in the news 1952
PART FIFTY
Above: Rose Kissinger at the helm of the sailing ship Pacific Queen, berthed in Long Beach, May, 1952. Story below.
NINETEEN FIFTY-TWO might be remembered for many things, large and small. The election of Dwight Eisenhower as President of the United States. Fifty thousand American families afflicted by Polio. The British A-bomb. The first issue of Mad magazine. The theory of the Big Bang.
But for those of a certain bent, 1952 will also be remembered for the second great 'flying saucer flap' which climaxed with the reports of radar and visual sightings over the nation's capital in late July.
Part of the story of that event-filled year is now available in declassified government files. But for the public back then -- at a time when only one in three families in America had a television set -- the story was mostly found in the newspapers and magazines.
This then is a look back at those stories, as they first appeared in print...
OCTOBER 14, 1952:
Dixon, Illinois Evening Telegram - 14 Oct 52
Take It From Here
THE INTELLIGENCE of Mr. America is not hard to figure. Geometrically speaking, it is inversely proportional to the amount of time he has his radio turned on...
... "THE PULSE of today's news is on Page Eight," says the slow voiced artist giving himself away. And then he goes on to recite a story that is just where he said it came from -- on Page Eight.
"And, ladies and gentlemen," says the hot tonsilled Mr. Heatter, "there's a strange story tonight about the flying saucers."
You're darned right it's strange, Gabriel, it came from a crackpot who said a "green ball" had attacked his car somewhere on a Western desert...
Hartford, Connecticut Courant - October 14, 1952
Reports Of 'Saucers' Alert Air Force On East Coast
WESTFIELD, Mass., Oct. 14 -- Reports of flying saucers set the Air Force on the alert along the East Coast tonight. Two flying objects, believed to be saucers, were reported by ground and flying personnel of the 131st Fighter-Interceptor Sqdn. of the Mass. Air National Guard, in night flight training at Barnes Airport here.
According to pilots, the saucers, red in color, were at altitudes between 2,000 and 9,000 feet and traveling in a southwesterly direction at great speeds. Puffs of fiery smoke from what appeared to be their exhausts led to conjecture that they were jet-propelled. Ground personnel said the objects were bluish white.
Reports of the observations were made to the Military Flight Service at Olmsted AFB, Middletown, Pa.
At about the same time, similar flights were reported by Otis AFB pilots over Worcester, Mass., and subsequent reports placed saucers near the Coast Guard stations at Stratmouth, Gloucester, and Rays Point while Idlewild Airport on Long Island is said to have picked them up on its radar screen.
Air Force officials at the New Haven filter center declined to comment on the reports Tuesday night, and referred inquiries to AF Intelligence headquarters at Roslyn AFB, L.I. No authoritative official was on duty at the time.
The Ground Observer Corps post atop West Hartford Town Hall said no saucers were sighted in the Hartford vicinity.
Long Beach, California Press Telegram - 14 Oct 52
Beach Combing With Malcolm Epley
... Rose Kissinger, from the ship Pacific Queen anchored in the harbor, writes that on Oct. 4 she and others aboard the craft saw a "flying saucer" over the Palos Verdes Hills. It made a right angle turn and went west...
Lubbock, Texas Morning Avalanche - 14 Oct 52
Former Officer Says 'Saucers' Are Ram-Jet Guided Missiles
FALLS CHURCH, Oct. 13 -- A former Air Force intelligence officer said today "flying saucers" are actually "ram-jet guided missiles released from a high altitude."
Richard L. Feldman said he based his conclusions on descriptions of a flying saucer seen by five county policeman and dozens of residents over Falls Church on the night of Sept. 21.
The former Air Force officer, who taught physics for 30 years in the District of Columbia, said the description of the object over Northern Virginia fits perfectly the ram-jet athodyd -- or the "flying stovepipe."
