Wake Up Down There
Wake Up Down There
Jan 17 2008

Second Baseball Team With UFO-Themed Name

 

gf logo

Actual advertising graphic from the Great Falls website

SWEET!!

Another minor-league baseball team with an itch to stand out from the pack has decided to take its identity from the world of UFOs. The Great Falls White Sox will be known as the Great Falls Voyagers starting this spring.

The inspiration, they say, comes from a famous 16mm color film of two flying saucers shot on August 15, 1950 by Nicolas Mariana, mananger of the Great Falls Selectrics baseball team, which became a part of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1952.

 

GF film
Maddeningly indistinct still from the film.

Wikipedia sez:

At 11:25 am on August 5 or August 15, 1950, Nick Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls “Selectrics” minor-league baseball team, and his nineteen-year old secretary, Virginia Raunig, were inspecting the empty Legion Stadium baseball field before a game. A bright flash caught Mariana’s eye and, according to his reports, he saw two bright silvery objects, rotating while flying over Great Falls at a speed he estimated to be two hundred to four hundred miles per hour. He believed that they were roughly fifty feet wide and one hundred and fifty feet apart. Mariana ran to his car to retrieve his 16 mm movie camera and filmed the UFOs for sixteen seconds. The camera could film objects in color, but could not record sound. Ms. Raunig also witnessed the objects.

The day after Mariana’s sighting the Great Falls Tribune, the city’s daily newspaper, described his sighting and the film in an article which was picked up by many media outlets around the nation. For several weeks after the sighting Mariana showed his film to local community groups, such as the Central Roundtable Athletic Club.

Later, the U.S. Air Force asked to borrow the original film to have a look. When the film was returned to Mariana, the segment showing the objects as metallic, rotating discs had been removed. The Air Force denied tampering with the film.

In case you were still wondering, the other minor league team with the UFO name is the Las Vegas 51s, the triple-A team for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and an organization who have happily taken a lot of my money for caps, sweatshirts, jerseys, and the like.

Related News Stories:
Baseball Abducted In Mid-Flight »
Para-Explorers »
We Are Aliens »
Saucer Spies »
Crop Circle Science »


6 Comments to “Second Baseball Team With UFO-Themed Name”

  1. red pill junkie Says:

    Neat logo! Can’t wait to see their mascot :-)

  2. Nick Redfern Says:

    Baseball? That’s an American game, right? :)

  3. fadedgiant Says:

    Hi Greg,

    Are you aware of the California Little League baseball District 40 UFO/alien themed pins? I have a few of them which can be viewed here:
    http://www.ufopop.org/ufopop_merch.php?search=baseball
    along with a couple of 51’s items.

    - Jim Klotz

  4. Greg Bishop Says:

    Nick,

    Isn’t knowledge of baseball one of the tests you are given when they grant American citizenship?

  5. Greg Bishop Says:

    Hey Jim!

    Thanks for the link and pics. I’ve got so much 51s stuff it almost makes me sick.

  6. Nick Redfern Says:

    Greg:

    LOL! Nope, no baseball questions!

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