CIA Information Report: Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity, Hungary, 1955
CIA Information Report: Report of Unusual Flying Object Sightings and Attendant Scientific Activity, Hungary, 1955
Source file: CIA-UAP-018_Report_of_Unusual_Flying_Object_Sightings_and_Attendant_Scientific_Activity.pdf Originating agency: Central Intelligence Agency Report number: OO-B-93674 Document type: Information Report (unevaluated) Classification: CONFIDENTIAL (Approved for Release 2026) Date distributed: 17 April 1956 Date of information: November 1955 Country: Hungary Page count: 3 (all read; page 3 is blank) VIRIN: 260508-O-D0360-1095 PURSUE Release: 3
Summary
CIA Information Report OO-B-93674, distributed on 17 April 1956, relays UFO-related information extracted from private correspondence between a Budapest resident and her uncle living in the United States. The source is described as "a naturalized US citizen of Hungarian extraction" who "corresponds regularly with two nieces living in Budapest." The report carries the explicit caveat: "THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION."
In November 1955, the source's niece in Budapest sent a letter that included the following observation: the city's population had been kept in a state of nervous excitement for several weeks by "so-called flying saucers (rockets)" moving at approximately 12,000 kilometres per hour. Scientific groups were described as being kept very busy by the objects. A hand-drawn sketch included with the letter depicted the formation and suspected course of these objects — from Budapest toward Moscow.
The CIA report notes that this was the first time the niece had mentioned such objects in her letters. The original Hungarian letter and an English translation were available on loan from the CIA Library; the excerpt quoted in the report is marked in brackets within that translation.
Research Article
The document and its source
CIA Information Report OO-B-93674 is a single-page cover report (plus one page reproducing an English translation of the relevant portion of the Budapest letter, and a blank third page). It exemplifies a category of Cold War intelligence product in which routine personal correspondence between Eastern Bloc residents and their Western relatives was monitored or voluntarily shared, and any operationally relevant content was extracted and circulated.
The source is a US citizen of Hungarian origin who was in regular contact with family in Budapest. The report does not indicate how the letter came to the CIA's attention — whether the source volunteered it, whether correspondence was intercepted, or whether it arrived through another channel. The source's identity is partially redacted.
The report was distributed on 17 April 1956 with the responsive reference OO/C Guide 15, PAIR, 2.01, SI-806, suggesting it was filed in response to an existing collection requirement on the topic of UFO-related phenomena or scientific activity in Hungary.
Content of the Budapest letter
The English translation of the niece's letter (reproduced on page 2) is a personal holiday greeting written around Christmas 1955. Amid news of family health, a visiting German circus, and Christmas preparations, the letter contains the following passage:
"Everyone has been excited by the so-called saucers for the past few weeks. These fast-rushing heavenly phenoma [sic] have been and still are keeping scores of scientists busy — [redacted] has surely seen them or read about them; these amazing fliers moved at a speed of 12,000 kilometers per hour."
The report's cover page renders a similar passage slightly differently as a "free translation": "The so-called flying saucers (rockets) [sic] for several weeks kept the people in a nervous state. These very fast speeding flyers kept scientific groups very busy. I'm sure you heard already from the papers, 12 thousand km per hour was estimated on these flyers."
The parenthetical "[sic]" after "rockets" is present in the original report, suggesting the CIA analyst noted that the niece herself was uncertain whether the objects were rockets or saucers, using the terms interchangeably or combining them.
The sketch
The CIA cover report notes: "Included with the letter was the following sketch indicating the formation and suspected course of the above objects." The sketch, reproduced on the cover page, shows a cluster of circular objects above "Budapest" with a line of suggested trajectory extending downward toward "Moscow." The formation appears to show several objects in a loose grouping. No scale, altitude, or timing information accompanies the sketch.
This hand-drawn diagram is the only visual element in the file beyond text. It was presumably drawn by the niece in Budapest and transmitted with her personal letter.
Context: Hungary 1955
Hungary in late 1955 was a Soviet-dominated state. The Hungarian Revolution was still a year away (October 1956), but social and political tensions were already acute. The presence of Soviet military and aviation assets in Hungary and the region meant that unusual aerial activity could plausibly reflect Soviet military exercises, missile or rocket testing, or other activities that Hungarian civilians would have observed but not been able to officially identify or discuss. The characterization of the objects as "rockets" or "saucers" interchangeably by the letter writer reflects the ambiguity civilian populations in the Eastern Bloc faced when attempting to describe anomalous aerial phenomena without access to official information.
The reported speed of 12,000 km/h would have been extraordinary for any known aircraft of the era, substantially exceeding the capabilities of contemporary Soviet jet aircraft or missiles. Whether this figure reflects an informed estimate, exaggeration in the popular press, or the actual perceived speed of something unusual cannot be determined from the document.
Significance
This is a sparse document. It contains no direct witness account, no technical description beyond the speed estimate, no identifiable location data beyond "Budapest," and no follow-up. Its significance lies primarily in two areas: first, it demonstrates the CIA's systematic practice of harvesting UFO-relevant information from private Eastern Bloc correspondence; second, the included sketch — with its suggested flight path from Budapest toward Moscow — shows that civilian observers in Budapest were attempting to track and record the trajectory of what they considered to be anomalous aerial objects in November 1955. The "attendant scientific activity" referenced in the document title appears to be the ongoing engagement of unnamed scientific groups who were reportedly kept busy by the sightings over a period of several weeks.
Key People
| Role | Identity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Naturalized US citizen of Hungarian extraction | Corresponds regularly with nieces in Budapest; identity partially redacted |
| Letter author | Niece of source, Budapest resident | Identity redacted; wrote letter in November 1955 |
Locations
| Location | Details |
|---|---|
| Budapest, Hungary | Location of letter author; sightings centred here |
| Moscow, USSR | Terminus of the suggested flight trajectory in the sketch |
Incidents
| Incident | Date | Location | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple fast-moving "saucers/rockets" at ~12,000 km/h keeping population and scientists occupied | Several weeks in November 1955 | Budapest, Hungary | 1 |
| Hand-drawn sketch of formation and trajectory (Budapest to Moscow) | Included with November 1955 letter | Budapest | 1 |
Notable Quotes
"The so-called flying saucers (rockets) [sic] for several weeks kept the people in a nervous state. These very fast speeding flyers kept scientific groups very busy. I'm sure you heard already from the papers, 12 thousand km per hour was estimated on these flyers." — page 1, free translation of Budapest letter (November 1955)
"Everyone has been excited by the so-called saucers for the past few weeks. These fast-rushing heavenly phenoma have been and still are keeping scores of scientists busy...these amazing fliers moved at a speed of 12,000 kilometers per hour." — page 2, English translation of original Hungarian letter
"This is the first time my niece has mentioned such objects in her letters." — page 1
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