Kenneth Arnold and The Aftermath

Home > Alfred Loedding and the Great Flying Saucer Wave of 1947

From Tuesday, June 24th to July 1 1th, hundreds of flying discs were seen in every corner of the globe by people of all walks of life. Most remember it beginning with a UFO sighting by private pilot Kenneth Arnold. As a result, the Kenneth Arnold Sighting officially marked the starting point of what is now called the modern UFO era. It also initiated Alfred Loedding's emergence into the drama.

The incident took place during a flight Arnold made in his small private plane from Chehalis to Yakima, Washington. Shortly into the trip at 2:59 P.M. PST he decided to take some extra time and keep an eye out for a Marine Corps transport reported down several days earlier. Soon eastward bound at 9,000 feet and nearing the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, he hoped that he might catch sight of it. Instead, he saw something quite different. Something that he would never forget.

At a right angle to his aircraft nine very bright disc-shaped objects came into view. They were flying extremely fast in a reversed echelon formation north and to the left of Mount Rainier. At first he assumed they must be some form of new military jet aircraft, but in the clear mountain sky he detected no tail surfaces or wings, just round all wing-like bodies. Arnold compared eight of them to "pie-pans," somewhat cloverleaf-shaped, with surfaces so bright they reflected the sun like a mirror. The ninth object looked heel- shaped. He then picked up a cowling tool to compare them in size to a DC 4 just off to his upper left at about 1,400 feet n1The pilot of the DC-4 reported seeing nothing unusual during his flight. Arnold estimated the discs to be 45 to 50 feet in length, traveling north to south 20 to 25 miles ahead of his aircraft. It was no reflection or mirage because the formation clearly could be seen to weave in and out of mountain peaks at speeds estimated at 1,700 miles per hour!

He derived this velocity by recording the time it took the objects to pass the 47 mile stretch between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams. Arnold reasoned that the disc formation was five miles in length and passed the 47 mile distance in one minute and 42 seconds s1Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 1, Case 10, listed as Incident 17 in 1947 era documents; and "'Flying Pies' Stir Skepticism," Hartford (Connecticut) Times, 26 June 1947. The calculation was simple, but barring minor discrepancies just as equally fool proof. Prior to making his computations, Arnold felt certain he could determine what type of aircraft they were. Yet these figures defied explanation. No manned aircraft then in existence flew that fast. Even the new P-80 jets had only reached 623 miles per hour at the Muroc test range in California. Arnold knew aviation well and by then knew equally well that he had witnessed something incredible. Others would soon come to that realization too, but the primary line of thought would not be spaceships from another world, but some sort of new military test vehicle.

Arnold mentioned his sighting to the ground crew after he landed in Yakima and talked about the incident with Al Baxter, the manager of Central Aircraft. While Arnold talked with Baxter in his office they were joined by pilots Les Mills, Carl Apts, and Jacques Filliol s2Research conducted by Pierre Lagrange, 13, rue de Buci, 75006 Paris, France. By the time Arnold flew on to Pendleton the story had already preceded him. After detailing the sighting to newsmen Bill Bequette and Nolan Skiff at noon on the following day, newspapers soon made famous the term "flying saucer" by an off-handed remark of his?comparing the objects to "saucers skipping on the water" s3Ibid. His sighting went on to be the first to receive national media attention in more than 150 newspapers, being treated as a serious news story. This was due in part to the fact that Arnold was not only an experienced mountain flyer, but a licensed air rescue pilot, a deputy sheriff, and a respected businessman. But it is equally important to remember that the story would not have gained the fame it did unless a host of other saucer sightings had not soon followed. Many of the observers to those incidents talked about what they saw before ever hearing news of Arnold's incident. Arnold's account has thus often been mislabeled as the first flying saucer encounter merely because it became the first well-known and the first believable sighting s4Herbert Strentz, ''An Analysis of Press Coverage of Unidentified Flying Objects, 1947-1966" (Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University, 1970), p. 2.

All but one of the objects Arnold reported seeing were shaped like the sketch above
All but one of the objects Arnold reported seeing were shaped like the sketch above

The Army Air Force soon became interested in Arnold's account. On July 12th intelligence officers Captain William Lee Davidson and First Lieutenant Frank Mercer Brown interviewed Arnold for six hours, taking a lengthy detailed statement from him at Boise's downtown Hotel Owyhee. Just prior to that, Brown and Davidson had tracked down a well-known acquaintance of Arnold's, David N. Johnson. Johnson was an aviation reporter for the Boise Evening Statesman and a widely respected wartime B-29 bomber pilot. Johnson gave Arnold a good recommendation as did many others who knew him. In fact, Intelligence officers took an immediate liking to Arnold ? probably due to his aviation background. Brown and Davidson came to confide details of other cases to him because he had expressed such an interest and need to prove his own story. Arnold even claimed that they had told him that some in military Intelligence had become aware of saucer stories as early as April s5Pendleton, Oregon, East Oregonian, 17 July 1947.

That first effort to look into the discs sightings by Intelligence was spearheaded by the A-2 section of the Fourth Air Force out of Hamilton Field, California with Lieutenant Colonel Donald L. Springer in command. Brown and Davidson, under Springer's supervision, would draw most of the duty, interviewing many of the early witnesses. They were considered extremely bright and talented officers. Both were young men in their twenties who first received orders to investigate the disc reports following some spectacular sightings on July 4th. That directive came down from Army Air Force Chief of Staff General Carl Spaatz who wanted Hamilton Field Intelligence to "open a file." Although he specified that they should then report their findings to Intelligence at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Some work on the disc mystery apparently also took place at Mitchel Field, New York, the headquarters of all air defense ? once termed the Continental Defense Command and by mid 1947 referred to as the Air Defense Command. The FBI would soon enter the investigations too. Brown and Davidson were given orders to keep their reports classified and provided with ample assistance to do investigative work. This included a steno pool and two aircraft, an A-24 and a stripped-down but aging B-25. Unfortunately, both Brown and Davidson were tragically killed after that B-25 crashed on the way back from a case investigation during the early morning of August 1st.

Kenneth Arnold
Kenneth Arnold

While investigating Arnold's story, Brown and Davidson discovered sighting was not the only such incident that day. Others approached Arnold himself, reporting similar sightings. A report came to light that was made the same day and time by a member of the Washington State forest service who had been on fire watch at a tower in Diamond Gap. At 3:00 P.M. PST on the 24th he noticed "flashes" over Mount Rainier that appeared to move in a straight line. Arnold hoped to find I other accounts supporting his observation and even hung around the East Oregonian newspaper office until the 27th, monitoring additional saucer reports on the Associated Press Teletype s6Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History 1947 (Fremont, CA: By the Author, 1991), p. 8.

Then a really noteworthy case emerged. It came from a Portland prospector, Fred M. Johnson, who reported a disc sighting to Army officers after returning from the same mountainous area that Arnold had flown over. Johnson made his observation the same day and time as Arnold's when he had his attention drawn skyward by a brief flash and noticed five to six shiny round objects. The craft looked to have "tails" as they silently flew by at about 1,000 feet toward the southeast. They remained in view for about 45 to 60 seconds during which time the prospector examined one of them through a hand-held telescope. With the aid of the spyglass he could tell they were definitely real objects, round and about 30 feet in diameter but "tapering sharply to a point in the head end in an oval shape." He also observed some type of object in their tail shifting from side to side.

