Within Sicily UFOs
Do Taormina's 1954 UFO Photos Hold Up?
The Taormina photographs capture the excitement and weakness of early UFO images moving through newspapers.
On this page
- The European flying saucer wave
- Giuseppe Grasso and press circulation
- Reflections, staging and later scepticism
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Introduction
Taormina’s 1954 UFO photographs are best understood as a revealing press-culture case, not as strong evidence for extraordinary craft over Sicily. The famous image, usually linked to photographer Giuseppe Grasso, appears to show people watching two disc-like objects in the sky near Taormina during the great European flying-saucer wave. Later checks, however, point towards a much weaker story: likely weather balloons seen over the Ionian coast, photographs that may have been staged or altered for dramatic effect, and a press chain that turned a local curiosity into an international “flying saucer” picture. The case matters because it shows how early UFO images could gain authority simply by looking clear, being attached to a named place, and circulating through newspapers at speed.[superavionavion.blogspot.com+2Joomag]superavionavion.blogspot.comi dischi volanti taormina anno 1954i dischi volanti taormina anno 1954
The European flying-saucer wave
The Taormina photographs sit inside the autumn 1954 European UFO wave, when reports spread especially through France and Italy and newspapers were already primed to treat ambiguous lights, balloons and odd photographs as “flying saucer” material. This was not a quiet background moment. Contemporary and later accounts describe a crowded media atmosphere in which sightings were compared across borders, official denials competed with witness stories, and ordinary reports could become part of a larger continental pattern almost overnight. Edward Ruppelt, former head of the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book, wrote that by late 1954 sightings had spread across southern Europe, with reports involving pilots, radar claims, military interest and newspapers taking sides.[JASON COLAVITO]jasoncolavito.comJASON COLAVITOReport on UFOsJASON COLAVITOReport on UFOs
Italy was one of the countries where this wave had a strong public life. The better-known Florence stadium incident of 27 October 1954, where a football match was interrupted as spectators looked skywards, helped give the Italian wave a lasting cultural memory. That does not prove that the Taormina photographs show the same kind of phenomenon. It does show why, a few weeks later, a Sicilian coastal story involving “discs” would have found a ready audience. By November 1954, readers already knew the language of flying saucers, and editors knew that UFO stories sold.[Wikipedia]WikipediaUFO sightings in ItalyUFO sightings in Italy
This matters for interpreting Taormina because the photograph did not emerge into a neutral evidence environment. It entered a press market hungry for striking images. A clear-looking picture, even without the original negative, precise witness statements or a secure chain of custody, could be reproduced as if it were stronger than it really was. That is the central weakness of the case: the image became famous before the underlying event had been pinned down.
Giuseppe Grasso and press circulation
The usual account says that Giuseppe Grasso, a photographer associated with Giardini Naxos near Taormina, produced photographs connected with a sighting on 19 November 1954. Modern cataloguing of 1954 UFO photographs lists the Taormina case as a late-afternoon picture from Taormina, Messina, Sicily, naming Grasso as photographer and citing the Catania newspaper Corriere di Sicilia of 20 November 1954 as an early source. The same catalogue classifies the explanation as fake, citing Donald Menzel’s early scepticism and later reinvestigation by Antonio Blanco of the Italian UFO study centre CISU.[Academia]academia.eduTHE YEAR 1954 IN PHOTOS ExpandedTHE YEAR 1954 IN PHOTOS Expanded
The local reconstruction is more interesting than the simple “two UFOs over Taormina” version. Antonio Blanco’s CISU-linked article, republished in Ufoctline, explains that earlier researchers were trying to resolve several gaps: who Grasso was, why foreign accounts attributed statements to him, how the photographs left Italy, and why the local press story did not cleanly match the dramatic foreign retellings. Blanco notes that the rediscovery of a relevant article helped fix the event date as 19 November 1954 and identify the famous “Taormina discs” with the case reported in Italian newspapers at the time.[Joomag]viewer.joomag.comOpen source on joomag.com.
