July 2nd, 2014 is celebrated around the world as UFO Day. This led me to wonder if there were any major UFO sightings in North Dakota, which took me to a Wikipedia entry for the Ellsworth UFO sighting of 1953.

According to Wikipedia, the Ellsworth case is "one of the most significant radar-visual cases in the annals of UFO sightings".

The event, which was investigated on August 5th and 6th of 1953, was witnessed by over forty citizens and Military Air Defense System personnel in Bismarck, though the object was first spotted near Ellsworth AFB. It was described as a red glowing light, making long sweeping motions.

Once the long sweeping motions were reported, they were investigated:

The information was transmitted to the Bismarck, North Dakota, Air Defense Filter Center. Sometime later Sergeant Harry spotted the objects from the roof. He observed, paying close attention to the irregular movement, as it danced between telephone lines. Others on duty saw the moving light which would be visible in the night sky for approximately three hours. Sergeant Harry described his observance in the following manner: It would remain stationary--then hop up several degrees very quickly--almost simultaneously.

The U.F.O sightings continued into the night:

At midnight three additional objects appeared in the sky above Dakota. The employees of the Filter Center had a feeling like someone was watching them. Before they were seen in Bismarck, two F-84s had been vectored into the area over Blackhawk, South Dakota. The objects and the jets were monitored on radar. One pilot established visual contact for twenty to thirty seconds. His description could be heard over the intercom. It's brighter than the brightest star I've ever seen. When the pilot gave chase the light inexplicably disappeared.

One last sighting occurred after 1am:

At 1:09 A.M. an Air Force Globemaster II flew over Bismarck. As the plane neared, the object closest to the plane appeared to emanate a signal by blinking red and green. This signaling was picked up by the other three objects. An observer reflected about this, It was as if a 'wave' passed from one to the other.

According to Wikipedia, the Air Force has offered numerous possibilities as to what caused these objects to appear.

However, they still remain classified as 'unknowns'.

You can learn more about the Ellsworth case via UFOCasebook.com HERE.

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