Nick Mariana UFO Incident (1950)

The Nick Mariana UFO incident, captured on August 15, 1950, in Great Falls, Montana, remains a significant moment in the study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Nick Mariana, the general manager of the minor-league baseball team the Electrics, and his secretary, Virginia Raunig, witnessed two bright, silvery objects in the sky while at Legion Ballpark.

Mariana, intrigued by the unusual sight, quickly retrieved a 16mm camera from his car to film the phenomena. The objects, described as shiny and metallic, akin to polished silver, were estimated to be around 10,000 feet in altitude, displaying a horizontal and steady movement against the wind, which was blowing at 25 to 28 miles per hour that day.

Mariana’s footage, which he managed to capture after a swift dash to his car, shows the objects moving with a steady, rectilinear path, ruling out conventional explanations like balloons, aircraft, birds, meteors, atmospheric phenomena, or reflections. The objects appeared to be spinning, lacked any visible wings, fuselage, or exhaust, and were about 50 feet in diameter, maintaining a distance of approximately 50 yards from each other. Despite the film’s analysis, which included frame-by-frame examination and enlargement for detailed study, the nature of the objects remained unidentified. The incident sparked interest and debate among UFO researchers and skeptics alike, with the footage subjected to various interpretations and analyses over the years, yet the origin and nature of the objects Mariana captured on film that day continue to be a mystery.