OCTOBER 15, 1952:
Newark, Ohio Advocate - 15 Oct 52
All Business Is Local
FLYING SAUCER AD BIDS FOR OUTER SPACE BUSINESS
Capitalizing on the current ado about flying saucers and visitors from outer space, A. Harris & Co., Dallas, ran a newspaper ad bidding for a boost in charge accounts, with copy and illustration revolving around a saucer. Result: Within 10 days after running the ad, Harris logged 408 written applications and 502 telephone calls making inquiry about charge account facilities, according to Retailing Daily. F.C. March, credit manager of the store, declared that total response -- without a doubt -- exceeded any previous charge account promotion. Copy was chatty and in a light vein. Sample:
"The Air Force says maybe yes, maybe no, to flying saucers. Scientists skeptically state they could be technically advanced people from Outer Space observing Earth (or eying good looking Texas women!)." But Harris adds, "We don't care, as long as their Outer Space credit ratings are good; we welcome each saucer-creature to do his earth-souvenir shopping from our planet-wide collection."
P.S. As far as can be determined, all requests stemmed from "earth people."
Long Beach, California Press-Telegram - 15 Oct 52
COAST TO COAST
by Hy Gardner
Latest flying saucer reported seen whisking over the Mexican military air force base outside of Mexico City.
Thomasville, Georgia Time Enterprise - 15 Oct 52
Miniature Flying Jet Saucer Made by Lockheed Executive
MARIETTA, Ga. -- You can say there's no such thing as a flying saucer, but if you do you'll be all wet.
Jim Wade, manager of the Lockheed Aircraft plant personnel office here, has made one. Wade says he isn't sure himself what makes the "thing" fly, -but it does -- successfully enough that Wade is going to try to build a larger radio-controlled model.
Wade's saucer is 20 inches long and about 13 inches wide. It is powered by a 1 3-4 ounce jet engine.
Harlingen, Texas Valley Morning Star - 15 Oct 52
Looking Sideways
by Whitney Bolton
Let us get away from the science-fiction aspect of flying saucers for awhile and turn, instead, to a new statement of conditions which seem to have arisen in this country. A few weeks ago I did a piece about a "green monster" apparition in West Virginia and put it down for what plainly it was: it either was a hoax and deserved contempt or it was true and deserved explanation from that increasingly arrogant servant of the citizens of the United States: the Air Force. And I thought that ended it. But 119 letters from readers establish clearly that that did not end it and they, like me, want to know something.
Two of the letters have been selected as representative of all. Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, of Richmond, Va., who reports that a television show called "We, The People," had the Sutton, West Virginia, family on the show. A Mrs. May, a nephew in the National Guard, and a newspaper reporter of Sutton all testified to the nation. Mrs. May and the Guardsman described the monster, the nauseating odor it created and the scene. The newspaper reporter testified that the next morning, at the scene, he found eight-foot prints in the ground plus a large pressed-down area of grass, as though a large, heavy object had landed there.
The obvious point is:
Mrs. May is either telling the truth or she is not.
The reporter is either telling the truth or he is not. If he is not, he merits the fullest contempt because as a member of the press it is his duty to be truthful. If he is being truthful, the Air Force, which has appointed itself guardian of these matters, owes the duty of explanation to the citizens of this country.
Myron W. Rhodes, also of Richmond, Va., corroborates the "We, The People," show, which I did not see but evidently thousands did, and then asked why there has been no follow-up on an August 19th story in the West Palm Beach, Florida, Post. The incident, reported by the Associated Press, was that on that date a Scoutmaster, Mr. Des Vergess [sic throughout, should be DesVergers], and three members of his Boy Scout troop, went into a wood and found a strange, inexplicable type of airship. He reported his finding to local military authorities and, in the Post of August 20th all but says that he was silenced by the military but added that when he approached the aircraft he, like the West Virginia people, was overpowered by a noxious gas.
