Incident · 19 September 1976 · Morocco's Atlantic side, from Agadir to Kenitra and the Fez region
Morocco nationwide UFO sightings reported by the Royal Gendarmerie
Also known as Morocco 1976, Moroccan UFO sightings 1976, RABAT 5209, King Hassan UFO request
Partly explained. The State Department's reply found no definitive explanation but judged that the object was most likely a spectacular meteor or a decaying satellite part, without a re-entry record to confirm it. (State Department cables RABAT 5209, STATE 244918 and STATE 247538: Morocco's request for information on UFOs, September–October 1976)
In the early hours of 19 September 1976, people across Morocco, from Agadir in the south to Kenitra, Meknes and the Fez region in the north, reported a silent, luminous object shedding sparks as it crossed the sky, roughly parallel to the Atlantic coast. The Royal Gendarmerie collected the reports and drawings; one of its own officers, Major Mohamed Lissaoui, said he had watched it near Kenitra. King Hassan II sent the Gendarmerie's commander, Col. Housni Benslimane, to ask the U.S. ambassador for any information Washington had, and the embassy cabled the request to the State Department on 25 September.
The Department answered on 5 October that it knew of no U.S. aircraft or satellite activity that could account for it and, while offering no definitive explanation, judged that it was most likely a spectacular meteor or a re-entering piece of a satellite: the timing, the slow flat path, the silence and the burning fragments fit a re-entry, though no re-entry record was found. The same night, Iranian Air Force F-4s were scrambled after a bright object over Tehran.
Sources: State Department telegrams RABAT 5209 (25 Sep 1976), STATE 244918 (2 Oct 1976) and STATE 247538 (5 Oct 1976), NARA Central Foreign Policy Files (AAD)
Facts and claims
- documented The Royal Gendarmerie received calls reporting a UFO between 0100 and 0200 on the morning of 19 September 1976, most of them between 0100 and 0130, from Agadir, Kalaa-Sraghna, Essaouira, Casablanca, Rabat, Kenitra, Meknes and the Fez region; the U.S. embassy's cable calls the reports from these widely separate places “REMARKABLY SIMILAR”. Source: doc-state-cables-morocco-ufo-1976.pdf
- documented Witnesses described either a silver-coloured luminous flattened ball (disc-shaped) or a large luminous tube-shaped object, moving roughly south to north parallel to the Atlantic coast at an estimated 1,000 metres, intermittently emitting bright sparks from the rear, with “ABSOLUTELY NO SOUND”. Source: doc-state-cables-morocco-ufo-1976.pdf
- claimed Major Mohamed Lissaoui of the Royal Gendarmerie, who briefed the U.S. defense attaché, said he saw it himself at about 0115 while returning from Kenitra: it flew parallel to the coast at a relatively slow speed, “AS IF IT WERE AN AIRCRAFT PREPARING TO LAND”, first looking like a disc and, as it came closer, a luminous tube. Source: doc-state-cables-morocco-ufo-1976.pdf
- documented Col. Housni Benslimane, commander of the Royal Gendarmerie, called on the U.S. ambassador on 23 September, sent by King Hassan II to ask for any information the United States had on the sightings. Source: doc-state-cables-morocco-ufo-1976.pdf
- documented The State Department replied on 5 October that the U.S. government knew of no U.S. aircraft or satellite activity in the area that night, and that “ONE WOULD TEND TO BELIEVE THAT THE EVENT WAS A METEOR”, or, given the slow velocity, the silence and the burning fragments, a decaying satellite part of which there is no precise re-entry record. Source: doc-state-cables-morocco-ufo-1976.pdf
- documented The Department's analysis noted that meteors are usually seen at about 100 km rather than 1 km but that witnesses' height estimates are usually too low, and that the flat south-west to north-east trajectory “COULD CONCEIVABLY BE COMPATIBLE WITH A METEOR, OR DECAYING SATELLITE”; it said further descriptions or photographs would be needed for a thorough analysis. Source: doc-state-cables-morocco-ufo-1976.pdf
Connected files
Documents
- State Department cables RABAT 5209, STATE 244918 and STATE 247538: Morocco's request for information on UFOs, September–October 1976 (documented in)
Organizations
- Department of State (investigated by) — The King asked the U.S. embassy for information; the Department replied that it was most likely a meteor or a decaying satellite part
Incidents
- Tehran UFO incident (similar to) — The same night, 19 September 1976: the Iranian F-4 scramble over Tehran
Mentioned in this file
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
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