it seemed impossible
-- but there it is
PART EIGHT OF EIGHT PARTS
By the end of July 1947 the UFO security lid was down tight. The few members of the press who did inquire about what the Air Force was doing got the same treatment that you would get today if you inquired about the number of thermonuclear weapons stock-piled in the U.S.'s atomic arsenal. No one, outside of a few high-ranking officers in the Pentagon, knew what the people in the barbed wire enclosed Quonset huts that housed the Air Technical Intelligence Center were thinking or doing.
-- Captain Ed Ruppelt
Chief of the Air Force Project Blue Book
The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (1956)
ON JUNE 24, 1947 A PILOT named Ken Arnold reports seeing nine aerial objects from his plane -- and the term 'flying saucer' enters history.
Seventeen days later, an official press release announces that 'the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc' -- and a legend is born.
This is the story of those amazing two and a half weeks when it all began... exclusively as told through the daily newspaper reports of the time.
WEDNESDAY : 9 JUL 1947
Nationwide:
Source: Racine Journal Times, Wisc. - 9 Jul 47
ARTIST'S DRAWING OF 'SAUCER' -- Latest to witness a flying saucer gyrating through the heavens was Jack LaBaus, Washington artist who spotted the disk while riding a bus in Washington. The artist drew on the back of an envelope the object. LaBaus says he has never been troubled with spots before his eyes.
Source: Carroll Times Herald, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
"FLYING DISCS" PHOTOGRAPHED... Albert Weaver, Pontiac, Mich., says this is a photograph of two "flying discs" he and two companions saw over Pontiac. Weaver said the discs traveled at about 1OO miles an hour an altitude of 150 feet. He described them as two feet in diameter and two inches thick. His companions agreed with his story. (NEA Telephoto)
[Click picture for larger version]
Source: Racine Journal Times, Wisc. - 9 Jul 47
WHAT WERE THEY? -- From all parts of Kentucky many persons reported they saw three luminous objects flash across the northern sky from east to west. The Weather Bureau said most callers termed the objects "flying disks" or "flying saucers" but the bureau had no explanation. Photographer Al Hixenbaugh of the Louisville Times photographed two of the three objects.
Source: Olean Times Herald, New York - 9 Jul 47
Army And Navy Launch Drive On Saucer Rumors
By United Press
Reports of flying saucers whizzing through the sky fell off sharply today, as the army and navy began a concentrated campaign to stop the rumors.
One by one, persons who thought they had their hands on the $3,000 offered for a genuine flying saucer found their hands full of nothing.
Headquarters of the Eighth Army Air Force at Fort Worth, Tex., announced that the wreckage of a tin-foil covered object found on a New Mexico ranch was nothing more than the remnants of a weather observation balloon. AAF headquarters in Washington reportedly delivered a "blistering" rebuke to officers at the Roswell, N.M, base for suggesting that it was a "flying disk."
The excitement ran through this cycle:
Lieutenant Warren Haught, public relations officer at the Roswell base, released a statement in the name of Colonel William Blanchard, base commander. It said that an object described as a "flying disk" was found on the nearby Foster ranch three weeks ago by W.W. Brazel and had been sent to "higher officials" for examination.
Brigadier General Roger B. Ramey, commander of the Eighth Air Force, said at Fort Worth that he believed the object was the "remnant of a weather balloon and a radar reflector," and was "nothing to be excited about." He allowed photographers to take a picture of it.
Lieutenant Haught reportedly told reporters that he had been "shut up by two blistering phone calls from Washington."
Efforts to contact Colonel Blanchard brought the information that "he is now on leave."
Brazel told reporters that he had found weather balloon equipment before, but had seen nothing that resembled his latest find.
Those who saw the object said it had a flowered paper tape around it bearing the initials "D.P."
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, Iowa - 9 Jul 47
NOT A "DISC" -- Gen. R.M. Ramey, left, commanding general of the 8th air force, and Col. T.J. Dubose, chief of staff, look over what was identified by Ft. Worth army air field weather officers as a high altitude ray wind weather recording machine and not a "flying disc."
Source: Spokesman-
Review, Oregon - 9 Jul 47
'Weather Balloon,' Says AAF of New Mexico's 'Saucer'
FORT WORTH, Tex., July 9 (AP) -- An examination by the army revealed last night that a mysterious object found on a lonely New Mexico ranch was a harmless high-altitude weather balloon -- not a grounded flying disc. Excitement was high in disc-conscious Texas until Brig.-Gen. Roger M. Ramey, commander of the eighth air force with headquarters here, cleared up the mystery.
The bundle of tinfoil, broken wood beams and rubber remnants of a balloon were sent here yesterday by army air transport in the wake of reports that it was a flying disc.
Earlier, Lieutenant Warren Haut, public information officer of the Roswell army air field, said flatly that "the many rumors, regarding the flying disc became a reality... when the Intelligence office of the 509th bomb group of the eighth air force, Roswell army air field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc."
But the general said the objects were the crushed remains of a target used to determine the direction and velocity of winds at high altitudes.
Used at Field
Warrant Officer Irving Newton, forecaster at the army air forces weather station here, said "we use them because they go much higher than the eye can see."
The weather balloon was found several days ago in a desolate section of New Mexico by a rancher, W.W. Brazel. He said he didn't think much about it until he went into Corona, N.M., last Saturday and heard the flying disc reports.
Col. William H. Blanchard, commanding officer of the 509th bombardment group, reported the find to General Ramey and the object was flown immediately to the army air field here.
Goes on Air
Ramey went on the air here last night to announce the New Mexico discovery was not a "flying disc."
Newton, said that when rigged the instrument "looks like a six-pointed star, is silvery in appearance and rises In the air like a kite."
He added that some 80 weather stations in the U.S. were using that type of balloon and that it could have come from any of them.
--------
ROSWELL, N. M., July 9 (AP) -- W.W. Brazel, the rancher credited for a time with finding the nation's first flying disc, is sorry he said anything about it. The 48-year-old New Mexican said he was amazed at the fuss made over his discovery. "If I find anything else short of a bomb it's going to be hard to get me to talk," he told the Associated Press here early this morning.
Brazel's discovery was reported late yesterday by Lieut. Walter Haut,
Roswell army air field public relations officer, as being one of the flying saucers that have puzzled and worried residents of 43 states the past several weeks.
Brazel related this story:
While riding the range on his ranch 30 miles southeast of Corona, N.M., on June 14 he sighted some shiny objects. He picked up a piece of the stuff and took it to the ranch house seven miles away.
Returns to Site
On July 4, he returned to the site with his wife and two of their children, Vernon, 8, and Bessie, 14. They gathered all the pieces they could find. The largest was about three feet across.
Brazel hadn't heard of the flying discs at the time. Several days later his brother-in-law, Hollis Wilson, told him of the disc reports and suggested it might be one.
"When I went to Roswell I told Sheriff George Wilcox about it," he continued. "I was a little bit ashamed to mention it, because I didn't know what it was.
"Keep It Quiet"
"Asked the sheriff to keep it kinda quiet," he added with a chuckle. "I thought folks would kid me about it."
Sheriff Wilcox referred the discovery to intelligence officers at the Roswell field. Maj. Jesse A. Marcel and a man in civilian clothes whom Brazel was unable to identify went to the ranch and brought the pieces of material to the air field.
"I didn't hear any more about it until things started popping," said Brazel. "Lord, how that story has travelled."
Source: Corsicana Daily Sun, Texas - 9 Jul 47
NOT A FLYING DISC -- Major. Jesse A. Marcel of Houma, La., intelligence officer of the 509th Bomb Group at Roswell, New Mexico, inspects what was identified by a Fort Worth, Texas, Army Air Base weather forecaster as a ray wind target used to determine the direction and velocity of winds at high altitudes. Initial stories originating from Roswell, where the object was found, had labeled it a "flying disc" but inspection at Fort Worth revealed its true nature. (AP Wirephoto).
Source: Freeport Journal-Standard, Ill. - 9 Jul 47
Saucer Hysteria Indication Of Atom Or Rocket War Reactions
BY PAUL F. ELLIS
United Press Science Writer
New York, July 9 (UP)-- Three scientists said today that the hysteria stirred up over the "flying saucers" could well mean that psychological casualties in an atomic or rocket war would far outnumber deaths from atomic bomb explosions.
One of these experts, Dr. Edward Strecker, director of the Philadelphia hospital for mental and nervous diseases, described many of the reports on the "saucers" as a mental condition known as "pathological receptiveness."