All right. The Associated Press was either hoaxed or is truthful. Mr. Des Vergess either was untruthful or he was not. The Post was functioning as a proper newspaper or it was not. Those are the simples of it. What is not so simple is the way of action from that point on.
My understanding of my role in this country is that I am a member of a civilian democracy and that the military is subservient to that civilian democracy. I recognize that the atom bomb and possibly the hydrogen bomb, if it exists, merit the protection of security. But I do not for one moment or in any particular accept the self-appointed mastry [sic] of the Air Force over events such as have been described and substantiated above. The Air Force works for me. I don't work for it. It works for the whole American people. And I suggest that the Air Force from General Hoyt Vandenberg down remember that it is at the command of a civilian population and a civilian Congress. Any other point of view is an invasion of my liberties and a tragic step toward military domination of the people. I also suggest that the whole press, which is the most alert guardian of our liberties recognize this assumptive attitude by the Air Force and demand a statement of facts. Clear, plain, totally embracing facts.
Thanks to readers, I have been able to furnish herewith names, places, dates, time. How much more can be furnished? I have named one definite newspaper and one gigantic, powerful wire news service. If all concerned have been wholly truthful, and there seems to be no reason to assume otherwise, enough evidence has become public to justify and [sic] Air Force statement.
Or does a voted-for demand have to come from the floors of Congress? I do not like not knowing and I don't like uniformed jaspers going around ordering civilians to keep their mouths shut.
OCTOBER 16, 1952:
Waukesha, Wisconsin Daily Freeman - 16 Oct 52
Weapon Against Flying Saucers
Along with most of the populace we've greeted reports of flying saucers with healthy skepticism. And yet, in the back of our minds, we've been fearful that maybe there are such things and they're some terrible new destructive weapon.
Now we have a good indication that "there ain't no such things" as real flying saucers.
An advertisement we saw offers junior Space Rangers a genuine Buck Rogers Flying Saucer Disintegrator. The manufacturer, just to make sure of a use for his product, offers six cardboard flying saucers to go right with the deadly weapon.
If there really were flying saucers why would he have to include cardboard ones for the disintegrator to disintegrate?
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Tribune - 16 Oct 52
Tribune's School Page
Tyler School News Hits Fall Market With New Format
The first fall issue of the Tyler School News is in circulation this week. Industrious Tyler editors and staffers have made big changes in the paper's organization, it is reported. New features that will appear regularly in the Tyler News include a fashion, section, a lost-and-found department, the inquiring reporter, and an entertainment section.
Clippings from the first big issue appear below...
Sees Flying Saucer -- Walter Bates saw a flying saucer over the Grain Company September 12, 1952 at about 9:50. He saw it while playing baseball on the Tyler field
-- Offie McCray
Baldur, Canada Gazette - 16 Oct 52
Old Stuff, These Flying Saucers
Have you seen any flying saucers in your vicinity lately? If so, it is not necessarily true that your eyes have been deceiving you. There were similar aircraft flying about Britain 3-4 years ago. During World War I the British developed a type of circular wing aircraft resembling a flying saucer to some extent. However, the British called their plane "The Flying Doughnut". This type of plane was intended for observation purposes.
OCTOBER 17, 1952:
Winnipeg, Canada Free Press - 17 Oct 52
Fitchburg, Massachusetts Sentinel - 17 Oct 52
Those Saucers Again
Flying saucers were spotted in the Fitchburg area last night and many calls reporting them were received at The Sentinel office today.
A Sentinel newsman also saw the "discs" in the southeastern sky, two in particular moving rapidly in a back-and-forth motion. Although the "discs" appeared to be self-motivated a close watch indicated they were the reflection on low clouds of an aerial beacon. As the light rotated it was reflected on different cloud levels giving the illusion of movement.
Newport, Rhode Island Daily News - 17 Oct 52
The Grist Mill
O.K., so flying saucers are a figment of the imagination. But a Daily News composing room employe saw one east of the city the other night about 7:30. An hour and a half later, two Bristol men reported they saw a similar object.