The most plausible reconstruction is that people along the coast near Taormina and Giardini Naxos saw two low, visible weather balloons on the morning of 19 November. The story then spread quickly because such objects, seen against the sky during a flying-saucer flap, were easy to recast as mysterious discs. Blanco’s later account suggests that Grasso, equipped as a working photographer, may have photographed people watching the balloons and then made the scene more striking by adding or presenting the objects in a more “saucer-like” way.[superavionavion.blogspot.com]superavionavion.blogspot.comi dischi volanti taormina anno 1954i dischi volanti taormina anno 1954
Reflections, staging and later scepticism
The strongest doubts about the famous Taormina image come from the photograph itself. Donald Menzel and Lyle Boyd described the image as showing four men on a bridge apparently gazing at two UFOs, but argued that the lighting did not make sense: the men and bridge cast deep shadows in bright sunlight, while the objects showed weak and inconsistent shadowing. They also pointed out that the men’s head angles did not line up with the supposed objects, making it look as though they were looking towards the landscape rather than at discs overhead.[Project Gutenberg]gutenberg.orgThe World of Flying Saucers, by Donald H. Menzel and Lyle G. Boyd—A Project Gutenberg eBook…
Ruppelt made a related but slightly different criticism. He said the picture looked good at first, but that the men were not actually looking at the UFOs; he accepted Captain Hardin of Project Blue Book’s view that the photographer may simply have spoiled a double exposure. That is a useful distinction: some sceptics saw crude fakery, while others saw a photographic error or staged composite rather than proof of a deliberate hoax. Either way, the photograph’s evidential value drops sharply once the scene geometry fails.[JASON COLAVITO]jasoncolavito.comJASON COLAVITOReport on UFOsJASON COLAVITOReport on UFOs
A later technical-sceptical explanation suggested a reflection or double exposure involving a lamp-like object. One reproduced analysis says Grasso may have photographed people outdoors through or near glass, accidentally or otherwise capturing the reflection of an art-deco style floor lamp with multiple cone-like shades. That explanation is not the only version of the debunking, but it fits a broader pattern in early UFO photography: household objects, reflections, small models and double exposures could resemble the neat saucer shapes that readers expected to see.[Zyro]assets.zyrosite.comufoctline n. 13 m7VMG7j5w0f Lg X9xufoctline n. 13 m7VMG7j5w0f Lg X9x
What the Taormina case tells us about Sicilian UFO history
For Sicily’s UFO history, Taormina 1954 is valuable precisely because it is weak as a UFO proof claim. It shows how a Sicilian sighting could be amplified by geography, tourism, newspaper competition and the international flying-saucer mood. The setting was visually perfect: a famous cliffside resort, the Ionian coast, people looking out from terraces or bridges, and a sky already being read through the language of “discs”. Yet the better the later reconstruction becomes, the less extraordinary the original claim appears.
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Browse similar on<span data-ebay-domain-label>eBay.co.uk</span></a></div></div></article><article class="fr-book-card"><a class="fr-book-cover" href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=UFO+patch&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339151051&customid=taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch&toolid=10001" data-ebay-localized-link="1" data-ebay-query="UFO patch" data-ebay-reference="taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch" target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Browse similar items on eBay for Rainbow UFO Space Flying Saucer Embroidered iron sew on patch clothe new N-1551"><img src="/assets/images/marketplace-covers/c700b10d0544374dd95a.jpg" alt="Listing image for Rainbow UFO Space Flying Saucer Embroidered iron sew on patch clothe new N-1551" loading="lazy" decoding="async" fetchpriority="low"></a><div class="fr-book-info"><p class="fr-book-kicker">Example eBay listing</p><h4 class="fr-book-title"><a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=UFO+patch&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339151051&customid=taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch&toolid=10001" data-ebay-localized-link="1" data-ebay-query="UFO