About that time Johnson looked down at his watch which had a compass attached to it and noticed that its needle fluctuated wildly. (Alfred Loedding became one of the few to make note of such an apparent electromagnetic effect in the early cases) s7Interview with Donald Loedding. (Donald, is Alfred Loedding's son). Johnson also confirmed the time to be around 3:00 P.M. PST, the same period in which Arnold made his sighting. Johnson concluded in his statement that they flew off faster than anything he had seen before and resembled no object he had been witness to in his 40 years of prospecting the mountains.

Ironically, while the more famous Arnold sighting was investigated in far greater detail, it would be classified as a mirage. The Portland prospector case eventually found its way into Air Force records as the first unidentified case of an eventual 587 officially given that designation. (At one time Air Force files listed 701 unidentifieds but today only 587 are noted in the declassified index.) The unidentified classification (once termed unknown) was not lightly given and placed only on files that investigators could not attribute to a known cause. Witness reliability also served as a key factor. In this instance the records of both the Army and FBI considered Mr. Johnson of high reliability and character s8Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 1, Case 11, listed as Incident 68 in 1947 era documents; and thanks must be given here to Jan L. Aldrich for forwarding documents on the Portland prospector case which are not in the National Archives' Blue Book collection. (See Declassified FBI files and Fourth Air Force Files, "microfilm record 33764-1036," US Air Force Historical Agency, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama) (See Appendix I for further details.)

Lieutenant Governor Donald S. Whitehead of Idaho and Chief Justice J.M. Lampert added to the list of those who saw a strange flying object that afternoon. At 3:30 P.M. MST they viewed from Lampert's office window in downtown Boise a most unusual sight high in the western sky. Called by some "The Boise Object," it appeared to hover or "hang" stationary in the sky, resembling a "comet" s9Project Blue Book Files, Roll 1, Case 12, listed as Incident 28 in 1947 era documents; and The (Portland) Oregonian, 26 June 1947.

That afternoon at around 2:30 P.M. PST, in Richland, Washington, Leo Bernier reported several silvery-shaped discs high in the sky heading west by southwest. He stated they were traveling as fast as a P-38 fighter or about 400 miles per hour. Bernier was one of the first witnesses to suggest an extraterrestrial link. He was quoted in a July 3rd newspaper article, stating: "I believe it may be a visitor from another planet" s10"Flying Disks Are Seen Here," Richland, Washington Villager, 3 July 1947, p. 1; Portland, Oregon, Journal, 4 July 1947.

Two sightings from the 24th reported nine disc-like objects just as Arnold had seen. One came from Charles Kastl as he was walking along a road ten miles east of Joliet, Illinois, at 1:50 P.M. CST. Kastl worked as a railroad engineer and described the nine discs as speeding along in a stretched out line formation at about 4,000 feet flying north to south s11Chicago, Illinois, Times, 27 June 1947. The other incident was reported by Sidney B. Gallagher at 3:00 P.M. PST in Washington State when he saw nine shiny discs flash by to the north s12Bloecher, Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, Index. Then up to eight "platter-shaped" discs were seen in loose formation by Lester Swingleson and his wife and their two neighbor girls during that afternoon heading northwest from Lonejack, Missouri, toward Kansas City s13Kansas City, Missouri, Times, 28 June 1947.

A Yakima, Washington, woman, Mrs. Ethel Wheelhouse, reported sighting several flying discs moving at fantastic speeds around the time of Arnold's observation s14"Flying Saucer Story Grows," The (Portland) Oregonian, 28 June 1947. At 4:00 P.M. PST Mrs. Dennis Howell saw a bright shiny silver object fly over Salem, Oregon s15Salem Oregon Statesman, 27 June 1947. Two hours later Mrs. Viola Wendt of Roseville, California, spotted one brightly reflective disc at about 10,000 feet. It came from the south, turned, then dipped, and finally flew off to the northwest on a straight course s16Sacramento, California, Union, 2 July 1947. An hour later at 7:00 P.M. PST Glen E. Stewart and his wife witnessed a shiny object fly over Pendleton, Oregon s17Chicago (Illinois) Tribune, 25, 26 June 1947. At 9:00 P.M. PST William Kamp also saw a strange flying object over Oregon from his home in Portland. He noted that two reddish-white flares dropped from the mysterious craft s18Portland, Oregon, Journal, 27 June 1947. Fifteen minutes later in Seattle, Washington, Mrs Elvira Forsyth reported to the press that she saw one disc-shaped flying object with two dark bands around it disappear into the clouds. Mrs Forsyth saw similar objects at 10:00 and 11:00 P.M s19Seattle, Washington, Post-Intelligencer, 28 June 1947. Finally at 11:00 A.M. object resembling a flying plate was seen over Salem, Oregon, by Mrs. Gertrude Kirkpatrick s20Salem Oregon Statesman, 29 June 1947.

Wednesday 25 June

Notable incidents that were somewhat similar to Arnold's occurred the following day. At 3:00 A.M. EDT Mrs. G.E. Hart saw 13 luminous flying objects shaped like plates fly over Poplar Grove, Pennsylvania s21Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Post-Gazette, 7, 8 July 1947. At 8:45 A.M. CST Mrs. Nels Thor of 10436 S Forest Ave. in Chicago, Illinois, observed one disc heading east over Lake Michigan s22Chicago, Illinois, Sunday Tribune, 6 July 1947. Sometime after the noon hour that day W.I. Davenport, a carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, observed nine speeding disc-like objects just as Arnold did although these made considerable noise and left vapor trails s23"Fast Flying Disks Reported in West," Associated Press news service, 27 June 1947; and Documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, dated 3 July 1947; and Kansas City, Missouri, Star, 26 June 1947; and Oklahoma City Daily Oklahoman, 27 June 1947; and Wichita, Kansas, Eagle, 27 June 1947; and Detroit, Michigan, Eagle, 28 June 1947.

Near Pueblo, Colorado, Lloyd Lowry and his wife observed two oval-shaped objects spinning on their axis while driving east in their car. They noted that the objects came from the east and veered south. Disc sightings involving two or less objects then came from Salem, Oregon; Alvarado, Texas, at 5:30 P.M. CST; and Newcomb, New Mexico at 7:00 P.M. MST s24Salem Oregon Statesman, 29 June 1947; and Dallas, Texas, Morning News, 1 July 1947; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, Journal, 30 June 1947. By 7:30 P.M. a single bright disc appeared in the skies over Utah and fifteen minutes later Homer B. Duncan and Mack McKague of Salt Lake City observed two discs moving eastward in unison s25Salt Lake City, Utah, Desert News, 30 June 1947. At 8:05 P.M. MST Dr. R.F. Sensenbaugher and his wife and Mrs. C.B. Munroe and his sister-in-law observed one disc while riding in a car near Silver City, New Mexico s26Sante Fe New Mexican, 27 June 1947. Ten minutes later a ball of fire appeared over Seattle, Washington s27Seattle, Washington, Post-Intelligencer, 27 June 1947. Later C.E. Holman reported seeing two "illuminated discs" which circled each other over Oklahoma at 10:00 P.M. CST s28Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, 6 July 1947. Also that night Warren County Deputy Treasurer Louis Stebbins and Mrs. J.G. Caffrey saw a reddish object trailing blue fire which traversed over the countryside near Glen Falls, New York s29New York World-Telegram, 1 July 1947; and Kevin D. Handle and Donald R. Schmitt, UFO Crash at Roswell (New York: Avon Books, 1991), p. 14.

