1949 April 29 — The April 30 issue of the Saturday Evening Post with part one of Sidney Shalett’s “What You Can Believe about Flying Saucers” hits the newsstands. The USAF Public Relations Office has cooperated fully with Shalett, who sets out a fairly even-handed introduction to the phenomenon. http://www.nicap.org/articles/ShalettsArticle1.pdf 

1952 April 29 — Secretary of the Air Force Thomas K. Finletter issues Air Force Letter 200-5, which directs intelligence officers at every base to report UFOs immediately to ATIC and all major USAF commands. It enables Project Blue Book staff to communicate directly with any Air Force base without going through the normal chain of command, and provides for wire transmission of reports to ATIC, followed with details via air mail. AFL 200-5 is modified by AFR 200-2 in 1953. http://www.noufors.com/Documents/AFL_200-5.pdf ; Ruppelt 132–133; http://www.nicap.org/afl2005.htm

1952 April 29 — An Air Force memorandum written to justify a trip by Lt. Col. E. Sterling and Stefan Possony to Europe mentions that their work for USAF Intelligence’s “Special Study Group” is to evaluate Soviet advanced aerial delivery systems, as well as to shed “some much needed light” on the “vexing ‘flying saucer’ problem.” It adds that the “Air Force cannot assume that flying saucers are of non-terrestrial origin, and hence, they could be Soviet.” 

1954  April 29 — 10:11 p.m. An unidentified illuminated object is seen above the Second Army Radio Station, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, by the supervisor radio operator and two coworkers, Cpl Flath and Pfc. Hough. Described as round, the color of the sun, and 3–4 times the size of a star, the UFO appears in the southwest, blinking on and off. As it reaches the station, it stops blinking and disappears by going straight up. The sighting lasts 7 minutes. https://sohp.us/collections/ufos-a-history/pdf/GROSS-1954-Jan-May.pdf

1977 April 29 — 11:45 p.m. A woman and her daughter are driving north of Oxford, Ohio, when a white light begins pacing their car on the left about 180 feet away. They speed up and pass it after 3 minutes. The mother only sees a light, but the daughter perceives a “saucer with a vertical cone.”

1978 April 29 — Night. Ten persons call the Aurora, Illinois, police department to report a UFO. One couple believes they have had a close encounter with the object, which they describe as a domed disc the size of a football field. The police alert the Center for UFO Studies and Allan Hendry interviews some of the witnesses. He learns that some connect TV interference and power failures with the UFO’s appearance. An 11-year-old boy is so frightened that he hides behind the back seat of the family car. However, Hendry identifies the source of the sighting as an advertising plane owned and operated by a Chicago firm.

2013 April 29–May 3 — Stephen Bassett’s Paradigm Research Group holds a Citizens Hearing on Disclosure at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Forty UFO researchers, along with political and military representatives (Robert Salas, Paul Hellyer, Nick Pope), testify to six former members of the US Congress: Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Merrill Cook, Lynn Woolsey, Darlene Hooley, Roscoe Bartlett, and Mike Gravel. The witnesses speak for 30 hours over five days. The panel reaches the conclusion that the the US government and other governments need to share what is known about UFO sightings and the United Nations should take the subject of UFOs seriously. http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_9830.shtml