands' western
shores. Dwarfed by the
mountains that towered
above it, the aircraft
cruised on.
Glimmer
Another half hour or so
and it would be time to set
course for home.
Suddenly, a flash of re-
flected light caught the pi-
lot's eye. There was some-
thing down there, some-
thing that glittered among
the icy crags.
Skimming past a sheer
mountain wall, the pilot
brought the Catalina down
by Bruce Sandham
times a mystery which
has remained a closely
guarded secret for the past
16 years.
Whatever the rescue
teams actually found on
Spitzbergen, it was certain-
ly not an orthodox aircraft.
And a few days later, the
Norwegian government re-
leased an amazing
statement to the newspa-
pers.
It claimed that the ob-
ject found on the island
was, incredibly, the wreck
of a flying saucer - a
disc-shaped craft that was
"definitely not of this
earth."
The statement added
that a thorough investiga-
tion and analysis of the
alien object was being car-
ried out by Norwegian,
British and American ex-
perts.
to
Journalists flocked
Norway seeking more in-
formation - but the Nor-
wegian government re-
fused to make any further
comment.
After the initial earth-
shaking announcement, the
security wraps came down.
From then on, there was
only silence and complete
secrecy.
craft could not have
originated on earth.
For the materials used
in its construction were
completely unknown and
had defied every attempt
at analysis.
The statement that is
was of Soviet origin was
false. Furthermore, a de-
tailed examination of the
disc had revealed certain
technical features which
were beyond the grasp of
terrestrial science.
Colonel Darnbyl went on
to say that a team of air
force specialists who..
had been keeping a close
watch on the Arctic
regions since the crashed
disc was discovered-now
believed that the area
within the Artic Circle was
being used as a base by
alien craft.
The specialists had
logged a great deal of Uni-
dentified Flying Object ac-
tivity during their three
years of surveillance.
The statement concluded
that the true facts behind
the affair were of sensa-
tional importance, and
should be made known to
the public without delay.
The full report, it was
said would he nublished
watery sunlight that
coloured the vast ice-
pack off Norway's
North Cape a dim, deli-
cate pink.
It was May, 1952 and
the Catalina was on a
routine ice-survey mis-
sion from its base in
northern Norway.
Ahead of the aircraft,
the jagged snow-capped
peaks of Spitzbergen rose
from the icy sea.
The pilot turned. slight-
ly, bringing the Catalina
over the islands' western
shores. Dwarfed by the
mountains that towered
above it, the aircraft
cruised on.
Glimmer
Another half hour or so
and it would be time to set
course for home.
Suddenly, a flash of re-
flected light caught the pi-
lot's eye. There was some-
thing down there, some-
thing that glittered among
the icy crags.
Skimming past a sheer
• mountain wall, the pilot
brought the Catalina down
for a closer look. Whatever
was down there appeared
to be metallic.
The long polar shadows
made it difficult to pick
out the exact shape of the
object but it looked like
the crumpled wreckage of
a crashed aircraft.
If it was, there might be
survivors and in that freez-
ing climate, help, to be
effective, had to be quick.
Analysis
As the Catalina climbed
away from Spitzbergen, its
radio operator flashed a
priority signal to the Nor-
wegian air rescue service.
Within half an hour, res-
cue teams were on their
way by air to the island.
As the Catalina flew
homewards, its crew were
unaware that their discov-
ery on the barren island of
Spitzbergen was destined
to become one of the big-
gest mysteries of modern
times a mystery which
has remained a closely
guarded secret for the past
16 years.
Whatever the rescue
teams actually found on
Spitzbergen, it was certain-
ly not an orthodox aircraft.
And a few days later, the
Norwegian government re-
leased an amazing
statement to the newspa-
pers.
It claimed that the ob-
ject found on the island
was, incredibly, the wreck
of a flying saucer - a
disc-shaped craft that was
"definitely not of this
earth."
The statement added
that a thorough investiga-
tion and analysis of the
alien object was being car-
ried out by Norwegian,
British and American ex-
perts.
Journalists flocked to
Norway seeking more in-
formation but the Nor-
wegian government re-
fused to make any further
comment.
After the initial earth-
shaking announcement, the
security wraps came down.
From then on, there was
only silence and complete
secrecy.
Science
The silence was broken
very briefly a few months
later, when an unnamed
United States Air Force
spokesman told newsmen
that the mysterious craft
had been of Soviet origin,
and carried Soviet mark-
ings.
The newspapers were by
no means satisfied but
they filed away the story.
as unusable through lack
of reliable information -
and forgot it.
Then, in September 1955
the Norwegian government
revealed that a Norwegian
general staff board of in-
quiry had practically com-
pleted an investigation into
the nature of the mystery
object, and was about to
make its findings public.
The
chairman of the
board, Norwegian Air
Force Colonel Gernod
· Darnbyl, stated emphati-
cally that the wrecked
craft could not have
originated on earth.
For the materials used
in its construction were
completely unknown and
had defied every attempt
at analysis.
The statement that is
was of Soviet origin was
false. Furthermore, a de-
tailed examination of the
disc had revealed certain
technical features which
were beyond the grasp of
terrestrial science.
-
Colonel Darnbyl went on
to say that a team of air
force specialists. who
had been keeping a close
watch on the Arctic
regions since the crashed
disc was discovered-now
believed that the area
within the Artic Circle was
being used as a base by
alien craft.
The specialists had
logged a great deal of Uni-
dentified Flying Object ac-
tivity during their three
years of surveillance.
The statement concluded
that the true facts behind
the affair were of sensa-
tional importance, and
should be made known to
the public without delay.
The full report, it was
said, would be published
after discussions with the
British and U.S. govern-
ments.
But the report was never
released. One rumour was
that a NATO partner -
either America or Bri-
tain, or maybe both had
clamped down on any re-
lease of further informa-
tion.
Certainly, since the ear-
ly Fifties, both the United
States and Britain have
been classifying informa-
tion about UFOs under the
heading of secret.
Opinion
To
issue the standard
type of explanation in con-
nection with the Spitzber-
gen saucer would have
been futile, particularly in
view of the announcements
already made by the Nor-
wegian government.
Is this why the whole
affair was cloaked under a
veil of "No further
comment"?
And what finally hap
pened to the Spitzbergen
saucer? Did the Norwe-
gians find its crew dead
inside it?
Were its technical sec-
rets ever unlocked?
These are questions
which, for the time being,
at least must remain unan-
swered.
One day, perhaps, public
opinion may force the
authorities to lift the cur-
tain of secrecy that hangs
over that May afternoon
when invaders from space
landed amid the Arctic ice.
TOMORROW: The
shining discs
of death