Elmas: an orange sphere among the night exercise
On the evening of 27 October 1977 three Army Aviation pilots and two Air Force men at Cagliari-Elmas watched a fast orange sphere for over an hour; the Air Force catalogued it as an OVNI, and a second one on 2 November. A Defence Ministry report released in 1980 quotes the Elmas controller: it flew at jet speed right behind a helicopter on a night exercise, and messages went between Elmas, NATO's Decimomannu range, the carrier USS Saratoga and aircraft in flight.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 1977Aeronautica Militareofficialtwo dossier entries catalogued as OVNI, with five and three military witnesses OVNI archive 1972–1990 pp. 26–27
- Jan 1980Italian Defence Ministryofficiala report kept secret for over two years, released via ANSA in January 1980
How plausible · High
Army and Air Force pilots in an official Air Force entry, plus a ministry report of message traffic with NATO and a U.S. carrier.
- ●●Access Pilots in the exercise.
- ●●No gain sought Official.
- ●●Character record Military pilots.
- ●●Independent convergence Five witnesses; repeat sighting.
- ●●Checkable details check out Air Force OVNI archive.
- ●○Restraint Plain description.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.