The Newporter described it as a bright orange disc, which hovered motionless and then zoomed out of sight. He ventured the guess it was a gaseous body of some sort, rather than a mechanical gadget. He said there had been so much talk about saucers that he was not unduly alarmed -- "as long as it stayed up there and didn't land here!"
Anderson, Indiana Herald - 17 Oct 52
Flying Saucer Travels Over Chesterfield
An avalanche of telephone calls was received in The Herald editorial department last night shortly after 9 o'clock from residents of the Chesterfield vicinity who reported seeing a "flying saucer" traveling in a southerly direction over the city.
Three of the persons who reported seeing the object flying directly over Main Street, said it was traveling it a high rate of speed and just above the tree tops. They also described the "saucer" as bigger than the Chesterfield School building, bluish gold in color, spinning very fast and soundless.
One person who called the Herald said the object headed toward
Indianapolis and later returned at a much higher altitude. Another person described the object as having light spots on the side similar to windows.
Town Marshal Robert Laird, when contacted by The Herald, said he saw an object at a distance and it appeared to be traveling in a circle and at a high rate of speed. He also reported that several reports of the object had been received by him before he was able to witness the sight.
Weimar, Texas Mercury - 17 Oct 52
Light Seen Over Goliad Cemetery
Goliad. -- A queer light was seen hovering over a cemetery on the outskirts of Goliad by M.A. Smart, who said he called his wife and his next door neighbor. They watched the light for about 20 minutes before it disappeared. It lighted up the sky for miles around. It couldn't have been a flying saucer for it seemed too low, Mr. Smart said.
Gallup, New Mexico Independent - 17 Oct 52
Grants Personals
...Mrs. Al Montieth, coming home from Albuquerque, Tuesday, about [Illegible] p.m., reported she saw a cluster of four flying saucers which quickly disappeared. As she neared the overpass east of town she saw a saucer directly over Grants. It was aluminum color, going southwest and looked like an inverted soup bowl, disappearing in two or three seconds, she said...
OCTOBER 18, 1952:
Massillon, Ohio Evening Independent - 18 Oct 52
Merry-Go-Round
By Drew Pearson
FLYING SAUCERS -- A semi-scientific group in Los Angeles called "civilian saucer investigators," has concluded that flying saucers might be space ships from another planet. This group has reported to the air force that several sightings during the last 60 days reveal characteristics that could be expected from space ships. At the outbreak of the flying saucer epidemic, "civilian saucer investigators" worked closely with the air force, but now have severed all connections.
Omaha, Nebraska World Herald - 18 Oct 52
Arctic Navy Pilot Reports Seeing Strange Phenomena
Washington -- A Navy pilot, chasing a cosmic ray research balloon last August over Greenland, saw some strange "phenomena," the Navy said Friday.
Cautiously refraining from using the words "flying saucers" and noting that it had little data on the "phenomena," the Navy released the following statement: "About 5 p.m. on 29 August, an 85-foot-diameter balloon carrying a neutron counter from New York University started floating at 90 thousand feet, and had settled to 74 thousand feet when the parachute carrying the instruments was released by a timing device.
"As the parachute floated away from the balloon on its way down, the pilot of the Navy tracking plane observed three phenomena, which appeared to come out of the balloon and moved toward the sun in the opposite direction to the parachute. The phenomena were observed for about 30 seconds.
"The pilot was Lieut. John Callahan, Patrol Squadron 23 of the Thule (Greenland) detachment. When the parachute was released, the balloon would have an excess free lift and should move vertically at an increased speed which would cause turbulence in the air.
"This may have resulted in the reflection of sunlight and caused the apparent phenomena."
The Air Force last August advanced the theory that some of the "flying saucers" being reported at the time were reflections of light rays, or other radiations, against layers of air of different temperatures.
