January 8, 1981 (Thursday)
- Trans-en-Provence Case: In what has been described as "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time", retired contractor Renato Nicolai witnessed what he believed to be French military aircraft on a test flight. After police forwarded the report to GEPAN, an investigative unit of the France's space agency CNES, found traces of metal throughout the area where the UFO had been observed.
- Born: Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player, women's singles title 2005, 2006; in Guangzhou
- Died: Matthew Beard, 56, African-American actor who portrayed "Stymie" in the Little Rascals
Read more about this topic: January 1981
Famous quotes containing the word january:
“and you undid the reins
and I undid the buttons,
the bones, the confusions,
The New England postcards,
the January ten o’clock night,
and we rose up like wheat....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)