Thursday 26 June

Saucers were sighted back in Oregon on the following day when nine shiny craft with fins wove in and out of the clouds over La Grande. The sighting was made by high school student Larry Jones and two Catholic nuns s30La Grande, Oregon, Evening Observer, 21 June 1947. In the Arizona Grand Canyon, Dr. Leon Oetinger and three others observed a "silver ball" too swift to be an aircraft s31United Press news article, 28 July 1947. At 7:45 P.M. MST in Cedar City, Utah, observers reported seeing one silvery colored disc fly over at about 2,000 feet with great velocity heading eastward s32Salt Lake City, Utah, Desert News, 30 June 1947; and Salt Lake City, Utah, Tribune, 28 June 1947. Apparently that same object was seen by Roy Walters, a private pilot who had his sighting while airborne near Cedar City. Royce R. Knight, the airport manager at Cedar City, visually confirmed Walters' sighting. Still another man, Charles Moore, told of seeing a single unidentifiable luminous object speeding east over Cedar City at the same time. Moore was manager for Western Airlines and in his mind dismissed the incident as a "large meteor" s33Randle and Schmitt, UFO Crash at Roswell, p. 18.

Interestingly, far to the north of Cedar City a teacher, Glen Bunting and two other independent witnesses, observed a very similar round disc moving eastward just three minutes earlier s34Salt Lake City, Utah, Desert News, 21 June 1947. By 8:30 P.M. CST a round large disc traveling at least 1,200 miles per hour flew over Oklahoma City at great altitude in an easterly direction as witnessed by Dennis E. Donovan s35Oklahoma City Times, 27 June 1947. Later that night at 10:00 P.M. a UFO report came out of Ottawa, Canada, describing an object bigger than an aircraft with a bright light on it s36Toronto, Canada, Daily Tribune, 8 July 1947. Then in Denver, Colorado, Henry Martin and Walter Harrod observed a group of bright "coffee can tops" at about 5,000 feet traveling southwesterly s37"Flying Saucers Seen Over 7 States," United Press news story, 3 July 1947.

Friday 27 June

Three UFO sightings came from New Mexico on Friday starting with an observation by Captain E.B. Detchmendy who reported "flame-like objects" over the White Sands proving grounds at 9:50 A.M. MST s38Albuquerque, New Mexico, Journal, 29 June 1947. Mr. W.C. Dodds then confirmed seeing the same event s39Los Angeles, California, Times, 28, 29 June 1947. And just north of the base at 10:00 A.M., in Captain, New Mexico, Mrs. Cummins and her neighbor, Erv Dill, saw a single shiny object that "seemed to land on nearby hills" s40Albuquerque, New Mexico, Journal, 2 July 1947. In fact, at 10:00 A.M. another sighting came from San Miguel, New Mexico, by Mrs. D. Appelzoller who observed a fast moving object at low altitude who also thought it might have landed s41Sante Fe, New Mexican, 3 July 1947. Frankly, most researchers feel all of these New Mexico sightings describe an event very characteristic of V-2 missile tests which were being conducted that year at White Sands. (Four other accounts of unusual flying objects in New Mexico that day also suggest a rocket launch or an astronomical event) s42Denver, Colorado, Post, 28 June 1947; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, Journal, 29, 30 June 1947; and Los Angeles, California, Times, 28, 29 June 1947; and New York Journal American, 29 June 1947; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, Journal, 1, 2 July 1947.

The early disc reports were not thought to be attributable to any one specific cause. In general, the stories merely focused on the fact that unusual things were being seen and a number of solutions were posed. The best commentary for the 27th comes from two articles from the San Francisco Chronicle:

by Howard W. Blakeslee, Associated Press Science Writer
New York, June 27?The reports from five areas west of the Mississippi River about mysterious disc-like objects flashing across the sky agree roughly with the way light occasionally is reflected from a distant airplane.

In clear air the flash of sunlight from a plane can easily be seen at 10 miles. This flash is round, the shape of the sun. Any other reflection at a great distance also is likely to be round, coming only from a small area on the plane. Not accounted for are the speeds reported by some observers. A distant plane does not appear to be moving fast. If any jet planes were sighted, their speeds probably would be noticeable and could fit into the estimates, where sight gave the impression of something traveling 1000 miles an hour. It rarely happens that the eye can make an accurate estimate of speed through the sky. Reports of unusual objects in the sky have been numerous since the war. Atomic bomb and rocket rumors have accounted for most of them. Speculative stories about what may be seen in the future spread all over the world. With those in mind, any unusual sight in the sky is likely to appear exaggerated.
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Army Colonel Thinks "Discs" May have Been Jet Planes

White Sands, N.M., June 27 (AP)?Lieutenant Colonel Harold R. Turner says "flying discs" reported seen in several Western areas Wednesday night may have been jet airplanes. The White Sands proving ground commandant said jet planes have circular exhaust pipes and that these when heated might give an illusion of discs. Reports of new "flying saucers" were received today from Silver City, in southwestern New Mexico, and Joliet, Ill. A Silver City dentist and members of his family said they saw a disc half the size of a full moon sail slowly through the sky. A Joliet train engineer reported "circular objects" going "faster than any plane I ever saw" s43San Francisco (California) Chronicle, 28 June 1947.

Disc sightings that day also came from El Paso and Houston, Texas; Lowell, and Tintown, Arizona; Mountain Home, Arkansas; Seattle, Kelso and Woodland, Washington; Rutland, Vermont; and Vancouver, British Columbia s44Dallas, Texas, Morning News, 1 July 1947; and Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, 30 June 1947; and New York Daily News, 29, 30 June 1947; and Houston, Texas, Post, 28 June 1947; and Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, 2 July 1947; and Los Angeles, California, Herald-Express, 28 June 1947; and Portland, Oregon, Journal, 28 June 1947; and The (Portland) Oregonian, 29 June 1947; and Sacramento, California, Union, 29 June 1947; and San Francisco (California) Call-Bulletin, 30 June 1947.

Saturday 28 June

A report as unique as Kenneth Arnold's took place this day. The Army, however, paid more attention this time. They did so because it involved one of its own Air Force pilots, First Lieutenant Eric B. Armstrong, who was flying a P-51 fighter from Brooks Field, San Antonio, to Portland, Oregon.

During that flight while 30 miles north of Lake Meade, Nevada, at 1:15 P.M. PST, Armstrong spotted five to six round white discs in a close formation. He stated that they were about 4,000 feet below him at an altitude of 6,000 feet moving smoothly at his same air speed of 285 miles per hour toward the southeast. But they must have actually been moving at a faster rate because they soon passed out of sight on an angular course to his aircraft.

Armstrong estimated that the discs appeared about three feet in diameter and for that reason the Air Force finally concluded he must have seen a balloon cluster s45Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 1, Case 16, listed as Incident 53 in 1947 era documents; and thanks again goes to Jan L. Aldrich for forwarding a document that appears to be a lost file from the National Archives' Blue Book collection. Yet it is known that serious discussion of this incident took place in the Pentagon and seems to have involved Alfred Loedding in some of his first liaison work between Dayton and Washington. Several years following the event Edward Ruppelt, when assuming command of UFO investigations in 1951, learned that this had been a notable sighting in the military's early consideration of the problem s46Ruppelt, Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, p. 19.

