Incident · 9 November 1978 – 14 December 1978 · Kuwait Oil Company's northern oil fields, north of Kuwait City
Kuwait oil-field UFO sightings and the KISR inquiry
Also known as Kuwait 1978, Kuwait oil fields UFO, KUWAIT 0486, KISR UFO committee
Between 9 November and 14 December 1978, Kuwait recorded eight UFO sightings, several of them near a Kuwait Oil Company gathering centre in the northern oil fields. The government appointed a committee of experts from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research; its report, released on 20 January 1979, ruled out espionage devices, did not rule out an extraterrestrial origin, and urged the government to protect the country's airspace and oil resources. Its release coincided with front-page stories, with photographs, of a new sighting over Kuwait City on 21 January.
The U.S. Embassy reported all this to Washington on 29 January, adding an account it had from a senior oil company official: at the first appearance over the northern fields, the automatic pumping equipment shut down and restarted by itself when the object vanished, something the KISR report did not address. A second cable that day explained why the air defence radars had seen nothing: they were run only in the mornings and were off. No explanation for the sightings is on record; the committee's report and the Kuwaiti press coverage are known here only through the embassy's summary.
Sources: U.S. Embassy Kuwait telegrams KUWAIT 0486 and KUWAIT 0508 (29 January 1979), NARA Central Foreign Policy Files (AAD)
Facts and claims
- documented A series of UFO sightings on 9 November 1978 led the Government of Kuwait to appoint an investigating committee of experts from the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR); its report, released on 20 January 1979, described eight sightings between November and 14 December, a number of the early ones near a Kuwait Oil Company gathering center north of Kuwait City. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- documented According to the U.S. embassy, the KISR committee rejected the idea that the objects were espionage devices but stayed equivocal about an extraterrestrial origin, and recommended that the government take all possible measures to protect Kuwait's airspace, territory and oil resources. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- claimed A senior Kuwait Oil Company official told the U.S. embassy that when the object first appeared over the northern oil fields the automatic pumping system shut itself down, and that “WHEN THE "UFO" VANISHED THE SYSTEM STARTED ITSELF UP AGAIN”, although the equipment can normally only be restarted by hand. The KISR report did not address this. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- documented Kuwait's air defence radars did not react to the events in the northern field: according to the embassy they were operated only during working hours (0730–1300) and were switched off at the time, a fact the air defence commander was unwilling to admit. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
- documented The embassy noted that the first sightings came near the end of the Eid al-Adha holidays, that some locals made light of them, and that there was speculation about helicopters or hovercraft carrying refugees or money out of Iran; no explanation is recorded in the cables. Source: doc-state-cables-kuwait-ufo-1979.pdf
Connected files
Documents
- U.S. Embassy Kuwait cables KUWAIT 0486 and 0508: UFO sightings and Kuwait's air defence, January 1979 (documented in)
Mentioned in this file
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
More incidents
- Morocco nationwide UFO sightings reported by the Royal Gendarmerie
- Nouasseur Air Depot radar and aircrew sightings
- Port Lyautey Navy pilots' sightings of a brilliant white object
- Britannia Airways 737 near-miss with a 'Mach 3' object off Elba
- RAF Tornado crews overtaken by a large unknown aircraft over the North Sea
- Official UFO Night (Brazil, 1986)