Person
Giulio Mainini
Also known as Gen. Mainini, Generale Mainini, Mainini
- Generale di Squadra Aerea (ret.), Italian Air Force; Commander of the Squadra Aerea 2004–2007
- F-104 fighter pilot; in 1978 commander of the 21° Gruppo, 53° Stormo caccia intercettori, Cameri
Giulio Mainini is a retired Generale di Squadra Aerea of the Italian Air Force. Born at Galliate (Novara) in 1945, he attended the Air Force Academy from 1964 to 1967 as a pilot cadet and spent most of his operational career with the 53° Stormo caccia intercettori at Cameri on the F-104, where he commanded the 21° Gruppo. He went on to command the 51° Stormo at Istrana, the 1st Regional Operations Centre at Monte Venda, the Air Force Academy and the 1st Air Region, and was operational commander of the air forces and of NATO's CAOC 5, directing the air defence of Italian airspace after 11 September 2001. From 2004 to 2007 he commanded the Squadra Aerea in Rome. He has flown over 3,800 hours on 26 aircraft types, about 1,400 of them on the F-104, and later presided over the Associazione Arma Aeronautica.
In September 1978, as a lieutenant colonel commanding the 21° Gruppo, he reported an intense light seen from his F-104 south of Cameri, and the press took up the story. He has told it in several interviews since 2019. He also says that, at the Air Force's intelligence department, an office under him handled UFO reports and found no radar confirmation of any of them. He calls himself a non-believer.
The career details come from his biography in the description of the RONIN FILM PRODUCTION interview (2024) and from the Space CuE interview (2024). His 1978 rank and command come from La Stampa of 22 September 1978.
Sources: La Stampa, 22 September 1978, pp. 1 and 11 · RONIN FILM PRODUCTION interview (2024) and its biography · Spazio Tesla interview (recorded 2019) · Space CuE, 6 February 2024
Facts and claims
- documented La Stampa, 22 September 1978, named him as "il tenente colonnello Giulio Mainini, comandante il 21' gruppo caccia intercettori di stanza a Cameri", flying a two-Mach F-104. Source: archiviolastampa.it (archived)
- claimed Mainini says that later in his career, at the Air Force's 2nd Department (the SIOS, its intelligence service), one of the offices under him dealt with UFO reports: sightings passed on by local police, Carabinieri or mayors reached that section, which had the radar recordings ("le pizze sui radar") of the area impounded and examined for a return. — Giulio Mainini Source: F-104 insegue un UFO | La testimonianza del Gen. S.A. Giulio Mainini – Ep. 2 at 10:05
- claimed He says he had the reports of the previous 25 years pulled out and found many sightings but no radar confirmation: "tantissime visioni, ma non c'è stato un riscontro positivo da parte dei radar" (The archive's translation: very many sightings, but no positive confirmation from the radars). He had a statistical booklet made of when and where they were seen. — Giulio Mainini Source: F-104 insegue un UFO | La testimonianza del Gen. S.A. Giulio Mainini – Ep. 2 at 11:00
- claimed "prove di radar che abbiano visto un segnale o qualcosa, non ce ne sono in Italia" (The archive's translation: radar evidence that has seen a signal or anything, there is none in Italy), he concludes in 2024, adding that he does not believe in UFOs. — Giulio Mainini Source: F-104 insegue un UFO | La testimonianza del Gen. S.A. Giulio Mainini – Ep. 2 at 11:29
- claimed In the 2019 interview he gives the same account of the office: reports from citizens went through the Carabinieri, police or local police to the Air Force office, which impounded and analysed the radar recordings; he says he pulled out all the sightings of the previous 20 years. — Giulio Mainini Source: Italia Ufo Alert 1978 at 3:03
- claimed He says the eye can take a refraction of light or a star for something else, and that in over 3,800 flying hours, many at night, he has seen phenomena "ma non credo assolutamente a questo" (The archive's translation: but I absolutely do not believe in this). — Giulio Mainini Source: Italia Ufo Alert 1978 at 4:35
- claimed His statistical booklet, he says, was not secret and showed the usual pattern: more sightings in summer, when people are outdoors. — Giulio Mainini Source: Italia Ufo Alert 1978 at 4:59
- claimed He says that in the 1970s pilots carried a form on board on which they were to report any particular objects they saw. — Giulio Mainini Source: Italia Ufo Alert 1978 at 10:09
Connected files
Incidents
- Cameri 1978: an F-104 pilot's intense light south of Novara (Italy, September 1978) (witness) — Said he saw an intense light while flying an F-104 out of Cameri in September 1978
Videos
- Italia Ufo Alert 1978 (appears in)
- F-104 insegue un UFO | La testimonianza del Gen. S.A. Giulio Mainini – Ep. 2 (appears in)