Dr. Strecker said that at the beginning of the saucer episode, some persons "may have seen something, such as the glint of an airplane in fast flight."
This probably led to a misinterpretation or an illusion, he said, recalling that illusions are common.
He said that the emotional state of many persons had been overactive since the first atomic bomb exploded, and that he had examined patients who still believe they had been made impotent or sterile as a result of the bomb that wrecked Hiroshima.
Another expert on human behavior, who requested that his name not be used, said there are
"certain types of group hysteria that is latent in all of us." He said it was common for some people to have spots "in front of their eyes."
He said the hysteria over the saucers might be an example, on a small scale, of what would happen if an atomic bomb was dropped on this country, or if actual rockets from a foreign power started zooming over the countryside.
"The psychological casualties among civilians would be tremendous," he said. "You have a hard time getting any one to do any work."
The Japanese, he recalled, did not react hysterically to the atomic bomb. But at that time, they didn't know what hit them. Americans, by now, know the disastrous results of atomic bombs.
This same psychiatrist also said it may not be necessary to drop atomic bombs on large cities. The suburban areas might do just as well with the psychological results, making a nation unable to defend itself.
He flatly said that most of the persons reported seeing the saucers were "thinking in their primitive state."
The third scientist, an internationally famous astronomer and who also helped on the atomic bomb, said:
"The hysteria we see today over these reports would be mild compared to what would happen if bombs or other destructive weapons really started falling here."
He and the other scientists said it was time for the nation to "calm down."
Meanwhile reports of flying saucers whizzing through the sky fell off sharply today as the army and navy began a concentrated campaign to stop the rumors.
One by one, persons who thought they had their hands on the $3,000 offered for a genuine flying saucer found their hands full of nothing.
Headquarters of the 8th army air force at Fort Worth, Tex., announced that the wreckage of a tinfoil covered object found on a New Mexico ranch was nothing more than the remnants of a weather observation balloon. A.A.F. headquarters in Washington reportedly delivered a "blistering" rebuke to officers at the Roswell, N.M., base for suggesting that it was a "flying disk."
A 16-inch aluminum disk equipped with two radio condensers, a fluorescent light switch and copper tubing found by F.O. Harston near the Shreveport, La., business district was declared by police to be "obviously the work of a prankster." Police believed the prankster hurled it over a signboard and watched it land at Harston's feet. It was turned over to officials at the Barksdale army air field.
U.S. naval intelligence officers at Pearl harbor investigated claims by 100 navy men that they saw a mysterious object "silvery colored, like aluminum, with no wings or tail," sail over Honolulu at a rapid clip late yesterday. The description fits a weather balloon, but five of the men, familiar with weather observation devices, swore that it was not a balloon.
"It moved extremely fast for a short period, seemed to slow down and then disappeared high in the air," said Yeoman 1/c Douglas Kacherle of New Bedford, Mass. His story was corroborated by Seaman Donald Ferguson, Indianapolis, Yeoman Morris Kzamme, La Crosse, Wis., Seaman Albert Delancey, Salem, W.Va., and Yeoman Ted Pardue, McClain, Tex.
Admiral William H. Blandy, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet, said like everyone else he was curious about the reported flying saucers "but I do not believe that they exist."
Lloyd Bennett, Oelwein, Ill., salesman, was stubborn about the shiny 6-1/2 inch steel disk he found yesterday. Authorities said it was not a "flying saucer" but Bennett said he would claim the reward offered for the mysterious disks.
There were other diehards. Not all the principals were satisfied with the announcement that the wreckage found on the New Mexico ranch was that of a weather balloon.
Lt. Warren Haught, public relations officer at the Roswell base released a statement in the name of Col. William Blanchard, base commander. It said that an object described as a "flying disk" was found on the nearby Foster ranch three weeks ago by W. W. Brazel and had been sent to "higher officials" for examination.
Later, Warrant Officer Irving Newton, Stetsonville, Wis., weather officer at Fort Worth, examined the object and said definitely that it was nothing but a badly smashed target used to determine the direction and velocity of high altitude winds.
Newton said four of the wind sounding devices were released daily by every army weather station in the nation. The incident raised the possibility that other of the mystery disks have been weather balloons deflecting the sun at high altitudes as they were carried briskly along by the wind.
Source: Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
"FLYING DISC" FOUND IN NEW MEXICO IS WEATHER DEVICE -- Irving N. Newton, Army warrant officer with the 8th air Force weather station in Fort Worth, Texas, examines remnants of what was purported to be a "flying disc" found on a New Mexico ranch. But Newton identified it positively as a "high altitude weather observation device -- a very normal gadget in weather bureau operations." The tinfoil covered hexagonal object hangs 12 feet below a weather balloon. (Acme Telephoto).
South Africa:
Source: Lethbridge Herald, Canada - 9 Jul 47
* * * *
JOHANNESBURG. -- Two Johannesburg residents Tuesday reported that they saw "flying saucers" over the city. They said they were about as big as gramophone records and were revolving at a great speed in a "V" formation. The objects disappeared in a cloud of smoke, they added.
Australia:
Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho - 9 Jul 47
Australia, Too, Begins To See Flying Saucers
Sydney, Australia, July 8 (AP) -- Strange tales of "flying saucers" were told in Sydney today, and the Daily Telegraph headlined the story, "It Had to Happen Here."
Several Sydney persons said they had seen disc-shaped objects shooting across the sky last night or early today.
E.J. Walters told the Telegraph he and his wife saw two -- "white, shiny and flat."
"The night was so clear and bright we were able to get a good look at them," he said. "They traveled very fast in a westerly direction."
Jack Parker said the object he saw was slightly brighter than the moon" and "appeared to be traveling at terrific speed." He said it left no trail.
These manifestations came several hours after 22 Sydney university students had reported glimpsing flying objects in an experiment organized by Physiology Prof. Frank S. Cotten, who said what they actually saw was "the effect of red corpuscles of the blood passing in front of the retina" of the eye. In all, 450 students took part in the experiment. The others didn't see anything unusual.
The Daily Mirror said a photographer and a reporter on its staff tested the professor's theory and both saw "flying discs."
England:
Source: Glasgow Herald, Scotland - 9 Jul 47
"Flying Saucer" Over Britain
Report From Kent
Mrs. Marjorie Hyde, wife of the rector of St. Andrew's, Deal, Kent, is wondering whether she has seen a "flying saucer." While waiting at the level-crossing gates at Sandwich about 5:15 p.m. on Monday, June 30, she saw what she describes as "more of a ring than a saucer" in the heavens.
"I have been reticent about it," said Mrs. Hyde yesterday, "because I had no wish to be laughed at, but there has been so much in the press since that I must say something about what I saw. Just as the gates opened I saw this ring. I called out to my husband, but he didn't hear me above the noise of the gates and traffic.
"By the time I had attracted his attention it had disappeared. I saw it for only a second or two. It was dark against the clouds -- like a grey shadow a little darker than the cloud. I think it was revolving, but I wasn't sure.
"It was moving from left to right -- inland from the direction of the sea. It was not very high up or didn't appear to be. Its edges were not blunted, but clear-cut. It was definitely a ring and not filled in like a saucer. It was going at a fairly high speed. I saw it for about three or four seconds before it seemed to disappear into a cloud."
Canada:
Source: Lethbridge Herald, Canada - 9 Jul 47
* * * *
VICTORIA. -- Flying saucers were reported seen here during the week-end and according to observers "did all kinds of peculiar things." Dr. Joseph A. Pearce of the Dominion astronomical observatory, said that no discs had been observed.
Source: Lethbridge Herald, Canada - 9 Jul 47
* * * *
INDIAN HEAD, Sask. — A flying saucer, headed towards Regina, was reported seen here Sunday by Mr. and Mrs. Art Maguire and their son. Mr. Maguire said it looked like a "round piece of tin" and appeared to wobble. Estimating that it was about 3,000 feet in the air, he said it was travelling at least as fast as an airplane.
New Hampshire:
Source: Lowell Sun, Massachusetts - 9 Jul 47
Spots "Saucer" At Alton Bay
Governor Dale's Son Sees Metal Object
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., July 9 (UP) -- Thomas M. Dale, son of Gov. Charles M. Dale of New Hampshire today was among the saucer-spotters.
The former World War II flier said that he saw a "mysterious flying object -- a long, thin metal thing going about 700 miles an hour" -- while he was making an air trip from Laconia to Wolfboro early last night.
