UFO Lands on Oilfield in Kuwait?

This is a pretty bizarre series of UFO sightings from Kuwait in November, 1978 involving multiple witnesses, government documents, missing photographs and reports of an object landing on an oil field near Umm Alaish and causing electromagnetic interference effects on local communications and oil pumping machinery - there's a newspaper article and witness sketch of the object below and Richard Hall goes into more detail about the case in the January 1979 edition of the MUFON journal which is linked in PDF format.


Incident:

A series of UFO sightings occurred in Kuwait starting on November 9, 1978. As reported by P. G. Jacob, a marine biologist employed by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, "All the sightings occurred in the oil fields of Kuwait Oil Company, the major oil producing concern in Kuwait:" The final sighting was November 21 over the Al Sabriyah oil field near the Iraqi border, and the UFO was photographed as it flew over a 20-foot water tower and hovered in the area for 30 minutes.

At one point Kuwait Oil Company technicians observed the landing and take-off of a soundless domed UFO which had a flashing red body light. Telecommunications were interrupted during the sighting, and an electrically operated oil pumping station near the landing site ceased to function. Similar E-M effects were noted during the other sightings.

Newspaper Report:

“Arabs Report First UFO In Kuwait”

“The first-ever flying saucer in oil-rich Kuwait came without sound, was as big as a jumbo jet, cylindrical, with a huge dome and a flashing red light. After seven minutes in a Kuwaiti oil field, it took off without a trace.

That is the testimony of seven Kuwait Oil Company technicians, including one American, who said they saw it.

If so, declared Kuwaiti Security Chief Brig. Mohammed al Hammad, it would be a first for the Arab state.

The mysterious object reportedly landed Friday about 90 miles from the capital at Umm Alaish, causing temporary disruption of telecommunications and the operations of an oil pumping station about 250 yards from the landing site

Newspaper Article

Object:

Witness Sketch:

1978 - An acorn-shaped domed UFO with flashing red lights landed at Oil Field Centre No. 24 in the Kuwait desert at 12:50 a.m. The UFO caused EM effects including the disruption of all telecommunications and the malfunction of the pumping station electrical equipment. (Source: Richard Hall, MUFON UFO Journal, January 1979, p. 5).

MUFON UFO Journal, January 1979 (pdf)

U.S. Government Document:

The government document below is Message 290606Z sent by the American embassy in Kuwait City to the State Department in January 1979.

A stunning declassified document: This is a cable from the US Embassy in Kuwait discussing the details and particulars of several quite spectacular UFO sightings and incidents in Kuwait in 1979, including the traditionnal unexplained shutdown of electrical equipment which worked fine again after the UFO's departure.

The report proves that there are similarities between UFO events over Noth America and different places of the globe, and that in Kuwait, the governement like most government do, took interest in the events and investigated them, eliminating prosaic explanations like spy planes, but remaining reluctant to name the UFO "extra terrestrial crafts."

REFERENCES:

Title: UFO SIGHTINGS CAUSE SECURITY CONCERN IN KUWAIT
To: Secretary of State, various American Embassies, Secretary of Defense, and other agencies and officals
Author: American Embassy, Kuwait
Date: January 29 (?) 1979
Length: 2 page
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
CC: None

SUBJECT: "UFO" SIGHTINGS CAUSE SECURITY CONCERN IN KUWAIT

1. A SERIES OF "UFO"SIGHTINGS ON NOVEMBER 9 CAUSED THE GOK TO APPOINT AN INVESTIGATORY COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS FROM THE KUWAIT INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (KISR). THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT WHICH WAS RELEASED JANUARY 20 DESCRIBED EIGHT SIGHTINGS FROM NOVEMBER TO DECEMBER 14. A NUMBER OF THE EARLY SIGHTINGS TOOK PLACE NEAR A KUWAIT OIL COMPANY GATHERING CENTER NORTH OF KUWAIT CITY. RELEASE OF THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT WAS SOMETHING OF A MEDIA EVENT AS IT COINCIDED WITH JAN 21 FRONT PAGE STORIES OF YET ANOTHER "UFO" SIGHTING OVER KUWAIT CITY, WHICH INCLUDED PHOTOGRAPHS IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS.
UNCLASSIFIED

2. THE KISR COMMITTEE REJECTED THE NOTION THAT THE "UFO'S' WERE ESPIONAGE DEVICES BUT REMAINED EQUIVOCAL ABOUT WHETHER THEY WERE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGIN. THE KISR COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE, RATIB ABU ID, TOLD EMBOFF THAT THE SCIENTISTS DID NOT KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE PHENOMENA TO SAY WITH CERTAINTY THAT THEY WEREN'T "SPACESHIPS," THE REPORT WENT ON TO RECOMMEND THAT THE GOVERNMENT TAKE ALL POSSIBLE MEASURES TO PROTECT KUWAIT'S AIR SPACE AND TERRITORY AS WELL AS THE COUNTRY'S OIL RESOURCES.

