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Between Wichita, Kansas, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, in January 1926:

Case number:

ACUFO-1926-01-00-WICHITA-1

Summary:

In his 1965 book “Anatomy of a Phenomenon”, French ufologist Jacques Vallée reports that according to Frank Edwards, in the early 1920s, the first sighting of flying discs since the air, by one of the era's pioneers of acrobatic flight, the pilot named Bert Acosta, who told his friends that one day, while flying somewhere in the southwest, he suddenly noticed “about half a dozen things flying off his starboard wing. He said they seemed to be about two hundred yards away and they looked like manhole covers! He told us how they flew alongside him for about five minutes and had no trouble following him. In fact, they “rushed” past him, and eventually turned around, changed course, and flew away.”

Bert Acosta reportedly said he had never seen anything like this before, that he had no idea what these things were, but that he had no doubt that they were real.

Frank Edwards (1908 - 1967) to whom the collection of this story is attributed was an American writer and radio host, one of the pioneers of radio, also became famous from 1948 for a series of popular books on UFOs and paranormal phenomena. He appears to be the earliest source for this observation report, but the account is not included in his 1966 book “Flying Saucers - Serious Business”, which makes me suppose that Bert Acosta told this story to Frank Edwards during a radio show by the latter.

Vallée did not give a precise date; it was one C. W. Finch, a historical researcher from Ohio, non-ufologist, who had tried in vain to find the original story of Frank Edwards, which gave “1926” as the date. I could not find why January was cited as the month in later sources.

The alleged witness, Bert Acosta, alias Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (1895 - 1954), was a “star” aviator, test pilot, posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2014. He had taught himself to flying in August 1910 and had been building experimental aircraft until 1912 when he began working for Glenn Curtiss as an apprentice on a seaplane project. In 1915, he worked as a flight instructor. He went to Canada and worked as an instructor for the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in Toronto. In 1917 he was appointed chief instructor, Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island, where he tested early open-cockpit aircraft such as the Continental KB-1 over New York in harsh conditions of extreme cold.

He had broken records and won prizes. He was also known as the “bad boy of the air”, receiving numerous fines and bans for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.

It was common knowledge that Acosta had a drinking problem, and he appears to have been quite a jolly fellow, with a sense of humor and fun; therefore I cannot exclude the possibility that he invented his story in the 1950s to please Frank Edwards, or for the pleasure of telling a good “fashionable” story on a radio show.

Data:

Temporal data:

Geographical data:

Witnesses data:

Ufology data:

Classifications:

Sources:

[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:

In French ufologist Jacques Vallée's 1965 paperback book “Anatomy of a Phenomenon”, we learn:

Note: Frank Allyn Edwards (1908 - 1967) was an American writer and broadcaster, one of the pioneers in radio. Late in his life, he became additionally well known for a series of popular books about UFOs and other paranormal phenomena.

It appears he would be the earliest source known to me about this sighting, but I did not find it in his 1966 book “Flying Saucers - Serious Business”.

I might speculate that, maybe, Bert Acosta told this story to Frank Edwards as radio his interested in the “flying saucer mystery”; if so, there chances to find documentation contemporary to the sighting, or even 1960's documents, appears thin. Il will go back to that in the Discussion below.

[Ref. jah1:] JAN ALDRICH:

[Ref. prt1:] JAN ALDRICH - "PROJECT 1947":

In the early 2000's the Project 1947 website indicated:

Jan Aldrich indicated that the “#” indicates the report is of doubtful reliability.

Notes: C. W. Finch, Ohio researcher, seems to be an Ohio historian who wrote a number of local history books, not about UFOs.

[Ref. jtr1:] JOSEPH TRAINOR:

[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

It appears that the case, according to NICAP's Francis Ridge, was reported in Richard Hall's “From airships to Arnold: a catalogue of UFO reports in the early 20th century (1900-1946)”, 2000, page 13.

Ridge says it came from early UFO books author Frank Edwards.

Apparently, the story was that in January 1926, at 01: p.m., six “flying manhole covers” circled the plane of noted stunt pilot Bert Acosta, then sped away, while he was en route from Wichita, Kansas, to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

[Ref. dwn1:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

French ufologist Dominique Weinstein compiled a catalogue of the cases of UFOs observed from aircraft. The first case in February 2001 (6th edition) catalogue appears as:

The source “03” is referenced at the end of the catalogue as:

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:

[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

[Ref. tai1:] WEBSITE "THINK ABOUT IT":

The case also appears on the Web, for example on the Think About It UFO website as:

Some of the data seem invented, for example, the 2 minutes duration, and the distance.

[Ref. get1:] GEORGE M. EBERHART:

[Ref. ute1:] A "UFO TIMELINE" ON THE WEB:

Aircraft information:

As can be seen, I found no information on the aircraft that Bert Acosta may have flown during the alleged incident.

It goes without saying that this could only have been a piston-engine airplane, probably single-seater and most likely unarmed.

Discussion:

The straight-line distance between Wichita and Colorado Spring is about 680 km.

Though some of the sources I have found claimed the pilot was “Bert Anacosta“, this was clearly a spelling error for Bert Acosta.

