07-28-1962

Submarine Saucers   

       From time to time through the years before saucers became newsworthy in 1947, various naval vessels reported the presence of huge "wheels of light" in the sea. Some of these have been documented by Fate magazine. Since 1947, several mystery submarines have been spotted which have not been successfully tracked or identified.        

       On October 25, 1962, the Los Angeles Times writer, Marvin Miles (Aerospace Editor) wrote a feature on "Soviet Subs." According to the article, on July 28 the skipper of a chartered fishing boat spotted lights in the darkness just before dawn about six miles southeast of Avalon (on Catalina). He noted the lights were low in the water and apparently stationary as he swung his 46-foot craft through a change of course toward the tip of San Clemente. The lights were almost dead ahead by then, and he trained his binoculars for a good look.

       The fisherman was startled to see a squat, lighted structure in which several men were working, although the enclosure seemed empty of any objects. The skipper and another member of the crew viewed the strange sight. They described it thusly:

       "It appeared to be the stern of a submarine. We could see five men, two in all-white garb, two in dark trousers and white shirts, and one in a sky-blue jump suit. We passed abeam at about a quarter-mile, and I was certain it was a submarine low in the water, steel gray, no markings, decks almost awash, with only its tail and odd aft structure showing."

       The strange aspects of this encounter which qualified it for printing in this Bulletin were these: "Then it started toward us and I turned hard to keep clear," the skipper reported. "It swept past us at surprising speed and headed toward the open sea, still on the surface. There was no noise that I could discern, no trailing white wake, just a good-sized swell."

       The skipper thought for a while it was just an American sub on the surface for a small repair, but the odd superstructure puzzled him, so he reported to Naval Intelligence. The Navy reacted fast, taking detailed statements, having the skipper study alien submarine silhouettes and carefully checked his log for course changes, times and distances involved.

       The Los Angeles Times, after hearing about the incident, checked with the Navy, [and] got a cryptic answer: "There's nothing to it." Washington, D. C. public information reacted the same.

       Mr. Miles' feature went on to say that no identification was made and described various types of known submarines. One bit of data was completely missing: What kind of U.S. or other submarine could travel at high surface speed, leaving no wake, with a huge, mysterious swell. We have an idea.                                                                                                                               

This reference: The APRO Bulletin, May 1963, p. 2

Original reference: Los Angeles Times, October 25, 1962.           

UFOCAT PRN – 65237

UFOCAT URN – 065237 Newspaper clipping, Los Angeles Times, October 25, 1962

UFOCAT URN – 089705 The APRO Bulletin, May 1963, p. 2

UFOCAT URN – 056818 UFOs over the Americas by Jim and Coral Lorenzen, p. 52, © 1968

UFOCAT URN – 140458 A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies by George Eberhart, #0090, © 1980

UFOCAT URN – NONE    Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century by J. & C. Bord, p. 169, © 1989

UFOCAT URN – 115645 HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, A0532 by D. Webb, no © date

UFOCAT URN – 165205 *U* UFO Computer Database by Larry Hatch, # XXXXXX, © 2002    

North America – United States, California

Avalon                          Latitude 33-21 N, Longitude 118-20 W (D-M) [Santa Catalina Island]

San Clemente              Latitude 33-26 N, Longitude 117-37 W

Reference: The National Gazetteer of the United States of America, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Washington, D.C., 1990.  

UFO Location (UFOCAT) - Latitude 33.35 N, Longitude 118.33 W (D.%)