The UFOs of Operation Mainbrace
The account
During a major NATO naval exercise, bright objects supposedly flew over aircraft carriers and chased military planes.
What investigators found
Some of the sightings were attributed to weather balloons and misidentifications; others were left unexplained in the records.
The story
In September 1952, NATO held Operation Mainbrace, one of the largest naval exercises of the Cold War, with dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft in the waters between Denmark, Norway and the North Sea. During those days, sailors and pilots reported fast, glowing objects. One of the most cited episodes involves photographs taken aboard an American aircraft carrier that supposedly show a bright object in the sky.
The reports reached British and American military officials and fueled official interest in the subject. The most accepted explanation for the photos is a weather balloon launched in the area. For other sightings, the documents offer no conclusion, and the case remains among the most remembered in European ufology.