Dale said he saw the object when he looked down over Alton bay. It was flying east toward Wolfboro, he said, apparently motorless and pilotless. He said it looked like a gray, solid metal material flying at 1000 feet. His plane was flying at 2800 feet when he spotted the projectile, he said.
Corroborating his statement was A.B. Skinner of the Lake Region Flying service at Wolfboro, who said he saw the object pass overhead in an easterly direction at about the same time Dale reported seeing the object.
New Jersey:
Source: St. Joseph Gazette, Mo. - 8 Jul 47
THEY WERE SO BIG. Patrolman Frederick Schlauch of Elizabeth, N.J., shows the size of "flying saucers" he says he saw in the sky as he looked up from changing a tire near Elizabeth. He reported the discs were diving and fluttering on their way to the northeast.
Pennsylvania:
Source: Pittsburgh Press, Penn. - 9 Jul 47
'Flying Saucer' Called Froth Of Volcano That Isn't There
Object Found By Mill Worker Identified, But How It Got To Pennsylvania Is Mystery
ERIE, Pa., July 9 (UP) -- Gannon College scientists came up today with what was the flying saucer picked up by a Troy Center, Pa., mill worker.
But they still had a problem on their hands.
The object, found in a pasture by Donald Bunce, is a scoria, the scientists said. A scoria is the solidified frothing from a volcano.
Trouble was there is no volcano within 3000 miles of the pasture.
Mr. Bunce said he saw the object streak through the sky June 21. He watched it strike the earth, then dug up the hot and glowing object. It was oval shaped and five inches long.
He forgot about it, he said, until he heard talk recently of flying saucers.
It's a scoria all right, said Gannon College Geologist R.H. Mitchell. Where from, he couldn't say.
Virginia:
Source: Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, Virginia - 9 Jul 47
NORFOLK BOY AND PHOTO OF DISC -- Bill Turrentine, 13, (right) tells Ledger-Dispatch reporter George Herbert (left) of the "lucky" circumstances which enabled him to take the photograph at far right of a flying disc. However, the boy said the object pictured here looked and moved more like a football, being rounded and oval, rather than disc-like. Bill took this picture from the porch of his home at 410 West Fourteenth Street between 11 o'clock and noon Tuesday using an old camera, with the shutter set at 1/100th of a second. He said the "flying football" shown here was followed by two smaller ones, all moving at 600 miles an hour and he guessed they were about 3,000 feet high, just below the clouds. The photograph reproduced here is an enlargement made by Photo Craftsmen. In the foreground of young Terrentine's picture is the porch rail of his home.
Flying Disc 'Bigger Than Automobile' Photographed By Youth Who Is Amazed Because No One Else Saw It
By GEORGE HEBERT
[Editor's Note: although the Ledger-Dispatch has had many reports of flying discs and saucers in recent days, no other person reported seeing the object which Turrentine photographed.]
The flying disc "was lots bigger then an automobile" and 13-year-old Bill Turrentine of 410 West Fourteenth Street doesn't understand why almost everybody in Norfolk didn't see it.
In fact, when he came to the Ledger-Dispatch with a photograph he had taken of the object, he wanted to know why the newspapers hadn't already taken a picture of it. "I thought your photographers were fast," he told a reporter.
However, Bill said he had done some fast moving himself shortly between noon Tuesday, when he stood on his front porch and saw the large gray object, "rocking and spinning like a football" and coming from the southwest.
He had just returned from Summer school classes at Maury, he said, and with all the talk about "flying saucers," had gone out with his camera to see if he could see anything.
"I don't see why they call them flying saucers," he said. "The big one I took a picture of and the two little ones that became behind it a few seconds later didn't look anything like saucers."
Looked Like Football
The boy stuck to his football comparison, explaining that the object was sort of rounded, more oval than disc-like, and that though it wobbled in its northeastward flight it was traveling rapidly, about 600 miles an hour.
He guessed that the altitude of the thing was about 5,000 feet, just below the clouds. In color it was "gray, almost black," and looked like a "burned crisp," or maybe a rock or stone. The edges glittered, he said, and seemed to be trailing dust. Neither it nor the two which followed made any sound.
Bill said he wasn't very surprised when he saw the object, but "almost killed myself" getting shots of it with his camera, set at 1/100th of a second.
He called his 18-year-old sister, Josephine, to come and look, but apparently she didn't believe him.
As the "flying football" passed over Bill said he took three shots of it, but when he hurriedly developed the film, after legging it to Olney Road for a vial of developer, only one negative came out well enough for reproduction.
He showed a reporter a contact print he had made himself, and the picture reproduced here is an enlargement made by Photo Craftsmen.
Photo experts of this firm are convinced that the boy did a fine job with the old camera he was using. Having closely examined the negative, they said the only flaw was in the kind of film, which perhaps didn't bring out enough detail. They pointed out, however, that this wasn't really a flaw, in view of the fact that Bill's photograph, with the comparison afforded by the front porch rail and the trees, was certainly the best one taken since the mysterious discs were first reported.
Florida:
Source: Dayton Beach Morning Journal, Penn. - 9 Jul 47
7 Claim Saucers Seen Over DB Yesterday
Daytona Beach burst into the flying saucer act with gusto yesterday with seven alleged eyewitness accounts of the strange craft including that of two young men who displayed a brief color movie film of what they said was a flying disc.
The 8 mm. film showed what looked like a silver balloon floating across a blue sky background, then diving toward the ground.
The two men, Tom Bass and Buddy Wickersham, said they had seen the object West of the City early in the afternoon while horseback riding in Daytona Highlands. They said the color film had been processed soon after it was exposed by Charles Feralgo, local photographer.
One youth, who gave his name as Jerry Morey of Columbus, Ga., said he and three companions saw "about 20" saucers traveling at a high rate of speed and on an easterly course while they were driving south on the Beach south of Ormond about 3:15 yesterday afternoon. Morey said they were grayish in color and appeared to be flying very high. Several others on the beach also saw the formation, Morey added.
Jake Rieser, who gave his address as Chattanooga, Tenn., called The Morning Journal last night and said he had seen several of the flying discs about 3 p.m. while driving southward on the beach near Ormond.
"I picked one of them up in my binoculars," he said, "and it looked like two pie pans, sort of held apart by something, and there seemed to be a sort of nozzle in the back of it. It was very high, and going faster than planes usually fly. It looked like it might be about eight feet in diameter."
Another telephoned report came from Harry Ralston, who did not give his address, fixed the number of flying saucers at 18 and agreed substantially with that of Morey as to course and speed.
The saucers were six to 10 feet in diameter, silver-colored, headed in a northeasterly direction and were "weaving around," according to a third young man, who said he saw a formation of about 20 of the objects about 3:30 over Ortona, but refused to disclose his identity.
An unidentified man claimed the first Daytona Beach sighting when he told The Evening News late yesterday morning he had just seen an object "shaped like a cakebox" flying westward about 1,500 or 2,000 feet high north of the Streamline Hotel at about 120 miles an hour.
Michigan:
Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle, Mich. - 9 Jul 47
Sky Scooters Reported Here By 3 Persons
Twisted Necks in T.C.
No Sign of Arthritis from Scanning Heavens
Twisted necks in Traverse City need not necessarily indicate arthritis or a fall in infancy. It is far more probable that the crooked head stance is the result of exploring the sky for flying saucers or solar discs.
Three persons have reported seeing the sky scooters in or near Traverse City, which gives added impetus to the sport of carefully examining the heavens at every opportunity.
Traverse City residents have many theories, ranging from no discs at all to an enemy workout of guided missiles, and until some solution to the mystery is worked out, one is just as good as another. Two types of business are profiting from the situation, those which sell field glasses and those which sell liniments for stiff necks.
Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle, Mich. - 9 Jul 47
Sees Disc Over Peninsula End
A second local report concerning the sighting of the mysterious flying saucers which have been scooting across the skies in all of the nation for the past week was recorded here Tuesday.
Clifford Fouch of R. 1 informed the Record-Eagle that he had seen a flying saucer on the Peninsula at 9:30 Monday night. The disc passed over the north end of the Peninsula and continued on across the bay, Mr. Fouch reported.
Initial story on the appearance of saucers in this area was given Monday by Mrs. Dick Ferriss of R. 1, who reported seeing the discs above Oakwood cemetery.
Ohio:
Source: Hamilton Daily News Journal, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
Several Persons Report Seeing The Flying Disks
At least one Hamilton family has seen the "flying saucers."
