Case file · Sighting
Adamski's 'scout ship' photographs
On 13 December 1952, at Palomar Gardens, Adamski photographed a bell-shaped 'Venusian scout ship' through a small telescope. The images became the most copied saucer pictures of the 1950s.
1952 CE · 33.33, -116.87 · status: hoax
The account
The bell shape with three spheres underneath became known as the 'Adamski type' and reappeared in many later hoaxed photographs worldwide.
The sceptical view
Analysts have argued the craft was a small model, possibly built from a lamp or chicken-brooder top and table-tennis balls; its proportions match no reported aircraft and the photos were never independently verified.