California 1957

1957 - December - S. S. Ramsey. Taken in December 1957, by the radio officer aboard the naval ship S. S. Ramsey.

It was seen on deck, hovering in the sky.

The radio officer grabbed his camera and took this picture before the object disappeared.

I think the picture was first published in Flying Saucer Review.

I wrote to them twice in 1996, but never got a reply.

New Information Received in April, 2008:

I received the following information from Woods M.

"Here is the data inscribed on the back of the photo after he (Paul Cerny) gave it to me:

'Picture taken by a Naval Officer aboard a US. Navy ship-S. S. Ramsey-off Southern California in 1957.'

(My copy of this photo is an 8" by 10" glossy enlargement.)

'The device at the base of the UFO (landing gear?)as shown in several other photos (that Paul had, and which I saw at KGO) - had rotated around the craft.'

'Paul gave no other explanation to me about the craft, but I am certain he had the sighting and the photos under investigation.'

'Although the photo I have is a reprint and an enlargement of the original, I doubt it was ever subjected to computer analysis, because the photo was taken during the 1950s about 45 years ago (in 2002).

I also strongly doubt that the photo was computer generated, since that technology, as far as I know, did not exist then.'

Additional information received on December 27, 2010.

Paul Cerney was Chairman for the San Francisco Bay Area Subcommittee of NICAP. I knew Paul and when I worked at KGO-TV, San Francisco, invited him to appear on "The Golden Gate Story" which I produced August 23, 1964 (Mel Swope directed).

Paul was an expert investigator.

We broadcast this photo and at least one other photo from the sequence taken: the lower landing gear(?) rotated from shot to shot.

This information is from my historical records and is deemed correct.

Thanks,

Rev. B. Woods Mattingley

Additional Info Received on January 9, 2011.

I was going through your fine collection of UFO photos and came across one I believe is a well known hoax that you imply in the description is legitimate.

The photo in question is one labeled S.S. Ramsey photo from 1957.

I recall seeing this photo written up in Flying Saucer Review magazine, probably sometime in the mid to late sixties when I was a kid.

However, in the article the man who supposedly took the photo was named “T. Fogel” and he admitted the photo was a hoax.

I would direct you to a statement made by noted UFO investigator Kevin Randle that Fogel admitted to the hoax.

In the larger photo he includes in the article you can clearly see what appears to be a rod of some kind in the upper right corner of the photo, which was later cropped out of the picture.

I am surprised you haven’t uncovered this well-known hoax during the course of your research.

Take care,

J. Allan Danelek

Author of UFOs: The Great Debate