patch" data-ebay-reference="taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch" target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener noreferrer">Rainbow UFO Space Flying Saucer Embroidered iron sew on patch clothe new N-1551</a></h4><a class="fr-book-fit" href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=UFO+patch&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339151051&customid=taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch&toolid=10001" data-ebay-localized-link="1" data-ebay-query="UFO patch" data-ebay-reference="taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch" target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Search eBay for UFO patch">Search<span data-ebay-domain-label>eBay.co.uk</span>: UFO patch</a><div class="fr-book-actions"><a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=UFO+patch&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339151051&customid=taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch&toolid=10001" data-ebay-localized-link="1" data-ebay-query="UFO patch" data-ebay-reference="taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch" class="fr-amazon-btn" target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener noreferrer">
Browse similar on<span data-ebay-domain-label>eBay.co.uk</span></a></div></div></article></div><div class="fr-section-footer"><a class="fr-browse-more" href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=UFO+patch&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339151051&customid=taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch&toolid=10001" data-ebay-localized-link="1" data-ebay-query="UFO patch" data-ebay-reference="taormina-1954-do-taormina-s-1954-ufo-photos-hold-up-sicily-ufo-patch" target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener noreferrer">
Browse more on<span data-ebay-domain-label>eBay.co.uk</span></a><p class="fr-disclosure">Example items shown for inspiration; availability and pricing can change. Branchoria may earn a commission if you purchase through outbound eBay links.</p></div></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> (function () { if (window.PhoenixAffiliateLocation) return; var localeMarketMap = {"de":"EBAY_DE","de-at":"EBAY_AT","de-ch":"EBAY_CH","de-de":"EBAY_DE","en":"EBAY_US","en-au":"EBAY_AU","en-ca":"EBAY_CA","en-gb":"EBAY_GB","en-ie":"EBAY_IE","en-nz":"EBAY_AU","en-uk":"EBAY_GB","en-us":"EBAY_US","es":"EBAY_ES","es-es":"EBAY_ES","fr":"EBAY_FR","fr-be":"EBAY_BE","fr-ca":"EBAY_CA","fr-fr":"EBAY_FR","it":"EBAY_IT","it-it":"EBAY_IT","nl":"EBAY_NL","nl-be":"EBAY_BE","nl-nl":"EBAY_NL"}; var timezoneRules = [{"market":"EBAY_IE","pattern":"^Europe/Dublin$"}, {"market":"EBAY_GB","pattern":"^Europe/(London|Belfast)$"}, {"market":"EBAY_CA","pattern":"^America/(Toronto|Vancouver|Edmonton|Winnipeg|Halifax|St_Johns|Regina|Saskatoon|Whitehorse|Dawson|Moncton|Glace_Bay|Goose_Bay|Iqaluit|Yellowknife|Inuvik|Rankin_Inlet|Resolute|Cambridge_Bay|Fort_Nelson|Creston|Dawson_Creek)$"}, {"market":"EBAY_US","pattern":"^America/"}, {"market":"EBAY_DE","pattern":"^Europe/Berlin$"}, {"market":"EBAY_FR","pattern":"^Europe/Paris$"}, {"market":"EBAY_IT","pattern":"^Europe/Rome$"}, {"market":"EBAY_ES","pattern":"^Europe/Madrid$"}, {"market":"EBAY_AU","pattern":"^Australia/"}, {"market":"EBAY_AU","pattern":"^Pacific/(Auckland|Chatham)$"}]; function normalize(value) {
return String(value ||'').toLowerCase().replace(/_/g,'-').replace(/[^a-z0-9-]+/g,''); } function localeMatches() {
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options = options || {};
var storageKey = options.storageKey ||'phoenix-affiliate-market';
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var saved = window.localStorage && localStorage.getItem(storageKey);
if (saved && available.indexOf(saved) >= 0) return saved;
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var localeMarkets = localeMatches();
if (localeMarkets.exact && available.indexOf(localeMarkets.exact) >= 0) return localeMarkets.exact;
if (localeMarkets.language && available.indexOf(localeMarkets.language) >= 0) return localeMarkets.language;
if (options.defaultMarket && available.indexOf(options.defaultMarket) >= 0) return options.defaultMarket;
return available[0] ||''; } window.PhoenixAffiliateLocation = {
normalize: normalize,
inferMarket: inferMarket,