At 3:45 P.M. CST that same day just north of Milwaukee over Rockfield, Wisconsin, a farmer, Marion Beuschler and his brother, observed seven to ten discs flying silently overhead toward the south. Later that afternoon identical objects were reported by radio news programs in Illinois. Dr. J.W. Abner of Atchison, Missouri, also spotted discs. He reported eight of them traveling in a southerly direction at a high rate of speed s47St. Joseph (Missouri) Gazette, 9 July 1947, p. 5. A Colorado farmer, H.E. Soule of Appleton, told Grand Junction authorities that he observed a small disc-shaped object that day come from the northwest, which flew just 200 feet above his house without making a sound. According to him the disc then headed eastward over highway No. 6 for a mile and finally turned southeast s48International News Service report, 4 July 1947.

Later that evening a woman in Oregon, Mrs. Sidney Smith and her daughter Joanne, reported seeing an alternately shining flying saucer just before sunset at 5:05 P.M. PST-heading southeast at high speed s49Associated Press news story, 29 June 1947. Detroit, Michigan, claimed two independent sightings that day; Los Angeles, California, one at 11:30 A.M. PST; Dallas, Texas, had an observation at 5:00 P.M. CST and another later that night; one that evening in Hooksett, New Hampshire; one in Montgomery, Alabama at 9:20 P.M. CST; and also one in Bath, South Carolina later that night s50Raleigh, North Carolina, News & Observer, 3, 4 July 1947; and Dallas, Texas, Morning News, 1 July 1947; and Salem, Oregon Statesman, 29 June 1947; and St. Paul, Minnesota, Pioneer Press, 5 July 1947; and Grand Rapids, Michigan, Herald, 6 July 1947; and The (Portland) Oregonian, 29 June 1947; and Cleveland, Ohio, Plain Dealer, 4 July 1947; and Manchester, New Hampshire, Morning Union, 1 July 1947.

Sunday 29 June

In the days following the Kenneth Arnold incident many disc sightings still came from the Pacific Northwest. Beginning at 11:00 A.M. PST on the 29th Mrs. Morton Elder observed seven umbrella-shaped objects south of Pendleton, Oregon, flying north and emitting a humming noise. Other independent witnesses reported a similar sighting in the area s51The (Portland) Oregonian, 1 My 1947, p. 16, col. 1. That afternoon numerous people in Moscow, Idaho, reported seeing a single "flying disc" at 1:30 P.M. PST s52Spokane, Washington, Daily Chronicle, 30 June 1947. At 1:30 P.M. Msrin Tucson, Arizona, Charles Weaver and his wife saw one of the famous formations of discs just as Kenneth Arnold did five days before s53Tucson, Arizona, Daily Citizen, 4 July 1947.

One of the most stunning reports for June 29th also comes out of the west. It involved three naval research scientists involved in guided missile development. While driving to the White Sands proving grounds in New Mexico the scientists observed something that proved to be far more interesting than the V-2 tests which they were then working on. Dr. C.J. Zohn reported their amazing observation to Army Intelligence with supporting testimony from fellow scientists Curtis C. Rockwood and John R. Kauke. This report was one of the most interesting sightings to be studied by Wright Field Intelligence and Alfred Loedding although the investigation was instigated by Lieutenant Colonel George D. Garrett of the Pentagon Intelligence Collections branch. The incident began at 1:30 P.M. MST as the scientists were all in a car headed northeast down Route 17 to examine a launching site for a July 3rd V-2 test. Just then they had their attention drawn upward by a flash. All three men, and Curtis Rockwood' s wife who was in the car, observed "a silvery disc whirling through the unclouded sky." Kauke was driving and became so overwhelmed by the site that he stopped the car. The scientists then estimated the disc's altitude between 8,000 and 10,000 feet and were especially attracted by its bright surface. They agreed its shape appeared elliptical and flat. Dr. Zohn, a well-known rocket expert, stated that the object did not look like any rocket he had ever seen and that it could not have been a balloon s54"Saucer Seen By Rocket Expert, Flight Over Desert Described," The (Washington DC) Evening Star, 9 July 1947; and Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 1, Case 18, listed as Incident 90 in 1947 era documents.

Later that day at 3:00 P.M. Mr. and Mrs. James Harbor of Richland, Washington, and many local residents saw a very similar shiny disc with a type of halo around it. Most agreed that its outer edge seemed to be spinning around a stationary center section s55"Flying Disks Are Seen Here," Richland ( Washington) Villager, 3 July 1947.

By 4:45 P.M. CST a bus driver, Dale Bays, traveling from Des Moines to Mason City, Iowa, observed flying discs outside Clarion. At first he saw only one oval object pass across the sky moving south-southwest at about 1,200 feet. Then four similar objects followed. Bays quickly stopped and got out for a better look. Taking in the view of the countryside, he turned around and spotted in the opposite direction a flight of thirteen more discs. This formation was at about the same altitude as the first objects and judged to be traveling 300 miles per hour. They looked like "inverted saucers," "oval" in appearance. He guessed that they were anywhere from 175 to 250 feet in diameter and around twelve feet thick. Their color appeared a "dirty white" and he said they made a "motor or dynamo" type of noise while passing overhead. After a couple of minutes the discs were then lost from sight to the north-northwest s56Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 1, Case 17, listed as Incident 21 in 1947 era documents; and "More Flying Discs," Amazing Stories, January 1948. Interestingly, a sighting came from 140 miles west of there near Sioux City, Iowa, just 30 minutes later. The witnesses, H.F. Angus and his wife, saw a silvery disc move rapidly to the south at high altitude s57Miami, Florida, Herald, 1 July 1947.

Around 5:30 P.M. CST motorist Mrs. E.D. Butts, her husband, and son all observed a bright object fly low over St. Joseph, Missouri. Traveling relatively slow, it headed southward. They described the event just as if they were looking at the sun peering through the overcast on a very cloudy day or like seeing a bright moon. But the day was very cloudy, too cloudy to be the moon. And because the object appeared from the north and moved continually to the south, it came nowhere near where the sun was positioned s58St. Joseph (Missouri) Gazette, 8 July 1947, p. 3. Another family, Mrs. HJ. Beckmeyer and her brother E.W. Brown, in St. Louis accounted a similar story that afternoon but in this case they saw three bright discs s59St. Louis, Missouri, Post-Dispatch, 8 July 1947.

At 8:05 P.M. PST Mrs. Sidney B. Smith in Seaside, Oregon, added to the growing lists of reports when she observed a round silent object pass over very high, just east of the city s60"Flying Saucers Seen in Oregon," San Francisco (California)Examiner, 29 June 1947. An hour and two minutes later Frank M. King, his wife, and their three guests, watched an oval gleaming disc fly over San Leandro, California, at great speed between 4,000 and 5,000 feet headed on a northerly course s61New York Herald Tribune, 6 June, 1 July 1947. That day the Associated Press reported dozens of such flying saucer sightings from Vancouver, British Columbia, to El Paso, Texas. The stories all had similar characteristics?involving fast moving objects shaped like discs or saucers, traveling south at high rates of speed. They made little or no noise and each of the objects were said to have a surface that gave off a blinding reflection from the sun s62Associated Press news story, 29 June 1947.

Monday 30 June

Occasional mention has been made in this text about Edward Ruppelt. He is of such interest because his landmark book, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, documents not only the great UFO flap of 1952 but also gives many insights on the 1947 saucer wave. This is ironic because during the summer of 1947 Ruppelt hoped he had seen the last of the Air Force. In WWII he served a long stint as a bombardier and radar operator during the entire B-29 bombing offensive against Japan. He certainly had earned his GI bill that he was then going to school on?having survived some hard combat and winning a fist full of medals the hard way. Now he was working just as hard toward a degree in aeronautical engineering at Iowa State College?a happy civilian.