The Navy report from Greenland suggested that the apparitions Lieutenant Callahan saw were caused by similar reflections of light against the turbulent air.
Newswire Report Agence France Presse - 18 Oct 52
Oloron, October 18 -- A mysterious elongated, cigar-shaped object, which maneuvered at high altitude this afternoon over the town of Oloron, in the southwest of France, dropped threads of an unknown substance which could be gathered up, and will be analyzed.
According to the numerous persons who saw it, the machine followed an east-to-west path, leaving behind it thousands of multicolored circles quickly dissipating in the atmosphere. After a moment, it could be seen that the flying cigar was dropping a great quantity of fibres in its wake.
OCTOBER 19, 1952:
Huron, South Dakota Huronite And The Daily Plainsman - 19 Oct 52
Man From Mars
The "man from Mars" that Huronians saw walking around the streets Friday was actually a weirdly costumed man emphasizing the "marvelous" bargain merchants are planning for their "flying saucer" days, Oct. 23, 24, and 25, Chamber of Commerce Manager Mike Casady explained as he shook hands with the Martian.
National Sunday Newspaper Supplement The American Weekly - 19 Oct 52
An Out-Of-This-World Party
By Doris Denison
A crepe paper "space suit" adds an authentic touch to the party.
A space ship trend, which has captured the imagination of children, suggests an "out-of-this-world" party.
For games, use an interplanetary version of pin the tail on the donkey. Make a blue crepe universe and tape in silver stars. Give each child a rocket ship cut-out like the invitations. The blindfolded youngster who pins his rocket closest to the center of Mars, which should be clearly indicated, wins the prize.
Or plan a treasure hunt. Hide large silver stars around the house or garden. Attach tiny prizes from the 5 and 10 to some stars. The child who finds the most stars, whether or not presents are attached, gets the prize.
Invitations and decorations are simply made.
Invitations: Cut-outs of rocket ships. Space Pilot (name of host), calling Captain (name of guest). Come to my Out-of-This-World Party on (date) at (address) from ... to ...
Rocket Centerpiece: Cut four rockets from silver cardboard and trim with dark blue cellulose tape and red stars. Score and crease along dotted lines and staple evenly around a box covered with blue crepe. Fill box with small gifts and attach streamers.
Nutcup: Cover paper cup with blue crepe, fastening with transparent tape. Cut a 2½" circle and a 2½" ring of silver cardboard. Tape circle to cup and fasten ring around both. Trim with red stars.
For outer-world atmosphere, suspend the moon, sun, star and flying saucer on strings from the ceiling.
Shooting Star: Tape two 6" silver cardboard stars back to back. Fasten a pleated tail, 15"xl8", of blue crepe to one point with transparent tape.
Flying Saucer: Cover a 6" paper plate with silver crepe. Fasten wings of pleated crepe.
Sun: Scallop edge of paper plate. Cover with stretched yellow crepe.
Panama City, Florida News Herald - 19 Oct 52
Golden Age About to Dawn?
McKinnon Forecasts Wonders Surpassing 'Flying Saucers'
Man is destined "to see wonders far greater than an occasional itinerant flying saucer," an amateur astronomer said here Saturday.
But the astronomer, N.K. McKinnon, president of Gulf Amateur Astronomers, believes that if flying saucers do exist at all they "are products of our own earth.
"Atomic power is perhaps more or less out of date already," McKinnon said. "The untold millions of horsepower in radiant energy from the sun remain to be tapped. Tricks will more than likely be played with the force of gravitation . The horizons are being pushed out to infinity . . . It may well be that a golden age has dawned."
McKinnon says that after thinking about it "intermittently for some time" he came to the conclusion that there were three possible sources of flying saucers "provided there was something to them."
"First," he said, "they might be
psychological weapons from an enemy country, then, they might be
inventions of our own, and last, they
might be coming from another planet."