inferFromLocale: inferFromLocale,
inferFromTimezone: inferFromTimezone }; })();</script><script type="text/javascript"> (function () { var sections = document.querySelectorAll('[data-ebay-localized-links]'); if (!sections.length) return; var markets = {"EBAY_AU": {"campaign_id":"5339151051","domain_label":"eBay.com.au","label":"Australia","mkrid":"705-53470-19255-0","tool_id":"10001","url_template":"https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}"},"EBAY_CA": {"campaign_id":"5339151051","domain_label":"eBay.ca","label":"Canada","mkrid":"706-53473-19255-0","tool_id":"10001","url_template":"https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}"},"EBAY_GB": {"campaign_id":"5339151051","domain_label":"eBay.co.uk","label":"UK","mkrid":"710-53481-19255-0","tool_id":"10001","url_template":"https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}"},"EBAY_IE": {"campaign_id":"5339151051","domain_label":"eBay.ie","label":"Ireland","mkrid":"5282-53468-19255-0","tool_id":"10001","url_template":"https://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}"},"EBAY_US": {"campaign_id":"5339151051","domain_label":"eBay.com","label":"USA","mkrid":"711-53200-19255-0","tool_id":"10001","url_template":"https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}"}}; var defaultMarket ="EBAY_GB"; function encodeQuery(value) {
return encodeURIComponent(String(value ||'').replace(/\s+/g,'').trim()).replace(/%20/g,'+'); } function buildUrl(query, reference, marketId) {
var cfg = markets[marketId] || markets[defaultMarket];
if (!cfg) return'#';
var template = String(cfg.url_template ||'https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw={query}');
var url = template.replace('{query}', encodeQuery(query ||'')).replace('{query_plain}', String(query ||''));
var joiner = url.indexOf('?') >= 0 ?'&' :'?';
var params = [];
if (cfg.mkrid) params.push('mkrid=' + encodeURIComponent(cfg.mkrid));
if (cfg.campaign_id) params.push('campid=' + encodeURIComponent(cfg.campaign_id));
params.push('mkevt=1');
params.push('mkcid=1');
params.push('toolid=' + encodeURIComponent(cfg.tool_id ||'10001'));
if (reference) params.push('customid=' + encodeURIComponent(reference).slice(0, 256));
return url + joiner + params.join('&'); } function domainLabel(marketId) {
var cfg = markets[marketId] || markets[defaultMarket] || {};
return cfg.domain_label ||'eBay'; } function flagClass(marketId) {
return'fr-ebay-market-flag fr-ebay-market-flag--' + String(marketId ||'').toLowerCase().replace(/_/g,'-').replace(/[^a-z0-9-]+/g,''); } function closeMenu(section) {
var menu = section.querySelector('[data-ebay-market-menu]');
var trigger = section.querySelector('[data-ebay-market-trigger]');
var picker = section.querySelector('.fr-ebay-market-picker');
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if (picker) picker.classList.remove('fr-ebay-market-picker--open'); } function availableMarkets(section) {
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return Array.prototype.slice.call(section.querySelectorAll('[data-ebay-market-button]'))
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if (available.indexOf(marketId)< 0) marketId = available[0] || defaultMarket;
Array.prototype.slice.call(section.querySelectorAll('[data-ebay-localized-link]')).forEach(function (link) {
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var reference = link.getAttribute('data-ebay-reference') ||'';
link.setAttribute('href', buildUrl(query, reference, marketId));
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section.setAttribute('data-ebay-localized-init','1');
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applyMarket(section, marketId, false); }); })();</script></section>
Endnotes
1.
Source: superavionavion.blogspot.com
Title: i dischi volanti taormina anno 1954
Link:https://superavionavion.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-dischi-volanti-taormina-anno-1954.html
2.
Source: viewer.joomag.com
Title: UFOCTLINE N.14
Link:https://viewer.joomag.com/ufoctline-n14-apr-ago-2014/0834061001405938692/p4
3.
Source: academia.edu
Title: THE YEAR 1954 IN PHOTOS Expanded
Link:https://www.academia.edu/43961635/THE_YEAR_1954IN_PHOTOS_Expanded
4.
Source: jasoncolavito.com
Title: JASON COLAVITOReport on UFOs
Link:https://www.jasoncolavito.com/report-on-ufos.html
5.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: UFO sightings in Italy
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_sightings_in_Italy
6.