Harry Carroll, his wife and two sons -- Jan, age 19, and Pat, age 10 said they saw one of the disks at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday. All were at their home, 740 Coralie avenue.
The object was moving from north to south at a speed estimated as fast, or faster, than a jet-propelled plane, and at a height of more than 10,000 feet.
Like other observers, Carroll was mystified by the disks, but he was positive that the exhibit was not an optical illusion.
He might have been the one to solve the mystery -- being fixed for it.
Telescope Ready
On the lawn of his home was mounted an astronomical telescope of high power. He tried to sight his telescope, but the time lost in calling his wife and sons and the difficulty in getting the fast moving object "in the lens" defeated this attempt.
"The flying saucer was visible, after I first saw it, for about 90 seconds," Carroll reported. "The disk appeared slightly conical, like a Chinaman's hat.
"It was white, with a greenish tinge, and did not glitter although it was more brilliant than the fleecy clouds then in the sky. There was no noise from the object."
The flying saucer was directly to the east of the observers. Fleecy clouds were estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 feet and the phenomenon noticed above these -- at one time the saucer slipped behind the clouds.
Looking For Saucer
Carroll was looking for the flying saucer, his interest aroused by reports from other places, when he saw it Tuesday evening. He was at loss to estimate the size of the object which at that distance was "pretty small." He had based direction of his search on calculations answering the question: At this hour, where would an object be to send a reflection of the sun?
Carroll relied on his elder son in one conjecture.
"Jan can identify airplanes, of most types," he added. "And he was certain that the phenomenon was not from the reflection from any publicly known airplane."
Others who reported seeing the mysterious disks in the last few days are: Arthur Vollmer, Oxford; Mrs. Ella Phillips, 1212 Ludlow street; Joseph Tutas, Jr., 514 High street and Bob Mingua, 514 High street.
Source: Toledo Blade, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
Sandusky Residents Report Soaring Saucers
From the Blade Correspondent
SANDUSKY, O., July 9 -- Reports of personal observation of the flying saucers finally have been made here.
Last night Police Capt. Tom Ryan reported William Hide, a resident of Crystal Rock Park, telephoned police, that he had seen a saucer. Later three residents at the west end of Market St. also told police they had seen the mysterious saucers.
Source: Toledo Blade, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
Flying Disc Reported At Bellefontaine
From the Blade Correspondent
BELLEFONTAINE, O., July 9 -- James A. Rhodes, East Liberty, reportedly saw one of the flying discs as he was getting out of his auto at the intersection of East Auburn Ave. and Ludlow Rd., here Tuesday. The young man, who was a fireman first class in the navy during World War II, likened the metallic color of the mystery disc to that of the ribbons which were used by planes to break up the radar signals.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mifflen also reported seeing a disc headed south Saturday from the yard at the rear of their home. Another resident of their Clegg St. home also saw the disc.
Source: Toledo Blade, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
Woodville Residents View Saucer Spectacle
From the Blade Correspondent
WOODVILLE, O., July 9 -- About a dozen of those saucers were reported flying in the sky over here at 10 last night.
Frank Meyers, residing on Water St., was the first to notice the flying saucers and he called out several of the neighbors to view the spectacle.
A neighbor, S.A. Schumaker, reported there were about a dozen in the group traveling from the south in an easterly direction and that they appeared to be about as big as dinner plates. He described them as resembling a spot of light. There are no search lights in this vicinity to project anything like this on clouds in the sky.
Indiana:
Source: Rochester News-Sentinel, Indiana - 9 Jul 47
"Flying Saucer" Seen Over Winona
Warsaw, July 9 -- The first report of a "flying saucer" to be seen in this vicinity came from Richard Dean, who reported seeing a flying disk over Winona lake at approximately 10 o'clock Monday night.
Dean and a companion, Don McCross, of Huntington, were casting from a motorboat near the flats in "milky Way Bay," located close to the fairgrounds. The two men had just started to move the boat to a different location when McGross spotted the flying disk. Dean described the object as follows:
"It appeared at first to be a falling star. However, it was much brighter than any star. We watched it fall towards the ground, then make an arc and head straight south. I shut off the motor to see whether the disk made any sound, but there was no noise forthcoming. Therefore, I reasoned that it couldn't have been an airplane, since there was no noise and also no lights."
Dean, who is employed by the Red Comet oil company, said that the "flying saucer" was in view for approximately one and one-half minutes. He reported that it was heading south at an unbelievable rate of speed when it suddenly vanished into thin air. The two men rushed home immediately after spotting the disk.
Wisconsin:
Source: Racine Journal Times, Wisc. - 9 Jul 47
Saucer Dept. - Latest Trends
WISCONSIN'S flying what-nots continued in rainbow hues Tuesday night as observers reported red, green and "silvery like and sometimes turned yellowish" objects swirling across the Badger skies.
Six persons telephoned the Stevens Point Journal that they had seen a green object 12 to 15 inches in diameter whirling toward the sun.
Three Cudahy boys, all 16 years old, said they saw a "large red ball about the size of your fist" flash northeast across Lake Michigan.
Two Milwaukeeans reported three objects which "looked like flying sauce pans" moving north across Milwaukee about 9 p.m. They said they were "silvery like and sometimes turned yellowish."
Meanwhile the Civil Air Patrol began its "saucer flights" over Milwaukee in the hope of catching a glimpse of one of the discs.
Iowa:
Source: Burlington Hawkeye Gazette, Iowa - 9 Jul 47
More 'Saucers' Sighted Here
Two more persons in this area have been added to the list of those claiming to have seen flying saucers in the sky.
Mrs. Clayton Carper, 2115 Des Moines avenue, reported seeing one of the objects late Tuesday while picking beans in her garden. Archie Smith, route 2, Burlington, said he saw 2 of the disks sailing through the sky about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"It was awfully high and it looked just like someone had thrown a silver dollar into the air. It was going fast and disappeared almost immediately," Mrs. Carper asserted.
"I was just talking with my uncle about the disks," Smith declared, "and we saw a bird flying overhead. I laughingly told him it was one of the disks and seconds later we saw the 2 shining objects flying high and fast toward the southwest."
Missouri:
Source: Moberly Monitor-Index, Mo. - 9 Jul 47
'Flying Saucers' Near Salisbury, 3 Persons Report
Three Salisbury residents reported that they saw flying saucers in the sky northwest of Salisbury about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Harold Printzler said he didn't know how many there were, but "there were lots of them."
"They were bright and shining and most of them were traveling to the south and some of them circling about and veering to the west. There were big and little ones," he said.
Printzler called his wife and J.W. Dilley who was nearby and they, too, saw the "saucers."
Source: Nevada Daily Mail, Mo. - 9 Jul 47
Here It Is -- Nevadan Sees Disc
Mrs. R.E. Vincent, 517 North Lynn street, who was visiting her grandson and other relatives in Springfield recently, reports that a flying saucer was seen from the front porch of her grandson's home. It was about the size of the moon, and was going at a rapid speed, Mrs. Vincent reported.
Arkansas:
Source: Blytheville Courier News, Ark. - 9 Jul 47
Blytheille, At Last, Gets A Report of the Latest Flying Saucer Activity
For a while it looked like Blytheville was going to fall behind the rest of the country in turning out a report of the latest thing in visions -- the "flying saucer." Until today, that is.
Jesse Brown, Blytheville Negro, brought in the first report although it was a variation on the saucer theme. What he said he and 15 or 20 others saw about 7:30 this morning on Ash Street may have been a flying tea tray looking for some saucers, for Brown said it was a white oval, about two feet long and eight inches wide. It was headed South at a high altitude about 15 or 20 miles an hour, he said, and disappeared in three or four minutes.
Marvin Crites of Steel pegged one for Southeast Missouri and today reported seeing one about 5 p.m. yesterday.
Next.
Texas:
Source: Corsicana Daily Sun, Texas - 9 Jul 47
Many Local Residents Report Mass "Flight" Of Disks Over Corsicana Wednesday Morning
The largest mass "flight" of skimming saucers yet reported was the cause of much excitement in a West First Avenue neighborhood Wednesday morning.
A large crowd gathered in the streets near the home of Mrs. Mose Armstrong, 204 West First, to view literally hundreds of shiny, circular objects in the sky, she reported.
At least two or three hundred disks, which appeared to be about the size of dinner plates made of tinfoil, traveled at a slow pace over the area, moving from the south toward Oakwood cemetery, Mrs. Armstrong said.
