Document · 29 January 1979
U.S. Embassy Kuwait cables KUWAIT 0486 and 0508: UFO sightings and Kuwait's air defence, January 1979
Also known as KUWAIT 00486, KUWAIT 0486, UFO sightings cause security concern in Kuwait
Two telegrams from the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait to the State Department, both dated 29 January 1979 and signed by Ambassador Frank Maestrone, as preserved in NARA's Central Foreign Policy Files (Record Group 59, Electronic Telegrams 1979) and served by its Access to Archival Databases; both carry the State Department's declassification marking of 20 March 2014. KUWAIT 0486 summarises the Kuwaiti government's scientific committee and its report on the sightings of November and December 1978 and relays an oil company official's account of the pumping equipment; section 1 of KUWAIT 0508 explains why Kuwait's air defence radars did not see them.
The KISR committee's report itself, and the Kuwaiti press coverage the cable mentions, are not on file here.
Sources: National Archives, RG 59 Central Foreign Policy Files, Electronic Telegrams 1979 (AAD), KUWAIT 0486 and KUWAIT 0508
Facts and claims
- documented KUWAIT 0486 (29 January 1979, unclassified, subject “UFO” sightings cause security concern in Kuwait) reports that a series of sightings on 9 November 1978 led the Government of Kuwait to appoint a committee of experts from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), whose report, released on 20 January, “DESCRIBED EIGHT SIGHTINGS FROM NOVEMBER TO DECEMBER 14”. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- documented The cable says a number of the early sightings took place near a Kuwait Oil Company gathering center north of Kuwait City, and that the committee “REJECTED THE NOTION THAT THE” objects were espionage devices but remained equivocal about whether they were extraterrestrial; the committee's representative, Ratib Abu Id, told an embassy officer the scientists did not know enough to say with certainty that they were not spaceships. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- documented The embassy adds that a senior Kuwait Oil Company official told it that when the object first appeared over the northern oil fields the automatic pumping system, which can only be restarted manually, shut itself down, and restarted itself when the object vanished; the cable notes “THIS EVENT WAS NOT ADDRESSED BY THE KISR COMMITTEE REPORT.” Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- documented KUWAIT 0508 (29 January 1979, Confidential) says Kuwaiti dissatisfaction with its U.S.-supplied I-HAWK air defence system sharpened after night sightings in November and December “WIDELY REPORTED IN THE LOCAL PRESS AS UNDETECTED BY KUWAIT'S AIR DEFENSE RADARS”, but that the radars, operated only during working hours (0730–1300), had been turned off at the time. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
Connected files
Incidents
Organizations
- Department of State (produced by) — Telegrams from the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, signed by Ambassador Frank Maestrone
Mentioned in this file
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
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