RADIO OFFICER T. FOGL, of Harleyford
Road, London, S.E.11, gave FLYING SAUCER REVIEW a graphic account of UFO
sightings while at sea. The two striking photographs shown here are
reproduced with his permission. One is an enlargement of the other.
"In 1955,” stated Mr. Fogl, “I was on a
Panamanian ship Eagle. Its call sign HOOF. Perhaps some of my colleagues
will remember me, especially on the British Guiana Coast. I would like
though to go back a little to 1954. About then I read a book “Flying Saucers
Have Landed” lent me by a fellow radio officer. I became interested in UFOs,
but had an idea that it was all a hoax. I soon changed my mind about that!
“We had been on the way to Philadelphia
from Rotterdam. It was November 25, 1955. At about noon we heard an
ear-splitting noise and whistle, followed by a thunderous roar. It al1
lasted a few seconds. Everything on board shook from vibrations caused by
the noise. When we rushed on deck there was nothing to be seen. At that time
on the bridge were the Master, Chief Officer and 2nd Officer, preparing to
take O.R. and noon position. They saw nothing pass over the ship. There was
just the roar. Nothing else.
“Well, I had left it at that and forgot
all about the matter until three days later, the 28th, I recall. It was
nearly 5 p.m. and time for our tea. I sat in my radio room reading some
magazines when the 3rd Officer came in and asked if I would like to see a
neat formation of jets. I ran with him to the wheelhouse and then on the
bridge. At first I could see nothing unusual about the “planes.” Then it
struck me. They were not moving! At the same time one “plane” climbed
steeply, yet the rest did not change their position. They just hung there. I
grabbed binoculars to have a better look. Sure enough, there, high. . . .
very high, were four huge discs. I could hardly believe my own eyes. But
they were there all right. They must have been gigantic. We estimated them
to be about 40,000 ft. high, and over 25 miles away from us. But I am not
sure.
“The sky was
clear and, only here and there tiny clouds. The sun was near setting and the
horizon red and gold. In the sun’s rays the objects seemed to give out red
vapour trails, but that could have been sun reflection. The discs were flat
and black. They were surrounded by a haze, the same as if heated metal in
cold weather will have air circulating round it in waves of heat. As I
watched the discs something strange happened. One disc, completely vanished
from my eyes and reappeared in another place. The discs dived and climbed
vertically, and behind them were long fiery trails.
“By that time the Captain, Chief Officer,
3rd Officer and I, were all very excited. When I finally managed to get the
binoculars back I was just in time to catch final glimpses of the discs.
They climbed vertically until they completely disappeared from sight.
“The moment I got on watch I called s.s.
Falcon and asked the radio officer if he had seen anything funny. He said,
no - but did I hear an xxx urgency to all ships. In turn I said, no.”
The radio officer of s.s. Falcon then sent
Mr. Fogl the following copy of the message:
xxx CQ VCJ (Urgency all ships from Valentia Radio)—Following intercepted
from Valentia Radio VCJ at 23.42 GMT addressed urgency xxx = Begins =
Following received from British ship Franconia GBRQ at 23.30Z Begins = At
23.OOZ s.s. Olympic Light/ELGU at about 21.45 in position 36’ .04”N 31’
.55”W - a luminous object rose resembling big shooting star, followed by a
luminous tail about 20 times the main body. Appeared 20’ above the horizon
bearing 810’. Vanished into the clouds bearing 250’ without losing height -
signed Master - ends 270001.
“That message was from the previous day,
the 27th,” said Mr. Fogl. “It was not until 1957, when the Russians launched
their Sputnik, that I heard any more about UFOs.
“I was this time
on the British ship s.s. Ramsay. We were on our way from Vancouver to Port
Elizabeth, via Panama. We had passed San Pedro and the U.S. Navy ships
patrolling and having exercises. It was about 2.30 p.m. when I was in my
cabin doing my laundry. Suddenly the 2nd Officer called me to see a disc!
Without being told twice I grabbed my Yashica C reflex camera from my
wardrobe and dashed on the side of the bridge. Sure enough there was a queer
looking object hovering in the distance. It was not suitable for a shot so I
waited. In the meantime I tried to keep under control my shaking knees and
hands, and watched the disc. It made no noise and was not more than a mile
away. It was silver and black. There was no smoke or any gases coming from
it. However, under the disc a red light pulsated. We thought it tried to
signal, so the 2nd Officer grabbed the Aldis and flicked back, but there was
no response. At last the disc came down near enough and I got one shot. Then
it turned and I shot again.
“The disc was rather thick and had a flat
dome. There were no ports. However, there were some black marks, and I
wonder if they were not some sort of exhausts. Then we noticed a ladder!
Whether it really was a ladder I can’t say. It could be some depression in
the craft.
“The object moved very slowly and stayed
with us for a few minutes. Then it shot with quick acceleration towards a
rugged mountain and the desert coast of sun-baked California. I would like
also to mention that Vancouver Broadcasting Station announced that some
strange objects and lights had been seen by hundreds of people. If I am not
mistaken this happened in the first days of December.”
Thad
Fogl had his film developed in Durban and found that indeed he had captured
two very good pictures of the strange aerial object. The majority of the
ship’s crew members requesting copies for themselves. On returning to
England he contacted either the Daily Mail or Daily Express newspaper, (he
can’t recall which) who in turn replied that they had no comment to make.
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