The mass "flight," so far the first reported as far as could be determined here, was discovered by two grandchildren of Mrs. Armstrong, who called her and their mother, Mrs. Q.L. Bridges, Jr., to see the "geese" filling the sky.
The family was joined by their neighbors, including Mrs. Herman Youngblood and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Adkins, and Mrs. Henderson, who also saw the disks. They, in turn, were joined by passers-by in cars, until a large crowd had gathered according to the report given the Daily Sun.
SMS-3-C J.J. Leftwich, U.S. Coast Guard, now in Corsicana on leave, called at the Sun office Wednesday morning to report that he saw five of the flying disks at 9:55 a.m. today moving at a rapid rate of speed in a northwesternly direction over Corsicana.
"The disks were larger than the normal weather balloon," the coast guardsman stated.
Also viewing the disks were Leftwich's sister, Barbara, and brother, Jack and their mother, Mrs. M. Ellison. They were visiting at 421 West Sixth avenue when the disks made their appearance.
Leftwich is a member of the CGC Tampa and his home port is Baltimore, Md.
Robert Dutton, a pilot at the Corsicana Municipal Airport, advised the Daily Sun at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday that an airplane from Waco had dropped white handbills over the city during the morning. The aircraft landed at the local airport for fuel. The handbills advertised the coming Bear Club rodeo in that city.
Source: Brownsville Herald, Texas - 9 Jul 47
Palestine Resident See Flying Balls Over City
By The Associated Press
A lot of Texans are disc-gusted with the flying saucers, but others are just plain disc-turbed.
Reports poured in today:
Flying balls of fire circled a wide area around Palestine, and some negroes, believing the end of the world was near, began praying. A white man grabbed and shot at mysterious objects.
Sheriff Paul Stanford of Anderson county described them as orange basketballs of fire.
It was the first time the aerial objects were reported in that area. Residents of the Brushy Creek community, 15 miles northeast of Palestine, called Sheriff Stanford about 8:30 last night, saying 12 balls were flying in a straight line over the community. Then, they reported, the balls formed a circle which began moving west toward Palestine.
By 9 p.m. hundreds of Palestine spectators reported seeing as many as three balls in the sky at once, moving in a circle. Sheriff Stanford discounted any suggestion that the balls originated from a spotlight.
"Bud" Everitt, druggist, chased them for a better view. He said they finally disappeared about 11 p.m.
Mrs. Horace Valentine said she saw two perfectly round balls that "nearly scared me to death" when they appeared over her home. She said they seemed to be playing with each other, the way they jumped around.
Her husband and Lee Chavers shot up a box of .22 rifle bullets without any effect on the objects.
Mrs. Valentine said neighboring negro families thought the world was coming to an end, and began praying as the balls of fire gamboled overhead.
Mrs. Lorens Shrader, Big Spring, reported she saw a fiery red ball streaking overhead last night.
Mrs. Marion Reed, farm wife, found what she believed was part of a flying disc. It landed in her back yard while she was hanging out the clothes yesterday afternoon. She admitted she was frightened. She described it as a round piece of tinfoil eight inches wide, scorched or burned around the edges. Both sides were shiny, but one side was marked with black, stenciled lines a quarter-inch apart. She said the tinfoil dropped straight down from the sky.
She lifted it with a stick, put in a tin can, and drove five miles to Gunter, 20 miles southwest of Sherman. Scores crowded about to see it.
At Melissa, Collin county, Mrs. Marie Killian and Mrs. Kay Craft
reported seeing a strange object at 8:40 p.m. yesterday.
Charles Calhoun, and his father, W.J. Calhoun, prominent Grayson county fanners, said they saw a disc late yesterday near Sherman.
Source: Brownsville Herald, Texas - 9 Jul 47
Flying Disc Is Sighted Over Port Isabel Bay
PORT ISABEL, July 9 (Special) -- Another of the mysterious flying
discs, reportedly observed in numerous parts of the country recently,
was plainly seen hovering over the bay just off the shoreline here Tuesday by four occupants of a party boat returning from Padre Island.
Those who gave eye-witness accounts of seeing the silvery, shimmering object flashing in the sunlight like a great aluminum pan were Mr. and Mrs. Weldon Walker of Willamar near Raymondville, Pete Hisler and Lawrence Turner of Port Isabel.
The Walkers had made a trip to Padre Island in the party boat operated by Hisler. Turner was crewman of the boat.
On the return trip about 5:30 in the afternoon, the whirling disc was observed traveling somewhat slowly to the West. Although between the sun and the observers it shone brightly, they reported. As it moved inland, it seemed to pause briefly just above the shoreline, than resumed its flight to disappear in the sun.
Watch Thru Binoculars
Walker studied the object closely through binoculars which were brought into play in turn by all other occupants of the boat. Walker reported the object glowed brightly at times, then the glow seemed to fade. This was not attributed to the sunlight since the disc was between the observers and the sun.
The object was reported as being round. At times it sailed in a flat position, then on edge, so that it was observable at various angles.
The observers estimated the disc moved at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. It appeared to be about the size of a frying pan.
Disappears To West
As the watchers strained to catch as complete a picture of the skimming object as possible, it disappeared into the burning glow of the sun.
The four people who saw the flying saucer at Port Isabel yesterday brought up to 10 the number of people in the Lower Valley area who have reported seeing the unidentified sky traveler.
Eight of those gave reports of sighting the disc in the McAllen-Edinburg area.
Source: Lubbock Evening Journal, Texas - 9 Jul 47
More Reports Are Received In City
"Flying disc" fever continued to sweep the South Plains today as numerous persons reported seeing "silvery, round objects" speeding through the air, and some even exhibited "pieces" of the discs as proof.
S.L. Johnson of Lubbock claimed this morning that he had seen a "disc-like" object explode Tuesday over the canyon near the city, and showed some "fragments" as evidence. The "pieces" appeared strangely like tissue paper and foil from a candy bar, however.
Source: Lubbock Evening Journal, Texas - 9 Jul 47
Seen At Floydada
Five Floydada boys viewed the discs over Floydada Monday night, according to a report to the Evening Journal. The boys were in the backyard of the R.B. Rosson home, the report stated, when they saw "15 or 16" discs about 300 feet in the air. Numerous other Floyd county people reported seeing "spectral discs" during the last few weeks.
Source: Lubbock Evening Journal, Texas - 9 Jul 47
Flying Saucers In This Area Taking Up Night Flights
Those elusive and mysterious "flying saucers" are still at it, and now have taken up night habits, according to reports from two groups of Lubbock people in different sections of the west part of the city.
A group of persons sitting on a lawn at 2003 Avenue R reported sighting a "luminous object" proceeding over the city, slightly north and east.
No Noise Of Engine
Mrs. W.F. Jackson, who lives at that address, said the object was apparently flying at about 1,000 feet and dropped about 500 feet before disappearing.
The second report, from Mrs. L.A. Battin, 2221 Ninth, was of essentially the same nature, although she said the object was moving due north (following the line of Avenue W) and did not, as far as she and three other persons in the group could see, lose altitude.
Both Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Battin said none of the persons heard any motors. Both also said the object was sighted at about 9:30 p.m.
A check at the U.S. Weather Bureau at the Municipal airport revealed that the bureau had sent no instruments up last night.
A bureau official did say, however, at least one private plane from the airport was flying near the city last night and added that the plane "could have" reached such an altitude that its motor could not be heard. The planes usually show red, green or white lights while flying, however.
New Mexico:
Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.M. - 9 Jul 47
'Saucer' Is Reported Seen Near Mora
A "flying saucer" has been reported sighted over Mora, N.M. Barney F. Cruz Jr. and Richard O. Branch Jr. wrote The Journal that they saw Sunday "a strange object, saucer-shape, flying the skies from north to a southerly direction." They said they saw only one going at a rapid speed about 6 p.m.
Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.M. - 9 Jul 47
Flying Disc Passes Over Carrizozo Air Field
CARRIZ020, July 8 (AP) -- Mark Sloan, operator of a Carrizozo flying field, today reported a flying saucer flew over his field at an altitude between 4000 and 8000 feet.
Sloan said several other pilots at the field witnessed the disc as it swooped over the horizon in about ten seconds.
Colorado:
Source: Lowell Sun, Massachusetts - 9 Jul 47
See 12 Disks Over Colorado
PUEBLO, Colo., July 9 (INS) -- Ordnance depot workers at Pueblo today reported seeing 12 flying disks.