If they were creatures from another planet, McKinnon reasoned. they would require a base of operations from which to launch their craft.
"Ruling out the probability of one on the earth, the next best place would, of course, be our moon," he says.
"The moon would be an admirable location since it is comparatively close and since there is a side of it which we never see. Also. as someone has indicated, there are regions around each pole of the moon where there might be enough average solar heat to support life without too much artificial means.
"These regions are different from the lunar equatorial region in that they are not subjected to the intense heat of the lunar day nor the cold of outer space during the two weeks of night. And, to a being who could build a space ship, the problem of supplying an atmosphere for the base on a practically airless moon would be simple.
"It seemed a good idea," he continues, "to train 'scopes on the moon to try to detect anything unusual happening there.
"I followed through on this until I became convinced that if the flying saucer were real its origin was here on the earth with us."
But the saucers should not "cause too much concern," McKinnon says, even if they do come from space.
"We have reason to believe that we are about as advanced as anyone could be in our particular galaxy. It has been found by spectroscopic analysis that the stars are mainly composed of elements with which we are familiar. The age of our universe is variously estimated as two or three billion years.
"Man has been here about five hundred thousand years according to some scientists.
"In view of these things it is hard to believe that there are more advanced forms of life elsewhere if it has taken all that time to develop it here.
"It is difficult to imagine some super-food developed by rare combinations of elements we and they -- if any -- have in common that would advance human or other animal life more speedily than on this planet; especially since conditions are nearly exactly right for perfect animal existence.
"We must remember that all the basic elements and a good many of the materials used in our wonderful machines of today were here when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Mankind at that time had not become aware of the uses to which they could be put."
Logansport, Indiana Press - 19 Oct 52
Man Who Believed Saucer Stuff Silly Reports One Himself
"I'm one of those people who always said anyone who saw a flying saucer was silly" said Louis Vitello Saturday, "but I've changed my mind. Today I saw one, too."
The War II veteran, who lives at 1830½ E. Broadway, was in the business district, parked between Fourth and Third on Broadway at 2 p.m. when he sighted the "saucer".
He said the silver disc-shaped object, when he first glimpsed it, was moving slowly, and suddenly shot forward with a speed that he didn't think a jet plane could equal. Headed east, it was high above the city, he said.
Council Bluffs, Iowa Nonpareil - 19 Oct 52
Bomb Test for Top Air Crews
Air Force's Biggest Bombers Participate
By The Associated Press
The Air Force's biggest bombers last week shuttled in and out of two southwestern air fields in a bombless bombing contest reserved for the sharpest air crews of the Strategic Air Command (SAC).
Their targets were Kansas City, Dallas and Phoenix, Ariz.
The B29s, B50s and intercontinental B36s are the ones on which, should war come tomorrow, the Air Force would depend to deliver atom bombs to enemy targets.
Though the bomb bays were empty, there was a dead-earnestness of war about the missions which might have chilled residents of the target cities.
But more chilling, perhaps, is the fact that day and night, year in and year out, these same bombers and others carry out the same kind of missions, often unseen and unheard by millions in the target cities -- though not undetected by defense units.
About 40 top crews from SAC wings took part in the competition that began Monday and ended Saturday. Some British Royal Air Force crews were along as observers.
Live Bomb Drops
Besides the simulated drops, the crews also were scored on some live bomb drops on the Sahuarita, Ariz., bombing range.
Besides Phoenix, Dallas and Kansas City, the targets on regular training mission include such cities as Spokane, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Birmingham, Charlotte, and Rich- [sic] Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, mond [sic] among others.
These simulated bombing missions are part of a round-the-clock training program of the Strategic Air Command. The annual bombing and navigation contest only puts a competitive edge on the routine operations.
The key to the bombless bombings is Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS). The high-flying plane start-radio tone signal [sic, entire sentence]. At "bombs away" the signal breaks momentarily.
