A quietly declassified CIA document from the mid-20th century reveals an overlooked region in the global UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) narrative: Northwest Africa.
Titled simply “Unidentified Flying Objects Over Morocco and French West Africa”, the short but potent document highlights several sightings of unexplained aerial craft between 1951 and 1953 - including verified visual accounts by military personnel, colonial officials, and commercial pilots.
At a time when the Cold War was tightening its grip on Africa and France still maintained direct colonial control, these sightings sent alarm bells through both Western intelligence circles and regional command structures.
🛰️ The Sightings
The CIA summary compiles reports from across Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, and Ivory Coast, documenting:
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Luminous, disc-shaped craft observed at high altitudes.
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Objects moving at extraordinary speeds with sudden directional shifts.
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Multiple reports verified by radar or military eyewitnesses, including at airfields.
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Sightings near strategic French colonial outposts and communication hubs.
While none of the sightings included crash retrievals or photographs, the consistency of the reports and the official concern they generated elevated them to a matter of classified intelligence review.
🛩️ Military and Colonial Eyewitnesses
The most credible of the sightings were made by:
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French Air Force personnel stationed at military bases near Dakar and Agadir.
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Colonial administrative officers reporting strange nocturnal lights over remote desert posts.
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Pilots from European commercial airlines flying over the Sahara.
Each described similar characteristics - oval or circular shapes, hovering capability, and speeds unmatched by known aircraft of the time.
📡 Strategic Implications
In the Cold War context, the report reflects concern that these objects might represent Soviet surveillance platforms, experimental atmospheric vehicles, or even psychological operations meant to disrupt colonial stability.
Morocco and French West Africa were critical nodes in Western communication infrastructure, including relay stations, radar arrays, and airfields used by NATO.
As a result, any unexplained intrusion into that airspace, however odd, demanded military attention.
🌍 The African UFO Blind Spot
Unlike reports from the United States or Europe, UAP events in Africa during this period have received virtually no media or academic attention.
This document stands as one of the earliest official Western records of UFO activity in postwar Africa - and its existence suggests that Africa was part of the global pattern of unknown aerial phenomena, even if the records remained buried.
🤐 Why It Was Buried
The CIA report provides no conclusions - only a summary of incidents.
It does not mention extraterrestrials or draw links to known aircraft programs.
Its muted tone may have been intentional: to archive the events without drawing attention, both from the public and from officials in countries beginning to stir with independence movements.
🧭 Rewriting the Map of UAP History
As more documents emerge, the global picture of UAP encounters grows wider.
This CIA memo reminds us that:
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Africa was never isolated from the phenomenon.
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Colonial and military witnesses were among the first credible observers.
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And even in the 1950s, Western intelligence agencies were watching skies far beyond Washington and Moscow.