The men said they sighted the objects yesterday during their lunch hour. They reported that the saucers were flying over the city, and disappeared rapidly into the west.
Col. Charles H. Keck, depot commander, said he did not share the experience.
Arizona:
Source: Yuma Daily Sun, Arizona - 9 Jul 47
Yuma Joins 'Flying Saucer' Parade
Two 'Flying Discs' Are Reported Seen Over City By 3 Highway Dept. Men
Two "flying saucers" streaked high in the heavens over the city of Yuma yesterday, moving purposefully, silently and swiftly, in a northeasterly direction.
That was the report last night of Henry Varcla, a State Highway Department employee, who said he and two other workers gazed aloft at 8:15 a.m. yesterday and saw "two silver colored things," the first of the so-called "flying saucers" to be reported in this area.
Varcla, who lives at 16th avenue and 5th street, told his story to a Daily Sun reporter last night after he got off work for the day.
The phenomena which has mystified the whole nation was sighted over Yuma by the three Highway Department workers from the Department's yard on 12th street.
The "saucers," two of them, were "silver colored and about as big as toy balloons," said Varcla. He and R.N. Villa and Henry Hodges, both of Yuma, watched as the two objects "streaked across the sky in a straight line, one behind the other, making no noise."
"Hodges and Villa noticed them first," said Varcla, who was sitting in the cab of the truck they were loading. "But I didn't believe them. I told them it was an airplane. We had seen one just a few minutes before."
"But when I looked, I saw them too," he admitted. "They were shaped like saucers and were silver colored."
"They traveled in straight lines, one behind the other," Varcla related.
"They were high in the sky," he said. "I don't know how high, but they were plenty high."
"Then they disappeared, first one and then the other," he told the reporter. "Just passed out of sight."
"They didn't make any noise and they moved fast," Varcla recalled.
Varcla, who waited until after he was through work for the day
to report his discovery, said he thought one of the other men had already reported them.
They were the only men working in the yard at the time, he said.
James Gordon, U.S. Weather Bureau chief here for many years, this morning recalled a similar natural phenomenon which mystified Yumans just four years ago.
In 1943, he reminded the Daily Sun, the citizenry was alarmed over the appearance of what many thought to be a Japanese, bomb-carrying balloon high above the city.
The army itself swallowed the story, sending a plane 20,000 feet into the air in pursuit of the strange object. But the chase was fruitless, for the "strange object." It turned out to be the planet Venus.
A report received here that a State Highway Patrol car had struck a "flying disc" between Yuma and Gila Bend was given little credence by local officers. Sheriff J.A. Beard said he had not heard the story, but very much doubted it.
A local wag commented today that, "I wonder how many of the people who see 'flying saucers' are in their cups?"
Source: Arizona Republic, Arizona - 9 Jul 47
This flying object was twice snapped at dusk Monday as it circled north of Phoenix. William A. Rhodes, 4333 North 14th street, first shot the picture at the left as the slow-flying object was approaching him. As it banked to make a tight turn, he obtained the picture above, showing clearly the shape of the object. In seconds, Rhodes said, the "disc" shot away to the west at high speed. It had made three whirling turns north of the city, after approaching from the west. Aircraft identification experts yesterday would not hazard opinions on the object's nature.
Speedy 'Saucer' Zips Through Local Sky
By ROBERT C. HANIKA
THE FIRST clearly recorded photographs of what is believed to be a mysterious "flying disc" which has 33 states in America and even a few foreign countries on edge with its peculiar activities, was taken by an amateur Phoenix photographer.
Reproduced in the Arizona Republic today, the photographs were made by William A. Rhodes, 4333 North 14th street, who was on his way to his workshop in the rear of his home when he heard the distinctive "whoosh" of what he believed to be a P-80 or Shooting Star jet-propelled plane.
Rhodes snatched a camera from his workshop bench and by the time he reached a small mound at the rear of his home, the object had circled once and was banking in tight circles to the south at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet, he said.
IN THE overcast sky, the object continued its speedy flight from north to south and directly east of his stance. Rhodes snapped the hurtling missile by sighting alongside his box camera.
Quickly rolling up his last piece of film, Rhodes awaited the return of the craft which continued in a clockwise movement over his home and as it disappeared into the west, the second shot was taken.
Rhodes described the object's disappearance as phenomenal since it apparently winged over and shot up into the ether.
"I don't think it was a P-80 since I have observed many of them over here. Also, the fact it made no other sound after the first pass over the house," Rhodes said, "makes me believe it was some other type of aircraft. In its three flights over the house there was not a sound, even when it zoomed into the southwest," he said.
Men long experienced in aircraft recognition studied the prints and the negatives from which they were made and declined to make guesses on what the flying object might be.
Rhodes' first shot was made as the object approached and showed it to be somewhat cigar-shaped, but with motion-lines on the film which indicated it was turning at high speed either edgewise or in a flat spin.
The second, as the object "banked" in a tight turn, showed an object much in the shape of a heel of a shoe, with a small hole in the center. The white mark also showed in the first picture.
Rhodes said there were twin trails of vapor trailing from the points or edges of the rear of the "heel."
Idaho:
Source: Spokesman-Review, Wash. - 9 Jul 47
St. Maries Disks Just Circulars
ST. MARIES, Idaho, July 8. Reports of the landing of eight or more "flying disks" near here, which led to a widespread search, were described as a hoax today by A.W. Runser, secretary of the chamber of commerce.
A student pilot dropped circulars advertising a two-day Fourth of July celebration in St. Maries about the time the first "winged saucers" reports created a furor, Runser said.
"Just hocus-pocus," he grinned.
The search was called off yesterday after both flyers and a ground party failed to find a trace of the objects.
Washington:
Source: Spokesman-Review, Wash. - 9 Jul 47
Flying Saucer Seen By 5 Persons At Omak
OMAK, Wash., July 8 -- At least five persons reported having seen a flying saucer here at about 7:15 p.m. Monday. The object, which all described as being large, circular and traveling very fast was first spotted by Harold Eastman, Omak jeweler.
Eastman pointed it out to his wife and then called it to the attention of several other persons, all of whom agree in describing the object. It was reported as traveling from east to west at a great height.
One witness who declines to let his name be used said: "I haven't believed these stories before and I don't want people to suspect me now, but I saw something I have never seen before. I don't know what it was."
Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho - 9 Jul 47
Clarkston Resident Also Sees Floating Discs
Three flying discs were seen over Clarkston yesterday by an unidentified resident.
The discs, which were large, round, flat and shiny, were seen about 12:50 in the afternoon and seemed to be floating from northwest to southwest. They made no noise and left no smoke, the observer said, and were apparently about five feet across. If fastened together they would be about the size of a small airplane.
Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho - 9 Jul 47
* * *
Everett, July 8 (AP) -- A woman, Bible in hand, marched around Lake Stevens today, praying.
Deputy Sheriff Chick Berry, who took the woman into custody for examination, said she spoke only of "discs" and the end of the world. The woman never had been known to be irrational, the deputy said.
Oregon:
Source: Bend Bulletin, Oregon - 9 Jul 47
Air Search Fails To Reveal Discs
Portland, July 9 (UP) -- The air wing of the Oregon national guard went aloft to see what it could see, particularly flying saucers.
Flight control headquarters said today the guard's two P-51 Mustangs reported plenty of blue sky, but no saucers. The operation took place after at least 11 Portlanders yesterday reported seeing the aerial phenomenon.
California:
Source: Long Beach Independent, Calif. - 9 Jul 47
Flying Saucers Reported Over Beach
Three flying saucers "danced" over the Long Beach strand yesterday afternoon at 2:30, Mrs. Virginia Lamb of 340 Oregon avenue reported last night.
Mrs. Lamb and a party of 12 teenagers were on the beach at the foot of Coronado avenue when what she first thought to be three balloons were spotted almost directly overhead.
"But we finally determined they could not be balloons," Mrs. Lamb declared. "They were round and had rims on them, and they were too high to be visible if they were only balloons." She added that members of her party estimated them to be about a mile above the ocean.
They were in triangular formation and the triangle revolved in a "dancing manner," she said. They were traveling east and disappeared shortly after they were sighted.
Mrs. Lamb said that other people on the beach also said they saw the objects.
Hers was the sole account of the phenomena given the Independent.
Another report of a mysterious streak crossing the sky about 2 o'clock Monday morning was turned in yesterday by Bruce Hicks of 29 St. Joseph avenue. He said that he and Donald Jenkins, 152 Loretta walk, were sleeping outdoors in sleeping bags at the latter address when both witnessed the strange object. Hicks declared it definitely was not a shooting star, and was traveling low in a westerly direction.
