Within Thuringia UFOs
Did a Craft Land Near Haselbach?
The Haselbach story is Thuringia's most famous landed-craft claim, but its evidence rests on a delayed Cold War testimony.
On this page
- What Linke said happened
- Why the Cold War setting mattered
- What evidence is missing
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Introduction
Oskar Linke’s Haselbach landing claim is the best-known “landed craft” story in Thuringia’s UFO history, but it is not a strong proof case. It rests mainly on a sworn statement made in West Berlin in 1952 about an event Linke said had happened near Haselbach on 17 June 1950, while he was still living in the Soviet Zone. In that account, Linke and his young stepdaughter Gabriele allegedly saw two metallic-clad figures beside a shiny object, watched it rise from the ground, and later found a circular mark at the site. The story matters because it became one of Germany’s most famous early Cold War close-encounter narratives, entered CIA and Project Blue Book-adjacent archives, and still divides readers between “remarkable unsolved case” and “thin, delayed testimony shaped by its time”.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1 - Wikisource, the free online library…
What Linke Said Happened
The core account comes through a CIA-held foreign press report, not through a complete modern case file. The document, report number 00-W-23682, identifies its source as the Greek newspaper I Kathimerini, published on 9 July 1952, and labels the material as “unevaluated information”. It says West Berlin intelligence officers had begun looking into Linke’s story after he gave sworn testimony. Linke was described as a 48-year-old former mayor of Gleimershausen who had recently fled the Soviet Zone with his wife and six children.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1 - Wikisource, the free online library…
According to that testimony, Linke was returning home with his stepdaughter Gabriele when a motorcycle tyre failed near Haselbach. While they were walking, Gabriele noticed something roughly 140 metres away. Linke first thought she had seen a young deer, but as he moved closer he said he saw two figures in shiny metallic clothing, bent over and looking at something on the ground. He then approached to within about ten metres and saw a large object which he estimated at 13 to 15 metres across, shaped like a huge pan.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1 - Wikisource, the free online library…
The later details are what made the case famous. The object was described as having rows of holes around its edge and a black tower or cone rising from the top. Linke said the figures returned to the object after being alerted, the rim began to glow, the colour shifted from green towards red, and a humming sound increased as the object lifted. The account then describes the craft rotating, rising with a ring of flame, making a whistling sound, and disappearing over the hills and forests in the direction of Stockheim.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/2Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/2
MDR’s later historical summary gives the same broad shape of the story in a more local Thuringian frame: Linke had attended a talk in Haselbach, was pushing his NSU motorcycle through the Hasel valley after the tyre problem, and at about 2.30 am saw, with Gabriele, two figures near a shiny object about 15 metres wide and 2.5 metres high. MDR notes that the object’s form was later compared not only to a frying pan but to a hot-water bottle, a detail that matters because later retellings often smooth out the oddness and uncertainty of the original description.[mdr.de]mdr.deUF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.deUF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.de
Why the Cold War Setting Mattered
What Evidence Supports the Claim?
The strongest evidence is not physical material; it is documentary survival. The case appears in a CIA reading-room document and in later references to the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book environment. The National Archives confirms that Project Blue Book records are declassified and publicly available, while the US Air Force states that from 1947 to 1969 it investigated 12,618 UFO reports, of which 701 remained unidentified. That wider record does not validate Linke’s sighting, but it explains why a Cold War report from East Germany could be preserved in US-linked UFO files.[National Archives]archives.govNational Archives Project BLUE BOOKNational Archives Project BLUE BOOK
The second support is consistency across the main published versions. The CIA-derived text, MDR’s historical account, and later German press summaries all preserve the same central sequence: a motorcycle breakdown near Haselbach, Gabriele spotting something first, Linke approaching, two metallic-clad figures, a large object on or near the ground, departure into the sky, and Linke later giving a sworn statement in 1952.[morgenpost.de+3Wikisource+3Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1 - Wikisource, the free online library…
A third point in favour is that the story included at least some claimed corroborating elements. The CIA-derived account says people in the area later reported seeing an object they thought was a comet, and that a shepherd described a low-altitude object moving away from the height where Linke had stood. Linke also claimed that after the object departed he found a fresh circular opening in the ground corresponding to part of the craft’s structure. These details make the narrative more than a simple “light in the sky” story, but they remain reported claims rather than independently preserved measurements, photographs or samples.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/3Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/3
The case also gained a later afterlife because Gabriele Linke was reported to have stood by the experience decades later. MDR says Linke’s stepdaughter orally confirmed the account again in 2014, and Berliner Morgenpost likewise reported in 2016 that Gabriele still held to the experience. That later confirmation is interesting, but it cannot remove the problem that memory after many decades is not the same as a contemporaneous investigation.[mdr.de]mdr.deUF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.deUF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.de
What Evidence Is Missing?
The most important missing item is a robust primary investigation from 1950. There is no known set of contemporaneous local police interviews, site photographs, soil analysis, medical observations, military radar records or DDR administrative file that independently pins down the event at the time it allegedly happened. The surviving public record is mainly a 1952 testimony and press transmission about a 1950 event.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1 - Wikisource, the free online library…
Did Later Reporting Strengthen or Weaken It?