That day Ruppelt was in Yellowstone Park, enjoying the first lazy holiday in a long time. That's when he heard the new word "flying saucer." Just outside the lodge kids were sailing paper plates into the air yelling "saucer, saucer!" He soon read the news reports which filled him in on the unusual phrase, but little did he realize that three years later he would be back in the Air Force as project head of UFO investigations in Dayton s63Edward J. Ruppelt, "Why Don't the Damn Things Swim?So We Can Turn Them Over To The Navy?" The True Report on Flying Saucers, 1, Fawcett Publishers, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky, 1967, pp. 39, 57.

One of the first sightings Ruppelt read about came out of Idaho on Monday the 30th. It began at 2:30 P.M. MST when several observers saw a flight of eight to ten objects in a V formation near the town of Hailey flying toward Galena Summit. Witness Walter Nicholson stated that the left wing of the V formation contained five disc-shaped objects in perfect line but the ones on the right "seemed to weave" s64Salt Lake City, Utah, Desert News, 1 July 1947. Forest ranger Hunter Nelson, who was marking trees with Nicholson three miles from Galena Summit, counted seven to nine objects in the V formation.

He stated that they were moving extremely fast and were as high as 10,000 feet heading northeast. Although both men said the objects were so high that they only looked like shiny specks in the sky, they told UFO researcher Dr. James McDonald years later that they had never seen anything like it before or since and were positive they had not seen conventional aircraft. Both men stressed that point, stating that they flew "much faster than any aircraft of that day" s65Bloecher, Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, p. II-5.

That evening, J.P. Grumpier, a Rogers, Arkansas, real estate dealer, watched the approach of a strong wind storm. As he stepped out onto his porch, the clouds became even more dark and ominous. Suddenly a disc appeared out of the northwest and vanished rapidly into the southwest s66The (Portland) Oregonian, 6 July 1947. Although it is hard to determine a definite time for this report another disc sighting was documented at 6:00 P.M. CST in Tupelo, Arkansas. In that case the postmaster, T.A. Morris with Alien Jones and Oscar Jones, observed a silver disc fly toward the northeast at a high rate of speed and great altitude s67Little Rock Arkansas Gazette 2,3 July 1947.

Actually there were many accounts to come out of the South that night. For example, a round bright object flashed westward over Knoxville, Tennessee, at 8:00 P.M EST s68Knoxville, Tennessee, Journal, 1 July 1947. Then at 9:30 P.M. C.E. Brehm, acting president of the University of Tennessee, observed with his wife a bright fiery object resembling "a long cylinder" move at terrific speed across the sky in several seconds as it left "in its wake a shower of sparks." He told authorities that "I've seen many a falling star, but never one that behaved like this thing. It was high in the sky, though much lower than the stars" s69Ibid. Local residents, Mr. and Mrs. Bellam, saw a similar spectacle. Mr. Bellam, who worked at the Oak Ridge nuclear facility, agreed with the other witnesses and refused to dismiss the sighting as an astronomical event because the altitude of the object was described as relatively low ? in one case 5,000 feet or less s70Ibid., 8 July 1947.

On the 30th disc sightings also came from Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, and Ohio s71Project Blue Book Files; and Salt Lake City, Utah, Desert News, 1 July 1947; and The (Portland) Oregonian, 3 July 1947; and Portland Journal, 2 July 1947; and Boise, Idaho, Daily Statesman, 3 July 1947; and Little Rock Arkansas Gazette, 2 July 1947; and Boston, Massachusetts, Traveler, 1 July 1947; and Knoxville, Tennessee, Journal, 1 July 1947; and Cincinnati, Ohio, Times-Star, 1 July 1947.

Tuesday 1 July

On the first day of July Robert E. Johnson, the county juvenile probation officer in Tucson, Arizona, reported seeing a disc-shaped object fly northward over the Pima Indian Reservation at 9:30 A.M. MST. Johnson stated that it appeared to be silver in color and moving at great speed at 5,000 to 10,000 feet. He described its flight characteristics as fairly smooth and direct, remaining in view for three minutes s72"Six Tucsonians Say They've Seen Flying Saucers," The Yuma Sun & Arizona Sentinel, 9 July 1947, p. 1. By 11:00 A.M. CST two shiny objects were seen traveling south, very high and fast over Indianapolis, Indiana s73Indianapolis, Indiana, Star, 6 July 1947.

Much further west Mrs. Herbert Balliet and her husband then reported seeing two groups of flying discs at 11:45 A.M. PST fly right over their new house in Portland, Oregon. They said the second group contained ten to twelve objects and flew low over the foothills near the Columbia River s74Portland, Oregon, Daily Journal, 2 July 1947; and Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, 6 July 1947. At noon Mrs. R.A. Hunt of Madras, Oregon, saw six "aluminum" colored saucers circle high overhead s75"Ten Flying Discs Seen at Bakersfield Cal., Also Over Portland," New York Herald Tribune, 3 July 1947; and Seattle, Washington, Post-Intelligencer, 3 July 1947. Forty-five minutes later another Oregon woman and others in the Astoria, Fort Stevens area told of seeing a bright shiny object for 15 minutes moving toward the Columbia River in a northerly direction. A local welder saw that same object?it being so bright he noticed it through his dark welding glasses. Then other observers saw the objects and their concern led to phone calls to the Army at Fort Stevens and the Coast Guard at Port Adams. Officials from those facilities, however, stated that they had noted no unusual activity s76Astoria, Oregon, Astorian Budget, 1 July 1947.

For some reason Oregon seemed to be a real hotbed of saucer sightings that day. An interesting report came from Mrs. Walter Clark as others in Pendleton spotted saucers in a formation of six to eight objects that afternoon s77Portland, Oregon, Journal, 3 July 1947. At 12:45 P.M CST a Dallas, Texas, man, Tom Dean, traveling between Dallas and Fort Worth said he and his wife and daughter saw a disc-shaped object "going like blue blazes from northeast to southwest at cloud level." Dean recounted that it resembled a flattened-out balloon as it zoomed by in a matter of only fifteen seconds s78Ibid. Further north in Canada on Prince Edward Island, Dr. and Mrs. C.K. Gunn with two friends saw a strange luminous object traveling at great speed high in the sky s79Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript, 4 July 1947. Also in Canada over Edmonton, Alberta, at 3:00 P.M. MST, Mrs. A. Olson reported seeing a "silver-colored" craft heading southeast at a great speed s80Edmonton, Alberta, Journal, 2 July 1947. That night in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Ray Stevens spotted a disc flash by with bright luminous flames heading south at 8:45 P.M. EST s81Windsor, Ontario, Daily Star, 1 July 1947.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chamber of Commerce official, Max Hood, reported "a disc-like bluish object following a zig-zag path in the northwestern sky." Between Wilmington and St. George, Delaware, a man observed five oval objects with two short protrusions on their trailing edges s82Wilmington, Delaware, 5rar, 6 July 1947, p. 1 (In some of Loedding's investigations he took particular interest in any such notation of control surfaces as in this account and that of Fred Johnson's sighting on June 24th.)