Source: viewer.joomag.com
Link:https://viewer.joomag.com/ufoctline-n13-gen-mar-2014/0688955001393918588/p13
7.
Source: assets.zyrosite.com
Link:https://assets.zyrosite.com/YBg8GXeXaQhGM9Nv/ufoctline-n.-14-d953GzlaxOHyp8Eb.pdf
8.
Source: cia.gov
Title: cia rdp81r00560r000100010002 9
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81r00560r000100010002-9
9.
Source: gutenberg.org
Title: Project Gutenberg
Link:https://www.gutenberg.org/files/66639/66639-h/66639-h.htm
10.
Source: independent.academia.edu
Title: Antonino Cosentino
Link:https://independent.academia.edu/AntoninoCosentino
11.
Source: academia.edu
Title: EL ANO 1954 EN FOTOS Version Ampliada
Link:https://www.academia.edu/43962453/EL_ANO_1954EN_FOTOS_Version_Ampliada
12.
Source: academia.edu
Title: The Worldwide UFO Wave of 1954
Link:https://www.academia.edu/2261290/The_Worldwide_UFO_Wave_of_1954
13.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Lello Bersani
Link:https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lello_Bersani
14.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: List of reported UFO sightings
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reported_UFO_sightings
15.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Flying saucer
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_saucer
16.
Source: corriere.it
Title: magazine xfiles e721d8a8 7daf 11dd 8ad1 00144f02aabc.shtml
Link:https://www.corriere.it/cronache/08_settembre_08/magazine_xfiles_e721d8a8-7daf-11dd-8ad1-00144f02aabc.shtml
17.
Source: newspapers.com
Title: the austin american 1954 sicily ufos
Link:https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-austin-american-1954-sicily-ufos/121798703/
18.
Source: viewer.joomag.com
Link:https://viewer.joomag.com/ufoctline-n13-gen-mar-2014/0688955001393918588/p14
19.
Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000015482.pdf
20.
Source: assets.zyrosite.com
Title: ufoctline n. 13 m7VMG7j5w0f Lg X9x
Link:https://assets.zyrosite.com/YBg8GXeXaQhGM9Nv/ufoctline-n.-13-m7VMG7j5w0fLgX9x.pdf
Additional References
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Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gokIPWCsse4
22.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38287643_The_28_December_1908_Messina_Straits_Earthquake_MW_71_A_Great_Earthquake_throughout_a_Century_of_Seismology
Published: December 1908
23.
Source: scribd.com
Link:https://www.scribd.com/document/730025479/An-Encyclopedia-of-Flying-Saucers-Bowen-Wood
24.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/100087471596547/posts/belle-activation-1ath682/877889508470094/
25.
Source: instagram.com
Link:https://www.instagram.com/faithwilli/?hl=en
26.
Source: famigliafideus.com
Link:https://www.famigliafideus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GLI-UFO-E-LA-CIA-Alfredo-Lissoni.pdf
27.
Source: instagram.com
Link:https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZO9KHgMMj2/
28.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/352181896150872/posts/742835570418834/
29.
Source: mauristurno.it
Link:https://www.mauristurno.it/it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2000variazionienigmatiche.pdf
30.
Source: byterfly.eu
Link:https://www.byterfly.eu/islandora/object/librib%3A491559/datastream/PDF/content/librib_491559.pdf
Topic Tree
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Sicily UFOsRelated pages 9
- Canneto Why Did Canneto's Fires Become a UFO Mystery?
- Catania 1995 Why Did Catania's 1995 Light Stay Unidentified?
- Evidence Check How Can Readers Judge Sicilian UFO Claims?
- Media Spread How Did Sicily's UFO Stories Become News?
- Official Files What Do Sicily's Official UFO Files Show?
- Palermo 1997 Was Palermo's 1997 UFO Really an Aircraft?
- Satellites Are Sicily's Modern UFO Waves Space Launches?
- Sigonella How Does Sigonella Shape Sicily's UFO Stories?
- Sky Conditions Why Does Sicily Produce So Many Strange Lights?