Reports, Features and Commentaries:
Source: Toledo Blade, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
If A Saucer Comes -- They're Ready
KALAMAZOO, Mich., July 9 -- Here's No. 1 chapter, "Flying Disc Spotters of America." It's just a gag, but these newspapermen, tired of hearing about flying saucers and never seeing them, decided to do something about it. Armed with a six-foot telescope, 400-year old blunderbuss and a butterfly net, they perched atop the tallest building in town to look for the discs.
Source: Pittsburgh Press, Penn. - 9 Jul 47
Hail the SPWHNSAFS!
A MAN we know is organizing the Society of Persons Who Have Not Seen Any Flying Saucers. It bids fair to become an exclusive group, with a dwindling membership. Among other things, members are pledged to refrain from all puns about saucers, especially the one about seeing them while in their cups.
The organizer just happens to be from Missouri, that reluctant state when it comes to believing things not yet seen. Fact is, Missouri seems to be the only state which has not yet reported authentic sight of the discs. So for 1947 we'll venture to coin the expression that, as Missouri goes we'll all go on the flying saucers.
Source: Pittsburgh Press, Penn. - 9 Jul 47
Letters to the Editor --
'There Are Two Sides To Flying Discs'
Editor, The Pittsburgh Press:
I hope you'll forgive an intentional pun, but it seems to me there are two sides to the flying discs that have been seen all around the country.
First, of course, the idea strikes most of us that these "phenomena" -- if any -- are optical illusions. And each succeeding report brings on more and more reports -- in the nature of hallucinations on the part of those who "see" them.
And that's the humorous side of the flying disc. People are that way. For centuries stories of ghosts and mermaids and sea serpents and other strange sights and happenings have persisted. Nobody ever has been able to prove any of them.
Maybe these whirling saucers are just as ephemeral.
But, in the kind of world we not live in, maybe they're not just a joke. Remember those Japanese balloons in the West during the war, and realizing that probably many nations are racing to perfect all kinds of new and devastating weapons, including atomic and jet-propelled missiles -- well, anything is possible.
Let's hope it's the funny side of the disc that turns up, not the ominous, dangerous side.
G.F. BURNESS.
Butler, Pa.
Source: Toledo Blade, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
Don't Blame Bikini Test, Admiral Blandy Says
NEW YORK, July 9 (UP) -- Don't blame the Bikini atom bomb tests for those flying saucers that are reported to be zooming around the country, Adm. William H.P. Blandy, the man who directed the Bikini tests, said today.
"We have been blamed for everything, including the weather, and I am surprised to find that the Bikini test would take a year to develop a flying saucer."
Personally, said Admiral Blandy, he is waiting to be convinced that such a thing as a flying saucer exists.
"I have no idea what they might be," he said in an interview aboard his flagship, the U.S.S. Pocono. "I am very curious about them and I do not believe they exist."
Source: Toledo Blade, Ohio - 9 Jul 47
Senator Sees Possible World Order Help
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UP) -- Sen. Glen H. Taylor (D. Idaho), said he almost hoped the "flying saucers" will turn out to be space ships from another planet.
"They would put an end to our petty arguments on earth," the "singing cowboy" told a reporter.
He said the "mere possibility" that the spinning circles might be hostile would "unify the peoples of the earth as nothing else could."
Plugging World U.S.
Senator Taylor, who is plugging hard for a United States of the world, added, "you'd have world government so quick it would make your head swim."
"If they're something we've invented," he said, "we'd better take note that other people can invent too. If it's the Russians, we'd better look at our 'hole card' and realize we're not the only ones with inventive genius."
Sign Of Future
Even if it's only a psychological phenomenon, Taylor says, it's a sign of what the world's coming to.
"If we don't ease the tensions, the whole world will be full of psychological cases and eventually turn into a global nuthouse."
Source: Charleston News and Carrier, S.C. - 9 Jul 47
'Flying Saucers' Mystery By John Temple Graves
"Heard the heavens filled with shouting,
And there rained a ghastly dew."
--------
Ghastlier than a dew which came down with shouting would be one spilling silently and invisibly from "flying saucers." A dew of radioactive particles. A dew of deadly germs. A dew of we-know-not-what. Before this column reaches print the mystery of the saucers may be solved. They may prove to be nothing important or even real. On the other hand they could be inconceivably important. At the rate science is moving now, anything is possible. If the phenomenon is slight, it comes at a time when we of America need to be impressed with something terrible it might be, and may be some not-so-distant day.
Suppose the sudden and strangely unmannered withdrawal of a certain foreign country (meaning Russia) from the Paris Conference last week, with the indicated willingness to break with us now in spite of our atomic piles, had been timed to an attack on her part with something exceeding even atomic power in cosmic force which she had perfected in secret (and practiced over Sweden last year)! Suppose that were what the flying saucers meant, and that by now South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey and all the other states over which the saucers have been seen were doomed to total death from what they spilled?
The word for talk like that is sensationalism. But this country needs sensation. It needs this nightmare of awful dying. Saturated with conferences, organizations and interchanges among Molotov, Bevin and Marshall and the direful warnings of the scientists who mistake themselves for statesmen, we have come to be dull to what it is about, dream-walkers who observe without feeling, dead-panned onlookers as the flames come near. Step by step events are taking us to war with Russia. Cosmic war with no holds barred, no death too total. If Russia had a new weapon deadlier than atomic power, she would use it by surprise. If she had atomic power she would probably have used it by now. Total states think ahead like that, are free like that of inhibitions against mass killing, and against rules of a game. We know this, yet we are drugged. We need a sensation to bring us awake.
We who want to go on living and having our children live after us, we who want civilizaton to be saved and to advance, we who think we know how to be free and well-fed and in pursuit of happiness, are on the spot. It is the deadliest spot in history. We've got to get off, and now. Ten years from now, when atomic power will be everywhere, will be too late. It may be too late day after tomorrow. We've got to do what needs to be done right now, without stint, scruple or fear.
We have three courses: (1) World association with surrender of enough sovereignty to assure genuine policing, inspecting and adjudication, (2) building the United Nations as a union of democracies strong enough to dominate the world, completely discourage Russian aggression, promise eventual Russian participation, or (3) Pax Americana - or rather, Pax Anglo-France-Italo-Sino-Americana -- enforced immediately at atomic bomb point. Whichever course is taken, we know that the United States must have its house in order for vast and sacrificial effort. It must have its house in order against the damn-fool wing of the Democratic party which wants to go on with the bureaucratic waste, class quarreling, and trusting Russia. We must have it in order against the damn-fool wing of the Republican party which wants to pretend we are alone in the world, to restore the days and ways of Mark Hanna, to pinch pennies abroad and at home without regard for what is vital and what is not.
Eight years from now, says Einstein, super-atomic bombs many times more powerful than those which stopped Japan will be available, and Russia will have atomic stock piles. Meanwhile, the United Nations has come to nothing. What is the answer? Whatever it is, America has got to be utterly on its toes.
Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Penn. - 9 Jul 47
"Saucers" Called War Propaganda
DAYTON, O., July 8 (UP) -- Orville Wright, who invented the airplane, said Tuesday that the flying saucer craze was a Government campaign to get us into another war.
The 75-year old scientists said "it is more propaganda for war to stir up the people and excite them to believe a foreign power has designs on this nation."
Wright said there is no scientific basis for the existence of the phenomenon supposedly seen by hundreds.
Source: Racine Journal Times, Wisc. - 9 Jul 47
'Clue' In Bible
OSHKOSH. Wis. (UP) -- An Oshkosh housewife turned to the Bible for an answer to the flying saucer enigma. Mrs. Florence Jackowski, 45, said the answer to the saucer problem could be found in the book of Job, Chapters 36, 37 and 38. She said the passage stated in effect:
"When man becomes too vain and smart, some divine being will send things of various sizes and shapes through the air to confound and confuse man."
Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho - 9 Jul 47
Boise 'Disc Jockey' Spends Another Fruitless Day
By DAVE JOHNSON
(Idaho Statesman Aviation Editor)
Boise, July 8 (AP) -- I nursed my airplane back to Boise over the Blue mountains today, landed with some 20 gallons of gasoline sloshing in tanks that hold 110, unsnapped my parachute and stumbled into the operations room.