Between 8:45 and 9:58 P.M. EST three reports came out of North Carolina and one from Kentucky and one from South Carolina. In each case one luminous saucer-shaped disc was reported moving rapidly overhead on a southerly course s83Raleigh, North Carolina, News & Observer, 8 July 1947; and Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal, 3 July 1947; and San Francisco, California, Chronicle, 3 July 1947; and Charleston, South Carolina, News & Courier, 6 July 1947. That same night at 10:10 P.M. CST US meteorologist, E.E. Unger of Louisville, Kentucky, told of seeing a circular object flying through the air as he left a neighborhood theater. He said it moved at least 100 miles an hour and gave off an orange light as it headed toward the southeast s84Louisville, Kentucky, Times, 3 July 1947; and Louisville, Courier-Journal, 3 July 1947; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Inquirer, 2, 3 July 1947; and Manchester, New Hampshire, Morning Union, 3, 4 July 1947; and Raleigh, North Carolina, News & Observer, 3, 4 July 1947.

By July 1st Washington DC time, a radar operator at Chitoze AAB, Mokkaido Japan, detected a target traveling at a speed in excess of 600 miles per hour. This became one of the first notable radar targeted UFO events as the object could not be attributed to any natural occurring phenomenon. Alfred Loedding was later called to Washington to consult on that particular case. Pentagon Intelligence concluded during the meeting that it must have been some type of manned "aircraft" because it made four changes in heading while on the scope. The event certainly caught the eye of Pentagon brass because very few aircraft at that time could reach speeds of 600 miles per hour. In the intelligence report, however, a Major Farrier is quoted as stating that the USSR was then known to possess a jet fighter capable of speeds in that range s85National Archive release of declassified document "Memorandum For The Commanding General, Army Air Forces," File 2-258, 6 August 1947, declassification No. NND813055, 1 August 1997.

On this date or near it, passengers and a ship's officer on the SS Llandovery Castle had a very disturbing sighting. At 11:00 P.M local time, while in the Madagascar Straits, they observed a cigar-shaped machine fly parallel to the ship just twenty feet above the water. It shined a searchlight-like beam on the water 50 yards from the ship. After a short while the craft flew out of sight without making a noise, but emitted "fierce flames" as it accelerated away. Passengers stated that it looked to be of entirely metal construction with a blunt end and no sign of windows. Although the most remarkable facet of the account involves the size of the UFO?described as four times the length of the ship and about four times its height! s86Unmarked account in Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 2 Descriptions of "cigar-shaped" craft, sometimes of huge size, have become the second most common feature of unidentified flying objects sightings from 1947 and continuing on to this day.

Back in the United States, disc sighting on the 1st also came from Cincinnati, Ohio; Roxbury, Massachusetts; Morrisonville, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Arkadelphia, Arkansas; Pocatello, Idaho; Phoenix, Arizona; and Salt lake City, Utah were 60 to 70 saucers were seen flying erratically overhead at great height around noontime! s87Little Rock, Arkansas, Gazette, 7, 8 July 1947; and Salt Lake City, Utah, Tribune, 1 July 1947; and Portland, Oregon, Journal, 2 July 1947; and Detroit, Michigan, Times, 6 July 1947; and Wisconsin Capital Times, 8 July 1947; and Boston, Massachusetts, Globe, 6 July 1947; and Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, 8 July 1947

Wednesday 2 July

Something very unusual crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico, on or near the evening of July 2nd. To date the Air Force is still covering up what really happened. Since 1947 they have released four different versions of the incident, the first stating that a "flying disc" had in fact crash landed. Then a weather balloon was blamed, but in 1994 they claimed the weather balloon had been used as a cover story for what was actually the crash of a high altitude "Mogul balloon."

Mogul balloons were part of an extremely secret project designed to scan for shockwaves in the upper atmosphere, indicating possible Soviet nuclear testing. The only problem with this scenario is that although two Mogul balloons definitely did go down near Roswell, the records of the Air Materiel Command show that these incidents occurred only on June 7th and July 5th. Aside from that, recently declassified FBI files clearly show that the Mogul project was know of (by name) even by low level intelligence units.

By the 6th of July the nearby 509th bomb group was already notified of an aircraft crash of some sort on a nearby sheep ranch. Manager of the ranch, W.W. (Mac) Brazel, had reported the incident to the sheriff's office by the 5th, stating that he found a wide area of aircraft-like debris on the morning of the 3rd following a severe storm the night before. (Other accounts state Brazel found the debris in mid June, and still others place his discovery on the 4th of July.)

Today there are many sensational stories circulating about the Roswell Incident. Most are to the effect that the propulsion unit of one or two flying saucers (perhaps after a collision) exploded and showered-down the debris found by Brazel. The main body of at least one disc is said to have then crashed, complete with four occupants, 75 miles northwest of Roswell. While there are a remarkable number of collaborating stories from many of those known to have been involved in the incident, there is no physical evidence to substantiate their claims.

Recently the Air Force posed its fourth explanation for Roswell, stating that test dummies dropped from a high altitude aircraft accounted for the mysterious alien bodies. The problem this time is that the exercise occurred more than twelve years after the supposed incident. And it is no coincidence that the Air Force made this recent revelation on the morning of the 50th anniversary of the Kenneth Arnold sighting?completely overshadowing that historic event.

Recent discoveries of government documents confirming a saucer crash and even an autopsy film have not been authenticated. These tidbits of evidence, known as the MJ-12 papers and the Santilli film, are nevertheless very intriguing. One thing that makes them so remarkable is that, if they are fakes or hoaxes, they have been done at tremendous expense utilizing exceptionally specialized skills. Some have even speculated that the most frightening scenario of all would be if the Roswell "evidence" was a fake. If so, who or what group would have the finances and resources at their disposal to produce this kind of disinformation, and why? And contrary to popular belief, no UFO hoax has ever produced a profitable outcome for anyone.

Few believe the sensational stories, but something very real is known to have been collected from the desert by the 8th Army Air Force 509th composite bomb group based in Roswell. This is startling for that reason alone because the 509th was the only squadron then in existence authorized to carry atomic weapons. Whatever crashed near this high security nuclear base was then flown to Carswell Army Air Force base in Fort Worth, Texas, and then to Wright Field (renamed Wright-Patterson AFB by 1948) in Dayton, Ohio.

In all likelihood the commanding officer of the 509th, Colonel William "Butch" Blanchard, who authorized the release of the "disc crash" story by July 8th did not initially realize the implications of the event. When his intelligence officer Major Jesse Marcel told him they had found the scattered debris of a flying disc, Blanchard probably first thought of a balloon crash or some such explainable event. The Arnold story was only eight days old and still being talked about. On the evening of July 2nd, local retailer Dan Wilmot even had a saucer sighting. In 1947, however, flying discs or saucers had not yet assumed the image of extraterrestrial visitors that they have taken on today. Almost everyone then took it for granted that flying saucers were research balloons or military experiments of some sort. Colonel Blanchard probably innocently thought their recovered disc would be just one more story added to the many already being reported in the news media.

Press officer Lt. Walter Haut received authorization by Col. Blanchard to release the following story Press officer Lt. Walter Haut received authorization by Col. Blanchard to release the following story

If the debris did come from something terrestrial, but secret, it would make sense that General Roger M. Ramey, commander of the 8th, would have then retracted Blanchard's disc story with a weather balloon explanation. It would make all the more sense if it was not just a low-level research experiment as Blanchard probably assumed, but a highly classified project, or a nuclear accident, or perhaps even something of Soviet origin. This would conceal the indication of any such event and thus prevent public embarrassment at a time of mounting Cold War tensions. It would also conveniently and completely defuse the situation?which it immediately did.

