Person
Dante Golinelli
Also known as Comandante Golinelli, Golinelli
- Fighter pilot (NCO), 50° Stormo, Italian Air Force, San Damiano (Piacenza), F-84; later an airline pilot with ATI and Alitalia
Dante Golinelli was a fighter pilot of the Italian Air Force. In a 2018 interview he said he had flown with an early aerobatic team, then with the 6ª Aerobrigata at Ghedi, and flew the F-84 for ten years, serving at San Damiano (Piacenza) with the 50° Stormo from about 1963 until 1970. Paolo Gianassi, the tower controller at San Damiano in 1966, names him among the base's six or seven NCO pilots, and the interview's publisher describes him as then a maresciallo (warrant officer) and fighter pilot. After leaving the Air Force he flew for the airlines ATI and Alitalia.
In October 1966, on his account, he broke off a low-level training sortie with a fuel problem, saw over Piacenza the "star" the pilots had noticed before take-off, and climbed his F-84 towards it until fuel ran short; he described a large, bright, metallic isosceles triangle. He told the story publicly for the first time in a 2018 interview with Alberto Negri of the Piacenza association Spazio Tesla, more than fifty years later.
Sources: Spazio Tesla interview with Dante Golinelli (recorded 29 June 2018, YouTube, October 2018) · Paolo Gianassi's testimony (Spazio Tesla, 2022) · MeteoWeb, October 2018
Facts and claims
- claimed Golinelli says he flew the F-84 for ten years and served at Piacenza until 1970, after flying with an early aerobatic team and with the 6ª Aerobrigata at Ghedi. — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 3:14
- claimed Golinelli says that in October 1966 he was one of four F-84s sent on a low-level training mission to simulate an attack from the east under the radar. — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 4:30
- claimed He says the pilots had noticed a star shining in the afternoon sky over Piacenza before take-off, and that he turned back from the Adriatic when his external tank would not transfer fuel. — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 5:50
- claimed Back over Piacenza he saw the same object again, larger: "Da terra si vedeva una stella, un punto luminoso"; from 20,000 ft it was an isosceles triangle of metal that shone like a sheet of steel. (The archive's translation: "From the ground you saw a star, a point of light.") — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 6:40
- claimed He says he called the ground, "guardate qui c'è un oggetto qui sopra", and climbed to about 33–34,000 ft before fuel forced him down; the triangle grew larger as he climbed. (The archive's translation: "look, there's an object up here.") — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 7:14
- claimed He estimated the object's height at 50–60,000 ft and says the Ferrara radar ("Pioppo") refused his request to scramble F-104s because the crews "non avevano la tuta spaziale". (The archive's translation: "didn't have pressure suits.") — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 8:36
- claimed Golinelli says his three companions also saw the object, and that a second pilot on an aircraft test flight climbed higher than he did and described the same bright metallic triangle. — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 10:47
- claimed He says one of his companions thought he had seen a dome at the centre of the object; Golinelli did not see one. — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 11:36
- claimed On its size: "Minimo, minimo, minimo, 20 o 30 metri." (The archive's translation: "At the very, very least, 20 or 30 metres.") — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 12:20
- claimed Golinelli says the command ordered the pilots not to talk about it, that after the story reached a newspaper they were reprimanded and told it had been a balloon, and that he does not accept this: "per me non era un pallone." (The archive's translation: "to me it was not a balloon.") — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 12:42
- claimed He says the object stayed still for hours and then drifted slowly east towards Bologna, which in his view rules out a wind-borne balloon. — Dante Golinelli Source: Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) at 14:16
Connected files
Incidents
- San Damiano air base F-84 chases (Piacenza, Italy, 1966) (witness) — Chased the object in an F-84 to about 33–34,000 ft
People
- Paolo Gianassi (served with) — Names Golinelli among the six or seven NCO pilots at San Damiano in 1966
Videos
- Dante Golinelli on the San Damiano object of October 1966 (Spazio Tesla interview, 2018) (appears in)
- Paolo Gianassi, tower controller at San Damiano on 17 October 1966 (Spazio Tesla, 2022) (discussed in)