North Pacific: Crew of SS Morgantown Victory sees cigar-shaped object with fiery tail
At 10:00 p.m. on 11 January 1966, the third mate, helmsman and bow lookout of the SS Morgantown Victory, north of Marcus Island in the North Pacific, saw a glowing cigar-shaped object with a fiery tail approach the ship, hover and change direction.
Background
The third mate, helmsman and bow lookout of the SS Morgantown Victory saw a cigar-shaped object approach the ship north of Marcus Island (now Minamitorishima). It came toward the starboard beam from the horizon, turned almost 180° to avoid passing over the ship, approached within 1 mile at 400 feet, hovered for 30 seconds, then crossed in front of the ship and changed direction again. It glowed orange-yellow with a long fiery tail and two lights on top, estimated at 200–250 feet long and 35–40 feet high, and was visible for 3 minutes. The master thought a plane had crashed and ordered two search turns, which found nothing. Project Blue Book attributed the sighting to the decay of the Kosmos 53 satellite, although, according to the entry, that decay occurred on 12 August 1966. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.