Of course, in order to accomplish that goal some very high ranking pressure from the Pentagon had to be placed on the owner of the local radio station, warning that his federal broadcasting license would be immediately revoked if he did not cease covering the story. Coercion was also used on local civilian witnesses who were, in certain instances, threatened with violence if they did not refrain from talking about the incident. Mac Brazel, in fact, was held incommunicado by intelligence agents for over a week. He went to his grave fearing to tell even family members what he had learned.

While such events show something very important was definitely being covered up, they do not suggest a crashed spaceship. Nor do they disprove the theory. Whatever went down in the desert near Roswell on July 2nd was something that Washington, for what ever reason, seemed to know a lot about by the 8th?the same day Blanchard innocently approved release of the story during his haste to get ready to begin his leave. To his immediate regret, he received a "blistering rebuke" from Deputy Army Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. Maybe Vandenberg was just tired of hearing more crazy reports about flying saucers, or maybe he already knew what had happened.

Yet if a spaceship of some kind had actually crashed, especially if it was in as many pieces as witnesses first claimed, months would have transpired before anyone would have become fully aware of what they had. Even if they had recovered an intact section from a second crash sight?would there not be at least a brief period in which the military might speculate about a Soviet connection only if they theorized it may simply be a communist hoax to perpetrate disinformation or panic? How long would it take for scientists in 1947 to identify crash debris far in advance of current human technology?if indeed some was recovered?

Whatever went down near Roswell was identified by the chain of command quickly enough to stop it from becoming public knowledge. That fact is clear. Someday, perhaps soon, the story will finally come out s88Retired Air Force Captain Kevin D. Randle; and Headquarters, United States Air Force, The Roswell Report, Fact Versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert, 1995, US Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington DC, 20402-9328; and Headquarters, United States Air Force (Captain James McAndrew), The Roswell Report, Case Closed, 1997, US Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington DC, 20402-9328. Perhaps a spaceship did crash that stormy July night. Playing devil's advocate, it would certainly answer many questions?the most perplexing surrounding the question why discs sightings increased so dramatically by July 4th. Perhaps there was a reason for the saucers to come out that day and up through July llth. Were they, in other words, looking for a missing disc? Is that an over simplistic hypothesis?

More conventional UFO reports for this date are now being discovered by researchers. Flying disc reports, for example, came in from various parts of the Columbus, Cincinnati, and Springfield, Ohio, area s89Cincinnati, Ohio, Post, 3 July 1947; and Cincinnati, Ohio, Times Star, 5 July 1947 (In Cincinnati that evening at 8:00 P.M. EST over a hundred spectators at a baseball game saw two disc move slowly over the field s90Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, 8 July 1947). Discs popped up in Lewiston, Idaho; Hot Springs, Arkansas; Royal Oak, Michigan; Rutland, Vermont; DeKalb and Texarkana, Texas; and Denver, Colorado s91Spokane, Washington, Daily Chronicle, 1 July 1947; and Portland, Oregon, Journal, 2, 3 July 1947; and Little Rock, Arkansas, Gazette, 3, 4 July 1947; and Detroit, Michigan, Times, 6 July 1947; and Denver, Colorado, Post, 3 July 1947; and St. Paul, Colorado, Dispatch, 3 July 1947; and Rutland, Vermont, Herald, 9 July 1947; and Dallas, Texas, Morning News, 3, 4 July 1947.

A sighting that day comes from Tehama County, California, rancher Stanley S. Teass who reported seeing a group of eight to nine strange objects flying south at high speed near Red Bluff s92Sacramento, California, Bee, 7 July 1947. Other sightings came from California at 2:15 P.M. PST in both San Francisco, and East Los Angeles, and then that night in Huntington Park at 7:10 P.M. PST, and Pasadena at 8:00 P.M. EST. Still more came from Beverly Hills, Montrose, Tuyunga, and Burbank, California s93San Francisco, California, Chronicle, 3 July 1947; and San Francisco Examiner, 3 July 1947; and San Francisco Call-Bulletin, 3 July 1947; and Los Angeles Times, 4 July 1947; and Los Angeles Herald-Express, 3 July 1947; and Hollywood Citizen News, 3 July 1947 (The 2:15 event involved State Highway Patrol Sergeant David Menary, of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge detail and passenger Walter Castro. They reported seeing six bright metal objects "about the size of a football" whiz overhead and fall into the sea) s94"More Flying Discs Reported," Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript, 4 July 1947; and San Francisco News, 3 July 1947; and San Francisco Chronicle, 3 July 1947; and San Francisco Examiner, 3 July 1947; and San Francisco Call-Bulletin, 3 July 1947.

That same evening two reports came from Sioux City, Iowa, describing three brightly luminous saucer-like flying objects moving in close formation to the southwest s95Sioux City, Iowa, Journal, 8 July 1947; and Windsor, Ontario, Daily Star, 1 July 1947; and Des Moines, Iowa, Register, 6 July 1947; and Sioux City, Iowa, Sunday Journal, 6 July 1947. One disc was then seen over Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 6:30 P.M. CST s96Wisconsin Capital-Times, 1 July 1947. Finally at 8:00 P.M. PST, Mrs. Margaret Gill observed a "red ball of fire" fly over just south of Auburn, Washington. Two other women, Mrs. Zamora Lucas and her mother witnessed the same sight, thinking it was a burning aircraft. In fact, all three witnesses were convinced the craft was in distress because they said the object appeared to fall to earth s97Auburn, Washington, Globe Press, 9 July 1947, p. 1. A report in Oregon at Klamath Falls conveyed an almost identical account s98The (Portland) Oregonian, 4 July 1947.

Thursday 3 July

By the 3rd, flying saucer reports slowly started to increase in frequency. Beginning in Omaha, Nebraska, at 3:30 A.M. CST Mrs. Fred C. Nelson saw three objects "glowing like a full moon" s99Ibid., 5 July 1947. At dawn in Texarkana, Arkansas, a bus driver and a fireman reported seeing one disc high above them s100Little Rock, Arkansas, Gazette, 3, 4 July 1947. Around 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. EST that morning up to 100 fishermen saw eight disc-shaped objects maneuver wildly in the clouds over Conowingo Dam in Pennsylvania s101Bradford, Pennsylvania, ERA, 10 July 1947; and York, Pennsylvania, Dispatch, 9 July 1947.

At 10:30 A.M. EST in Lockland, Ohio, a man saw a football-shaped silvery object heading south at high altitude s102Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, 8 July 1947. By 7:45 A.M. PST a Monterey, California, housewife observed a glowing round object "flow over onto its edge" as it flew by in the course of ten to fifteen seconds s103San Francisco, California, News, 3 July 1947; and New York Herald-Tribune, 3, 4 July 1947. In Denver, Colorado, at 8:55 A.M. MST William F. LeFevre witnessed a shiny, mirror-like disc zoom by at several thousand feet and make a forty-five degree turn before vanishing toward the southwest s104Denver, Colorado, Post, 5 July 1947. At noon in Cincinnati, Ohio, a housewife caught a glimpse of three discs streaking overhead on a straight course s105Cincinnati, Ohio, Post, 3 July 1947.

About the same time a Staten Island man, Nicholas Kronyak, observed a ball-shaped silver colored object fly over New York just astern of an aircraft while S.M. Barker saw three discs race eastward over Keokuk, Iowa s106New York World-Telegram, 1 July 1947; and Des Moines, Iowa, Register, 6 July 1947; and Windsor, Ontario, Daily Star, 1 July 1947. Also over the noon hour, a circular object sped over Nampa, Idaho, with an undulating motion as witnessed by Charles Hughes and Clarence Faust s107Boise, Idaho, Daily Statesman, 1 July 1947.

