Thousands probably millions of people throughout history have reported seeing UFOs . While today many people openly share their testimonies with others, we often forget that not too long-ago witnesses were ridiculed for reporting UFO sightings and alien encounters. From this, we can imagine just how many undocumented experiences just from this century might be out there. In today’s post we will examine a little-known case from Kansas that occurred in the 1950’s. In it, although this case was reported, we can see how outside pressure could have coerced a man into not admitting what he had seen.
Around 5:30 a.m., August 25, 1952, William Squyres a radio host was driving to work through a dense forest when he witnessed something he’ll never forget. In Pittsburgh, Kansas, William was driving, when he saw a low-hovering unidentified object with windows.
William would later say about first seeing it: “My hair rose straight up on the back of my head,”
He described the craft as having two turtle shells adjoined. Where the two halves joined, he noticed a series of small propellers, which he described as being six to twelve inches in diameter and projecting outward. They were close, side by side and went all the way around the object. These propellers were spinning quickly.
William said the object was big., around 75 feet long, 45 feet wide and 25 feet high. It was rocking slightly back and forth as it hovered over a field near the road.
The body was of a light aluminum color and across the top and extending down to the rim of the object were several rectangular windows. As William peered in them, he could see someone or something moving, but it was obscured.
He described the window being blocked “like a window shade pulled down. I could see figures behind it.”
There were other windows though and inside these, William stated he saw a man, a human being. He was adamant that it was a human. The person was sitting motionless and facing forward.
William would later say: “I definitely saw a human being through the window.”.
As William was seeing all this, he turned off his car and got out. He heard a steady beating sound and he decided to approach on foot to around 100 feet away.
Then, the object suddenly shot straight up into the air and vanished out of sight. The bushes and trees beneath the craft were flattened as the object rose up.
William would later say it sounded like: “a hundred quail taking off.”
William was convinced that the object was “piloted by humans, and not some men from Mars.”
The witness would return to the scene later with people from the radio station, who confirmed that the vegetation appeared disturbed.
Later, the Air Force would investigate the incident and the officials confirmed that something did occur. The reliability of William was deemed good in the official report that wended up in Project Blue Book.
So, what can we make of this report?
There’s a couple things that really stand out in the case.
The first is the assertion from William that the craft had humans and not extraterrestrials. From this, we need to remember that this event occurred in 1952, a time when reporting UFOs typically was met with ridicule from the general public. William was also public figure, being a radio host so it’s possible he didn’t want to be associated with seeing flying saucers.
We also must point out that what the craft was able to do was surely nothing that aircraft could have done in the 1950s or probably even today.
There are also some strange things about the craft report. It’s possible he overestimated the size, but there’s no man-made craft that are able to hover like he described. From his statement, it’s a bit strange he was able to gauge the propeller size as being so small. We have to remember he got no closer than 100 feet. So, it’s probable they were on the craft, but it’s likely the size is incorrect. This was probably an honest mistake as gauging size is noy always the easiest thing to do.
It is bit odd though the way he described the craft. Propellers on UFO’s are not something typically seen in witness sightings. However, disturbances to the landscape and crafts travelling seemingly instantaneously are features seen in many UFO sightings.
One other thing that lends support to this happening is that this occurred while he was driving, so that eliminates this as being some sort of dream or hallucination.
So did this event occur?
We certainly cannot know for sure, but It’s likely that he did see something strange in that sky. William had no financial or ulterior motive for reporting this. It appears most likely he probably saw the craft but misidentified some of the features. That said, it’s almost improbable it was another type of known aircraft, as the craft doesn’t appear to be something that could be confused with say a helicopter.
