Rome Ciampino Airport: Half-Cigar UFO Tracked on Radar for 40 Minutes by Two Air Bases

On September 17, 1954, in the afternoon, tower controllers at Rome's Ciampino air base 'observed a mysterious object shaped like half a cigar flying slowly at an altitude of about 1,200 meters.' Leaving a trail of luminous smoke, the anomaly was visible for about 40 minutes. Those manning the tower watched the object make a 400-meter dive then rise again, moving from a horizontal to a vertical attitude.

As the object took off toward the sea, the Ciampino tower notified the Practica di Mare (military air base) control tower, 30 kilometers from Rome, which picked up the object and followed it on its radar screen for about 20 minutes. 'The radar showed the presence of an antenna located at the center of the widest part of the object.'