Signature of a possible α -cluster state in N=Z doubly-magic ^56 Ni

n inelastic α -scattering experiment on the unstable N=Z , doubly-magic ^56 Ni nucleus was performed in inverse kinematics at an incident energy of 50 A.MeV at GANIL. High multiplicity for α -particle emission was observed within the limited phase-space of the experimental setup. This observation cannot be explained by means of the statistical-decay model. The ideal classical gas model at kT = 0.4 MeV reproduces fairly well the experimental momentum distribution and the observed multiplicity of α particles corresponds to an excitation energy around 96 MeV. The method of distributed mα -decay ensembles is in agreement with the experimental results if we assume that the α -gas state in ^56 Ni exists at around 113^+15_-17 MeV. These results suggest that there may exist an exotic state consisting of many α particles at the excitation energy of 113^+15_-17 MeV.