3. SOME LOCAL WAGS HAVE MADE LIGHT OF THE FIRST UFO SIGHTINGS WHICH CAME NEAR THE END OF THE LONG AND TRADITIONALLY EXUBERANT HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS OF ID-AL-ADHA. HOWEVER WE HAVE LEARNED RECENTLY OF AN EVENT COINCIDENT WITH ONE OF THE UFO SIGHTINGS WHICH HAS CONFOUNDED SOME OF OUR MOST LEVEL-HEADED KUWAITI FRIENDS, AND MAY HAVE BEEN WHAT PERSUADED THE GOK TO MAKE A SERIOUS INVESTIGATION OF THE MATTER. A SENIOR KUWAIT OIL COMPANY (KOC) OFFICIAL TOLD US THE THE "UFO" WHICH FIRST APPEARED OVER THE NORTHERN OIL FIELDS SEEMINGLY DID STRANGE THINGS TO KOC'S AUTOMATIC PUMPING EQUIPMENT. THIS EQUIPMENT IS DESIGNED TO SHUT ITSELF DOWN WHEN THERE IS SOME FAILURE WHICH MAY SERIOUSLY DAMAGE THE PETROLEUM GATHERING AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND IT CAN ONLY BERESTARTED MANUALLY. AT THE TIME OF THE "UFO'S" APPEARANCE THE PUMPING SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY SHUT ITSELF DOWN AND WHEN THE "UFO" VANISHED THE SYSTEM STARTED ITSELF UP AGAIN. THIS EVENT WAS NOT ADDRESSED BY THE KISR COMMITTEE REPORT.

4. EVEN THOSE WHO ARE NOT INCLINED TO BELIEVE IN VISITORS FROM OUTER SPACE DO TEND TO THINK SOMETHING STRANGE HAS BEEN GOING ON IN KUWAITI AIRSPACE. THERE HAS BEEN SPECULATION, FOR EXAMPLE, ABOUT HELICOPTERS OR HOVERCRAFT BRINGING REFUGEES OR MONEY OUT OF BELEAGUERED IRAN. AT THE LEAST, THE PHENOMENA HAVE STIMULATED A NEW DEGREE OF INTEREST AMONG TOP KUWAITI OFFICIALS IN THE COUNTRY'S AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM, WHICH DID NOT REACT IN ANY WAY TO THE "EVENTS" IN THE KOC NORTH FIELD BECAUSE IT WAS CLOSED DOWN FOR THE NIGHT.

Link

Missing Photographs?

Nov. 9, 1978; Kuwait; time not reported

Witnesses: Oil field technicians

Features: Disc with dome, flashing body lights, landing, E-M effects on pumping equipment and communications, photographs

Kuwait Oil Company employees reported a series of UFO sightings from November 9 to November 21, 1978, including alleged photographs in some cases. On November 9, at Gathering Centre No. 24, technicians saw a disc-like object with dome on top on the ground. This coincided with failure of the oil pumping station and interruption of communications. After about 7 minutes the object departed at a rapid speed. The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) conducted an investigation, but could not explain the sightings and considers its report "confidential." When the same or a similar UFO reappeared on November 21, a Kuwait Oil Company employee obtained "...a number of photographs of the object." These were examined by KISR, but their report has never been released. (Private communication from a scientist member of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research; Kuwait Times, Nov. 16, 18, 1978; Arab Times, Jan. 24, 1979)

THE SCIENCE OF UFOs: FACTS VS. STEREOTYPES

Links:

UFOLOGIE FOIA Documents

"FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE" ARTICLE

Either they watch CNN on Zeta Retilculi or the craft originated in the US.

Take your pick.

Originally posted by pause4thought
Either they watch CNN on Zeta Retilculi or the craft originated in the US.

Take your pick.

Can you elaborate on that? Why are you sure this is manmade?

good find karl

Thanx for posting mate, interesting story.

I know the "is it man-made or something else theory" is always gonna crop up, but if it was that big, then there's no way it can be man-made, unless TPTB have bases off this planet. It's possible I guess as we have no idea how far the secret space program has developed. Personally, I tend to go with the "something else", although I admit, there is the possibility it is not.

Maybe the aliens are trying to get topographic data that is missing in Google Earth. Part of Kuwait on Google Earth is a downright lie, there must be a secret base there. See if you can find it. Hint:look in the eastern corner.

Thanks for the replies and that government document does make for some interesting reading, the link below has more info about the sighting and also mentions several other UFO incidents from the country including an unknown object landing near a satellite station.

History of UFO Sightings in Kuwait

Cheers.

Originally posted by earthdude
Maybe the aliens are trying to get topographic data that is missing in Google Earth. Part of Kuwait on Google Earth is a downright lie, there must be a secret base there. See if you can find it. Hint:look in the eastern corner.

What BS Google Earth why when they can fly over the earth WOULD google earth be an issue, do some of you people on here actually THINK before you type

Originally posted by pause4thought

Either they watch CNN on Zeta Retilculi or the craft originated in the US.