Below, the RBS crews monitoring the tone use special radar equipment to chart the course of the theoretically falling bomb.
Rocky Mount, North Carolina Evening Telegram - 19 Oct 52
Southern Editors' Roundtable
CHANGE OF SUBJECT
The good citizens of Sutton, W. Va., are reported in various stages of hysteria over the sighting of a monster in their mountains.
The unearthly being was described by an "eye-witness" as a "fire-breathing monster, 10 feet tall, with a bright green body and a blood-red face." It gave off a metallic odor. So goes the story.
But it was high time somebody was seeing something weird. It has been more than a year now since the last sighting of the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. Flying saucers have become so common that nobody pays much attention any more.
Hopkins county's varmint, which struck terror to whole communities some time ago, seems to have departed for parts unknown. The shaggy animal that once roamed the area between Paducah and Lone Oak hasn't been seen lately.
It has been months now since a rabid rabbit has attacked any resident of Cherokee Highlands.
So we welcome Sutton's unearthly, fire-breathing, bright-green-trimmed-in-red monster. May It keep its fires burning.
-- Paducah Sun-Democrat.
OCTOBER 20, 1952:
Newswire Report Agence France Press - 20 Oct 52
Oloron, October 20 -- Pupils of the Oloron High School who were at recreation, and their general superintendent, observed a cigar-shaped machine moving from east to west in the sky last Friday afternoon, between 1 and 3 p.m.
The superintendent, M. Prigent, and his students gathered up filaments, which they believed to be asbestos, after the passage of the objects. Since the school's physics teacher was unable to pronounce the true identity of the material, a match was put to it, and the fibre burned as rapidly as celluloid. Elsewhere, at the municipal stadium, the physical education teacher collected a handful of the fibres and put them in his portfolio. Some hours later, when he wished to take them out again, they had melted.
Conjecture is rife on the nature and provenance of these filaments. At first it was thought that the phenomenon was attributable to the maneuvering of object aircraft from the nearby airfield of Air-sur-Adour. But at that base it was stated that no jet plane had flown over Oloron on that day.
The "flying cigar" was observed by a number of persons of the town and the region, in particular by hunters and the mayor of Geronce.
Dunkirk, New York Evening Observer - 20 Oct 52
Voice of Broadway
By Dorothy Kilgallen
...Robert Q. Lewis, who received more than 6,000 letters from listeners after he discussed flying saucers on his radio show, is compiling a book using the funniest and most interesting of the communiques...
Notes:
1. Project Blue Book files on the northeast sighting reports consist both of the October 14th reports told of in "Reports Of 'Saucers' Alert Air Force On East Coast" and an incident a day earlier in York...
The fireball explanation suffers in both the reported direction of flight as well as the time period covered, with sequential sightings reported from 20:13 to 20:25 (8:13 to 8:25 p.m.)
The sighting reported in "The Grist Mill" from New Hampshire may also be related to the reports above.
The York sighting was evaluated as "Insufficient Information". There is no evaluation for the Provincetown report which directly follows...
2. The "Flying Doughnut" told of in "Old Stuff, These Flying Saucers" was a craft built by aviation pioneer George Francis Myers. Although there were similar craft built by Myers prior to the first world war, the "Flying Donut" in fact didn't appear until 1927...
In its August 1, 1927 issue Time Magazine reported...
At Roosevelt Field, the "Flying Doughnut," a plane with four circular wings, invented by Dr. George Francis Myers, collapsed on the runway of its maiden voyage.
3. The sighting report of Mrs. Al Montieth told in "Grants Personals" occurred on October 14, 1952. Unfortunately the time of the sighting is illegible in the news report, although the "p.m." notation is clear.
That same day, 49 air miles east of Grants in Zuni, New Mexico the following report appears in Project Blue Book files...
4. The Blue Book File relating to "Arctic Navy Pilot Reports Seeing Strange Phenomena"...
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