There was word that the control tower had a message for me and I telephoned to find out what it was.
The boys told me a deputy sheriff had seen a flying disc over Boise and wanted to report it.
I hung up and stared glumly at the four walls. That's the way it is. Five and one-half hours of flying, another 1,000-mile search, and somebody sees a disc over Boise while I'm plugging along somewhere in northwestern Montana.
I put away my parachute, took off my wilted fling suit, and walked to my car.
A bloodcurdling scream poured from my throat. One of the discs, tires, dammit, was flat on one side, the side next to the ground.
I changed the tire and drove into town, dividing my attention between the road and the skies. I'm getting discy, if you understand me.
On the car radio I heard a flying disc had been found on a ranch near Roswell, N.M., and is in army possession. I cheered.
When I arrived at the Statesman office, they told me the disc was part of a weather bureau device.
Well, I have a businessman's callous from sitting on a parachute most of the day and my eyes are bloodshot from staring into space but after probing the northwest again at an altitude of 11,000 feet, I have this to report:
I have not seen a flying disc.
The only thing out of the ordinary I found today was a forest fire burning briskly about 35 miles north of Coeur d'Alene. I reported this to the civil aeronautics radio station at Coeur d'Alene and in passing they asked me if I found a flying saucer to bring it down to them with a steak on it.
I flew to Spokane and landed at Felts field for lunch. While I was there the national guard received reports of discs flying over the city. I took off to hunt but didn't see any.
Thistles Again
I saw a number of thistles floating through the air and in the operations office of the 116th fighter squadron of the Washington national guard the boys were displaying handfuls of them and laughing hysterically.
They've been hunting too.
And now on the telephone comes Clayton Davidson, a Boise business man, and offers to bet anybody $5,000 in cold frogskins that nobody will ever see a flying disc, let alone bring one in for examination.
He says the money has to be put up pretty soon or the bet is off. I still have some of the office expense money burning a hole in my pocket but it doesn't talk with a four-figure accent.
Davidson is a skeptic, maybe, but I myself am reaching the conclusion after 13 hours of flying after discs that if there were any of the objects obvious over the northwestern United States, they have been called off.
Tops Seven Devils
Today I flew over the Seven Devils country to Coeur d'Alene, east to White Pine, Mont., patrolled between there and the northern tip of Pond Oreille, and searched again above the rolling Washington plains east of Hanford atom plant.
Several times I thought I saw a flash in the clear blue of the sky and strained my eyes toward the point, turning the airplane and getting ready for a chase. But nothing happened. The flashes, if there were any, weren't repeated and I couldn't see any objects.
My assignment for the Statesman still stands. That is, search for flying discs until I find one or am ready to give up.
I don't know about that giving up business, but folks, I'm going to have a long talk with the city editor.
THURSDAY : 10 JUL 1947
Idaho:
Source: Spokesman-Review, Wash. - 10 Jul 47
Plane Leaflets Theory Scorned
ST. MARIES, Idaho, July 9 (AP) -- Mrs. Walter Johnson of Spokane today discounted the explanation that the "flying saucers" seen by several persons near Butler's bay last Thursday were actually circulars dropped by a pilot in connection with the Fourth of July celebrations here.
"How could they be so thick and travel so swiftly and have such a bright glare?" she said.
Mrs. Johnson pointed out that they disappeared into the trees three miles away and even at that distance, she said, displayed a bright glare and appeared no smaller than when they passed overhead. She said also that they swung by overhead at a high rate of speed without fluttering, as paper would -- at least until they suddenly slowed and dropped into the timber on a mountainside.
Mrs. Johnson was sufficiently impressed by the sight that she spent six hours on the mountainside yesterday along with four other interested persons searching for the objects. She found nothing, but said she was still convinced that it was not circulars that she saw.
Source: Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho - 10 Jul 47
Johnson Sees Dark Circular Object In Sky
By DAVE JOHNSON
(Idaho Statesman Aviation Editor)
BOISE, Idaho, (AP) -- Three days of aerial search on an assignment to find a flying disc paid off Wednesday when for 45 seconds I watched a circular object dart about in front of a cloud bank.
The object was round. It appeared black, although as it maneuvered in front of the clouds I saw the sun flash from it once.
I was flying at 14,000 feet west of Boise, near the end of my third mission in search of the flying discs which have been reported over the Northwest and elsewhere.
Frankly, I had given up hope of ever seeing one of the objects. I turned the airplane toward Boise, to begin a circular let-down over Gowen field and over the nose of the aircraft saw the object.
I saw it clearly and distinctly. I turned the airplane broadside to it and pulled back the plexiglass canopy so there would be no distortion. The object was still there.
It was rising sharply and jerkily toward the top of the towering bank of alto cumulus and alto stratus clouds. At that moment, it was so round in shape that I thought it was a balloon.
Not A Weather Balloon
I opened my radio and called Boise CAA communications station. The logs shows the call was made at 12:17 p.m. I asked if the weather bureau had just released a balloon.
The answer was no, that a balloon had not been released for several hours. With that I snatched my camera out of the map case and began firing. I held the button down for about 10 seconds, and then looked again.
The object was turning so that it presented its edge to me. It then appeared as a straight black line. Then, with its edge still toward me, it shot straight up, rolled over the top of this maneuver, and I lost sight of it.
I asked the CAA and the Gowen field control tower if there were any aircraft in the vicinity. There was a P-51 fighter plane in the area, but it was behind me. There was a Fairchild C-82 packet flying over Boise, but I watched it pass beneath me.
Distance Unknown
I saw the circular object east of the city, toward the Anderson Ranch dam. I do not know how far away it was. It had the relative size of a quarter.
The clouds against which I saw the object were forming in the Camas prairie region, about 50 miles east of Boise. I had flown around them about an hour before.
The base of the clouds was at 13,000 feet. Their tops must have extended to 18,000 or 20,000 feet.
The object could have been 10 miles away, or 40. I do not know. If it was a great distance from me, its speed was incredible. The greater distance an object is from the watcher, the slower its speed should appear. This circular thing was maneuvering very swiftly.
The P-51 that was in the area was instructed to scout the region, and its pilot went there. He landed shortly after I did to report he had not seen anything.
P-51s Join Search
Patrols of P-51s were ordered into the area to keep searching until darkness. I had the airplane fueled and took off again for two more hours of flying in the same area, and then went over Owyhee reservoir, where discs had been reported earlier in the day, but did not see anything more.
I do not know if the pictures will turn out. They have been flown to San Francisco for processing at the Eastman plant there, since they are in color and require special handling.
Now, about myself. I have flown 18 hours in the past three days looking for discs. I have chased and discarded as nothing several flashes I believed I saw in the sky. Much of my flight today was above 12,500 feet and I may have been tired from lack of oxygen. It appeared black against the clouds. The sun flashed from it once. It turned its edge toward me and vanished.
He Saw Something
I do not believe I was self-hypnotized into seeing anything actually not there. I'm in the same spot as Kenneth Arnold, the man who first reported discs, and Capt. E.J. Smith of United Airlines, whose entire crew watched circular objects near a twin-engined transport one evening at dusk.
What I saw was no airplane. It was moving fast, but I don't know how fast. I don't know how big it was. If it was scores of miles distant it was very large.
Now for the kicker.
When I landed from today's second mission, three men of the Idaho National guard were waiting for me in the operations room. They said that they had seen an object performing similar maneuvers, round and black in appearance, against the clouds, and that it disappeared "very fast". It was in the same area where I saw the object.
Their names are Warren Noe and Bob Ayres, crew chiefs, and Fern Sabala, National Guard photographer.
While I am writing this, in comes William W. Hunt of Blackfoot, Idaho, who was driving 14 miles east of Boise when he saw an object from his automobile. He just wanted to tell me about it.
I thanked him.
Notes:
1. The original quote by Kenneth Arnold stating "It seemed impossible..." changed in all later news reports to "It seems impossible...".
2. As the purpose of this series is to recreate the experience of reading about the phenomenon as it occurred, inconsistencies and inaccuracies are being left un-noted, but will be partially revisited in future posts.
3. The two articles from July 10, 1947 were included as they referenced earlier articles in this series. Other articles from July 10, 1947 and beyond are included in future posts.
4. Rhodes' photographs from The Arizona Republic were found at The UFO Chronicles. The photos are cropped, however, and the following is the full front page of that day's issue as reproduced in Fate magazine...
5. The experiences of Idaho Statesman aviation editor Dave Johnson are further included in In The News 1947.
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