Bert Acosta, aka Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (photo above), born January 1, 1895 in in San Diego, California, died September 1, 1954, was a well-known, record-setting aviator and test pilot, posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2014.

He taught himself to fly in August 1910 and built experimental airplanes up until 1912 when he began work for Glenn Curtiss as an apprentice on a hydroplane project. In 1915 he worked as a flying instructor. He went to Canada and worked as an instructor for the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service in Toronto. In 1917 he was appointed chief instructor, Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island where he test flew early open-cockpit aircraft such as the Continental KB-1 over New York in below freezing conditions.

He won The Pulitzer Trophy Race in 1921 and the same year set an airspeed record of 176.9 miles an hour. In 1922 he served as a test pilot for the Stout Batwing Limousine, Stout's forerunner to the Ford Trimotor. In 1925 he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was living at 1 Winslow Court in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

In April 1927, he and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air, reported in Time magazine reported on April 25, 1927.

On June 29, 1927, thirty-three days after Charles Lindbergh's record setting transatlantic flight, Acosta flew from Roosevelt Field on Long Island to France with Commander Richard E. Byrd, Lieutenant George O. Noville and Bernt Balchen. A short film of Acosta, Byrd, George Noville, and Grover Whalen giving a farewell speech was filmed in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process on June 29 and released as America's Flyers. During the flight, the (perhaps apocryphal) story was that Byrd had to hit Acosta over the head with a fire extinguisher or a flashlight when he got out of control from drinking during their flight.

Indeed Acosta was known as the “bad boy of the air”, receiving numerous fines and suspensions for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.

(See for example http://www.airmailpioneers.org/content/Pilots/Acosta.htm )

So, we have a known pilot, a “star” pilot, as alleged witness. But no contemporary written source, only late, second hand sources with Vallée's 1965 book as the earliest source.

It seems possible to me that Bert Acosta had told his story at some time in the fifties to radio host Frank Edwards. Edwards possibly told about it in one of his earliest, “Fortean” books, “Strangest of All”, 1956; or “Stranger Than Science”,1959; or “Strange World”, 1964. And maybe Vallée picked it up there.

Edwards became interested in UFOs in the early post-Arnold days in 1947; in 1948, he had read "Flying Saucers Are Real", the famous magazine article then book by retired U.S. Marine Corps Major Donald E. Keyhoe. That is when Edwards began mentioning UFOs on his radio program. He was fired in 1954, because of his UFO talks he claimed, but then hosted a syndicated radio program, “Stranger Than Science”, where he freely discussed UFOs and other Fortean topics.

It is known that Acosta had a drinking problem, and he appears to have been quite a merry fellow, with a sense of humor and amusement. I cannot exclude that he made up his story in the 1950's for the benefit of Frank Edwards, or the pleasure to tell a good and “fashionable” story on a radio show. This of course is not a fact; it is only a possibility I cannot exclude for now.

Which means that although the case appears of high strangeness, the credibility is quite unknown.

Evaluation:

High strangeness, unknown credibility.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

• [fse1] ? Frank Edwards, USA.
• [jve1] * "Anatomy of a Phenomenon - The detailed and unbiased report of UFOs", book by Jacques Vallée, Ace Books - Henri Regnery publishers, USA, page 49, 1965.
• [rhs1] ? "Project Delta - A Study of Multiple UFO, book by Richard Haines, PhD., Lighting Design Association publishers, USA, page 152, 1994.
• [jah1] * "Re: Aircraft/UFO Encounter Prior to 1942", message by Jan Aldrich, on the ufology mailing list UFO Updates, USA, September 5, 1997.
• [prt1] * "Aircraft/UFO Encounters Prior to 1942", catalogue compiled by Jan Aldrich, on the Project 1947 ufology website, USA, not dated, as of 2021, at http://www.project1947.com/47cats/jan42.htm
• [jtr1] * "A Century of UFOs", list by Joseph Trainor, on his Web newsletter UFO ROUNDUP, Volume 4, No 36, December 30, 1999.
• [rhl1] ? "From airships to Arnold: a catalogue of UFO reports in the early 20th century (1900-1946)", by Richard H. Hall, UFO Research Coalition, USA, page 13, 2000, 2007.
• [nip1] * NICAP Website case record, USA, circa 2000, at http://www.nicap.org/2601XXwichita_dir.htm
• [dwn1] * "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena - Eighty years of pilot sightings - Catalog of Military, Airliner, Private Pilots' Sightings from 1916 to 2000", catalogue compiled by Dominique F. Weinstein, NARCAP International Technical Advisor, France, 6th issue, February 2001.
• [lhh1] * "*U* Computer Database", ufology database by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.
• [gvo1] * "Chronologie OVNI", electronic catalogue compiled by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, circa 2002.
• [tai1] * Think about it Website, USA, found 2021, at https://www.thinkaboutitdocs.com/1926-several-circular-objects-surrounded-plane
• [get1] * "UFOs and Intelligence: A Timeline", electronic document compiled by George M. Eberhart, 2022.
• [ute1] * "UFO Timeline: A Chronology of UFOs through Time", anonymous ufology timeline on the Web, found 2023.

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This page was last updated on June 26, 2024.