Later reporting strengthened the case in one narrow sense: it kept the Haselbach story visible and tied it to named documents, dates and people rather than leaving it as anonymous folklore. MDR’s 2023 account usefully places the case within DDR history and identifies the CIA/Blue Book-linked report number, while modern press coverage during renewed interest in CIA UFO documents repeated the basic details without claiming the case was solved.[mdr.de]mdr.deUF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.deUF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.de
But later reporting also weakened the case if the question is proof. The more the story is repeated, the clearer it becomes that the same thin evidence is doing most of the work: Linke’s delayed sworn account, Gabriele’s reported involvement, local hearsay about a “comet”, and the alleged ground mark. The case has cultural durability, not a growing body of independent evidence.[Wikisource+2Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/3Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/3
The “Project Blue Book” association also needs careful handling. The US Air Force’s own fact sheet says Project Blue Book found no evidence that unidentified sightings represented technology beyond modern scientific knowledge or extraterrestrial vehicles. So even when a case appears in or near that record stream, its archival presence means it was collected or noted; it does not mean the US government confirmed the event as extraordinary.[Air Force]af.milUnidentified Flying Objects and Air Force Project Blue Book > Air Force > Fact Sheet Display…
The Most Plausible Reading
The safest conclusion is that the Haselbach landing claim is unresolved but weakly evidenced. It is historically important because it is early, localised, named, Cold War-inflected and unusually detailed for Thuringia: a former village mayor, a child witness, a landed object, occupants, an alleged trace, and a delayed move from private fear to public testimony. Those elements make it far more memorable than a vague light in the sky.[Wikisource+2Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgPage:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1 - Wikisource, the free online library…
The case is not, however, strong enough to bear the weight often placed on it. A sincere witness could have misperceived something unusual in poor light, embellished details over time, folded local reports of a luminous object into a more elaborate memory, or interpreted an unknown conventional event through the anxieties of the Soviet Zone. A deliberate hoax is also possible, though not proven. What is missing is the kind of independent, near-contemporaneous evidence that would let a careful reader move from “interesting testimony” to “reliable account of a landed unknown craft”.
Within Thuringia’s UFO history, that is precisely why the case matters. It shows how a single rural episode became a landmark through timing, politics, exile, media circulation and intelligence archiving. Haselbach is not Thuringia’s proof of alien visitation. It is Thuringia’s clearest example of how a Cold War close-encounter claim can remain fascinating while still falling short of the evidence needed for confidence.
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Endnotes
1.
Source: en.wikisource.org
Title: Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/1
Link:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3AFlying_Saucers_in_East_Germany%2C_CIA_Report.pdf/1
2.
Source: mdr.de
Title: UF O-Sichtungen in der DDR | mdr.de
Link:https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/alltag/erziehung-bildung/ufo-sichtung-halle-stasi-thueringen-100.html
3.
Source: en.wikisource.org
Title: Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/2
Link:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3AFlying_Saucers_in_East_Germany%2C_CIA_Report.pdf/2
4.
Source: en.wikisource.org
Title: Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/4
Link:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3AFlying_Saucers_in_East_Germany%2C_CIA_Report.pdf/4
5.
Source: shardsofmagonia.wordpress.com
Title: Shards of Magonia / Scherben von Magonia
Link:https://shardsofmagonia.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/the-close-encounter-of-a-former-mayor/
6.
Source: en.wikisource.org
Title: Page:Flying Saucers in East Germany, CIA Report.pdf/3
Link:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3AFlying_Saucers_in_East_Germany%2C_CIA_Report.pdf/3
7.
Source: archives.gov
Title: National Archives Project BLUE BOOK
Link:https://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/ufos
8.
Source: af.mil
Title: Air Force
Link:https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104590/unidentified-flying-objects-and-air-force-project-blue-book/
9.
Source: morgenpost.de
Title: Die wahre „Akte X“
Link:https://www.morgenpost.de/vermischtes/article207036373/Die-wahre-Akte-X.html
10.
Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000015464.pdf
11.
Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005516146
12.
Source: archives.gov
Link:https://www.archives.gov/research/catalog/catalog-bulk-downloads/uap-bulk-download
13.
Source: youtube.com
Title: 10 Cases From Project Blue Book: The CIA’s Hunt For UFOs
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoKm417zKOA
14.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Project Blue Book
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjinS2lZAsY
15.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Project Blue Book
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book
16.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/Project%20Blue%20Book%20%28UFO%29%20/Project%20Blue%20Book%20%28UFO%29%20Part%2001%20%28Final%29/at_download/file
Additional References
17.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_mZIV9X72A
18.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Project Blue Book: America’s Obsession with UFOs
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu4oTBBI5UE
19.
Source: youtube.com
Title: 5 De Classified CIA Documents Proving UFOs Are Real
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8NWQi7vaII
20.
Source: instagram.com
Link:https://www.instagram.com/p/DGiQdsAhsoh/
21.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/timefordisclosure/posts/1451783888698752/
22.
Source: amazon.in
Link:https://www.amazon.in/Deutschlands-bekannteste-UFO-Insassen-Begegnung-17-06-1950-Deutschland/dp/B0D5CXTJKG?tag=searcht-20
23.
Source: allmystery.de
Link:https://www.allmystery.de/themen/uf113686
24.
Source: kinofenster.de
Link:https://www.kinofenster.de/48566/project-blue-book
25.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/indianapolisstar/posts/the-files-include-documentation-of-some-sightings-and-observations-that-investig/1453454030161527/
26.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/TheNewsPress/posts/the-files-include-documentation-of-some-sightings-and-observations-that-investig/1421245416706031/
Topic Tree
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Parent topic
Thuringia UFOsRelated pages 11
- Borderland Why Borderland Skies Raised Suspicion
- Case Ratings Which Thuringian UFO Cases Hold Up?
- Case Trail How Does a UFO Story Become Evidence?
- Fehrenbach How Fehrenbach's Saucer Photos Fell Apart
- Investigators Who Checked Thuringia's UFO Claims?
- Media Effects Did Media Hype Shape Thuringia's UFOs?
- Neuenhof Why Did the Stasi Investigate Neuenhof?
- Other Reports What About Thuringia's Lesser Known UFO Reports?
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