Case 340 -- July 5, Neapolis, Ohio:
While ferrying an empty airliner from the east coast to Chicago, TWA pilot Captain John L. Dobberteen and copilot
Frank Corwin, both of Washington, reported that they saw a strange-looking flying object below them when they were
20 miles east of Archbold, Ohio (approximately over Neapolis) at about 7:00 p.m. EST. The pilots were flying west at
4,000 feet. They said the object they saw had the appearance of a whirling fan blade and was about the size of a
cub plane, with no sign of a body, fuselage, or motor apparatus. Just a propeller-like whatsit -- wings without a
bird,
as they put it. The object was slowly revolving as it moved forward at an estimated speed of 200 miles
an hour.
The pilots flew slightly off course in an effort to see where the object was going. They watched it make two
complete revolutions below them before it disappeared from view. Captain Dobberteen said he was certain the object
could not have been an auto gyro, or similar aircraft. He added that it might have had the appearance of a disc-like
object from the ground. We thought it was a souped-up Fourth of July spin wheel (sic) when we first saw it
,
the pilot said. But we know it couldn't have been fireworks
. The TWA men continued on to Chicago and reported
the whirling object to the air traffic control authorities because it had been flying in a commercial air lane and
was thus a potential hazard to other planes.