Take your pick.

Pause4thought, there are plenty of different opinions out there when it comes to UFO origin and Ivan T Sanderson produced some interesting work here exploring the various possibilities - whatever the object was that landed on the Umm Alaishe oilfield, it does sound like a very strange one, can you explain why you think it may have originated in the US?

it was as big as a jumbo jet, cylindrical, with a huge dome and a flashing red light.

Cheers.

reply to post by karl 12
And remember, the year after, 1979, was filled with political turmoil in the Middle East. Could these sightings in 1978 be related to what was about to happen a year later?

reply to post by wmd_2008

My joke went right over your head. Ironic that you didn't get it before you typed.

Originally posted by Jaellma

And remember, the year after, 1979, was filled with political turmoil in the Middle East.

Jaellma, thanks for the reply and I see your point but isn't there always political turmoil in the Middle East?

There's another article about the UFO sighting below and it also mentions that all telephone and radio services were cut for 7 minutes whilst the object was in the area.. but I can't seem to find any more info about the case.

A UFO lands in Kuwait

An "unidentified flying object" (UFO) landed close to Kuwait City in the night from last Thursday to last Friday, before taking off seven minutes later, the morning Kuwait Press reports.

According to the daily newspapers "Al-Qabas", and "Al-Watan", the landing of the UFO, having from far the aspect of a dazzling mass of light, near a satellites' listening station located at approximately 50 km in the east of the capital, took place under the eyes of the employees of the station and the Kuwait oil company, nearby.

Arrived on the spot, four employees of the company, including an American citizen, managed to see at a distance of 250 meters, a discoidal object of the size of a "JumboJet", with a retractable front landing gear and surmounted of a kind of cupola at the top, from which a red light shone, the whole bathed of powerful lights, the Press writes.

The attempts of the witnesses to contact the ministry for the Interior, the newspapers report, were useless. All telephone calls and radio being cut in the area during the seven minutes of presence of the UFO on the Kuwait ground. Suddenly, the strange object took off verticaly and at vertiginous speed, they add.

link

Cheers.

reply to post by Jaellma


I was thinking the same while reading the thread.

In Iran, the massive protests that pushed the Shah into exile gained momentum between the Black Friday in september and the departure of the Shah in january. It's a period of significant events.

I am not linking the two but merely pointing it out.

Everybody jumps right into alien visit mode, most UFO's turn out to be of terrestrial origin. There is a secret base with secret aircraft I bet. Can I show you the secret base? No, it is a secret. The red light is required by international law, a dead give away. Aliens would never use a navigation light, too primitive.

reply to post by earthdude

Originally posted by earthdude
The red light is required by international law, a dead give away. Aliens would never use a navigation light, too primitive.

I find it hard to believe that the people who build and fly these top secret vehicles really care about international law. More likely it's an act of self-preservation.

Originally posted by karl 12
Thanks for the replies and that government document does make for some interesting reading, the link below has more info about the sighting and also mentions several other UFO incidents from the country including an unknown object landing near a satellite station.

History of UFO Sightings in Kuwait

Cheers.

Hi,
Curiosity took me to the map; Check-out the spaceman architecture by zooming these coordinates...
28 degrees 35' 26.32" N 48 degrees 23' 50.11" E




edit

Originally posted by LiveForever8
reply to post by earthdude

 

Originally posted by earthdude
The red light is required by international law, a dead give away. Aliens would never use a navigation light, too primitive.

I find it hard to believe that the people who build and fly these top secret vehicles really care about international law. More likely it's an act of self-preservation.

I'm not sure, but if they turn the red light off in another country, they can be considered a spy plane. Some military accord from the cold war.

reply to post by earthdude


Fair enough. Although I would argue that these people couldn't care less about being considered a spy plane, I mean, who is going to mess with a craft that can fly 10,000 MPH?

Originally posted by LiveForever8

I mean, who is going to mess with a craft that can fly 10,000 MPH?

Probably not many although I'm sure it would generate great interest at high levels of government

Below is some extra info on the State Department document (found in chapter 3).

In addition to this incident, a State Department cable tells of interesting UFO sightings taking place in Kuwait during the months of November and December, 1978. According to the cable, the Government of Kuwait was so concerned by these sightings that it appointed an investigatory committee of "experts" from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) to look into the cases..

The "UFO" which first appeared over the northern oil fields seemingly did strange things to KOC's [Kuwait Oil Company] automatic pumping equipment. This equipment is designed to shut itself down when there is some failure which may seriously damage the petroleum gathering and transmission system and it can only be restarted manually. At the time of the "UFOs" appearance the pumping system automatically shut itself down and when the "UFOs" vanished the system started up again.What could cause this to happen? Did the equipment truly shut down or was it merely suspended in time and space for the duration of the UFO's appearance? I will leave it to the reader to ponder this one.

PDF link

Cheers.