One of the best for this day involved an astronomer, John F. Cole, who observed at 2:30 P.M. EST ten luminous objects above Harborside, Maine, from his location on the eastern shore of Penobscot Bay. He estimated their speed between 600 and 1,200 miles per hour as they passed by in a hazy blue sky toward the northwest. Unlike other incidents, these objects flew with a loud roar and did not appear to hold any definite formation but moved along like "a swarm of bees." Their size appeared to be from 50 to 100 feet wide although two objects in the formation looked to have dark areas that may have been wings s108Project Blue Book Files, Roll No. 1, Case 27, listed as Incident 77 in 1947 era documents. This event comprised one of the first files to make its way to Wright Field, via the Pentagon, and received careful attention by authorities including Alfred Loedding. Intelligence never discovered a reasonable explanation for what Mr. Cole saw that day over Maine and thus marked the case unidentified.

Later that day on the other side of the country a Redding, California, couple saw a shiny "flying triangle" zooming silently over their state toward the north s109The New York Times, 1 July 1947, p. 5; and Chico (California) Record, 1 July 1947, p. 5. An even more startling report came out of California at 5:00 P.M. PST. The incident took place at the Naval Auxiliary Station at Santa Rosa and involved trained observers. The story made quite an impact in the local newspaper when one of those witnesses gave an interview:

I noticed it first a few minutes before 5 p.m., on Thursday. From my location, it seemed to be 1,000 feet above the main north-south runway at the airfield, and I would judge that it was 15 to 20 feet in diameter. . . it was impossible to judge size and distance accurately, because there was nothing about the object that enabled me to make an accurate approximation of size.

It was the shape of a giant pocket watch, without the stem, and it was covered by silver material that looked like airplane aluminum. There were no marks of any sort on the surface. It was perfectly smooth.

The object was moving at about the speed of a glider in normal flight attitude, and indeed on my first glimpse I automatically recorded it in my mind as a glider.

But an instant later I realized that there was something strange about it and looked back. Then I noted that it had no wings, no apparent projections of any sort.

It moved smoothly in a northerly direction until it reached the north end of the runway, then turned to the east, banking slightly and headed toward Santa Rosa. I was forced to turn my attention away from it for a moment, and when I looked again it was gone.

From my observation, I would believe that the object was controlled in its flight, either directly or by gyro-control. Its only deviation from a straight path was for wind currents, and after tipping or rising with a current it would recover its level flying position.

The recovery was made in much the same manner as a glider appears to recover when a thermal current forces one wing up or down. At the same time, the return to normal was accompanied by an overcompensation effect which is typical of gyro control" s110Santa Rosa, California, Press-Democrat, 8 July 1947, p. 4.

During the early evening an account came out of St. Maries, Idaho, when eight luminous discs were reported by Mrs. Walter Johnson and her family while she was visiting her parents. The sighting occurred at 6:30 P.M. PST when her father Ben Beeman had alerted the whole family to "come out of the house quick!" As they all ran outdoors the family of at least nine saw eight to nine large objects flying from the south in a scattered formation. Mrs. Johnson said they approached very fast and soon became silhouetted against a nearby mountainside.

Mrs. Johnson later told the press that "suddenly they stopped in mid-air, then started again. When they reached a point over a clearing in the timber, they stopped again and settled down a few at a time until they were out of sight. The mysterious part was that we could see them flutter down into the timber, and yet we couldn't see that they did anything to the trees." She went, on stating that they looked thicker than discs?actually more like washtubs but as big as a "five room house." The most interesting part of her account described self-luminescent properties. She said they glittered like a mirror in the sunlight, but that the sun was apparently obscured by overcast?indicating the light came from within the craft.

Because over a half dozen neighbors also witnessed this sight, the event drew a great deal of attention. Benewah County sheriffs deputies made a land search of the area and three days later the National Guard's 116th fighter group combed the area by air. Despite these efforts no landing traces were ever reported. It is odd that this case never made it into Air Force files because Mrs. Johnson reported the incident to officials at the Spokane Army Air Base when she returned to her home in Dishman Washington" s111Bloecher, Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, p. 11-12.

Further north that day at 5:45 P.M. ADT, Brenton Clark, a Canadian farmer near Augustine Cove, Prince Edward Island, witnessed a similar (single) bright round object zooming southward at around 10,000 feet. Before disappearing from view it dove earthward leaving a vapor trail behind it. Neighboring farmer James Harris and hired-hand Herman Linkletter, near Sherbrooke, confirmed the same sighting. They commented that the craft they saw had such a brilliant reflection that its shape was indiscernible. Another neighbor, however, near Charlottestown, Ewen McNeill, clearly described seeing a "torpedo-shaped object of tremendous speed" at the time s112Jan L. Aldrich, Project 1947: A Preliminary Report On The 1947 UFO Sighting Wave (The UFO Research Coalition, 1997), pp. 73-74; and Windsor, Ontario, Daily Star, 1 July 1947.

That afternoon two Walkerton, Indiana, housewives saw several discs maneuver in circular movements s113Indianapolis, Indiana, Star, 6 July 1947; and The New York Times, 1 July 1947. Then in Arkansas, J.L. Hampton told newsmen he saw a kite-shaped craft going at great speed" s114Little Rock, Arkansas Democrat, 5 July 1947. That same late afternoon Robert Jackson and William Baker, retired Navy Chiefs, saw three discs make controlled changes in their flight and circle near the San Diego Naval Air Station s115San Francisco, California, Examiner, 4, 5 July 1947; and Detroit, Michigan, Free-Press, 5 July 1947; and New York Daily News, 4, 5 July 1947; and The (Portland) Oregonian, 5 July 1947.

By 5:30 P.M. EST in Greenhills, Ohio, a man saw a silver disc shaped like a football" s116Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, 8 July 1947. Around that hour in Asheville, North Carolina, four people noticed a star-like object at low altitude headed west s117Asheville, North Carolina, Citizen, 8 July 1947; and Raleigh, North Carolina, News & Observer, 7 July 1947. At 5:00 P.M. CST a Waukesha, Wisconsin, city council member and two others described seeing a fifteen foot long, five foot wide, silvery disc fly high overhead toward the north s118Madison, Wisconsin, Capital-Times, 7 July 1947. By 7:00 P.M. EOT a District of Columbia housewife and her daughter saw another group of three discs. In this case they described them as bright gold and moving very fast in a straight line accompanied by a "jet-like noise" s119Washington, DC, Capital-Times, 1 July 1947; and Washington, DC, News, 7 July 1947. At 9:30 P.M. EDT Baltimore, Maryland, residents accounted for a sighting of a round object that was bright yellow in color and larger and faster than a falling star, heading on an even course from the northwest to the east over the course of five minutes s120Baltimore, Maryland, Sun, 6 July 1947; and Denver, Colorado, Post, 6 July 1947.

Around 9:00 P.M. EST in Mendon, Vermont, Mrs. Clara Spieski reported that she saw a tubular, luminous, greenish craft flying over low toward the southwest s121Rutland, Vermont, Herald, 9 July 1947. At 9:30 P.M. CDT a policeman, George Mayfield, west of Springfield, Illinois, reported seeing four flat luminous discs zoom by in straight flight s122Springfield ///mow Store Register, 5 July 1947.

Adding to the nighttime sightings of luminous discs came reports from four people in Warren, Pennsylvania s123Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Post-Gazette, 7, 8 July 1947. Then in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Kenneth Stanford reported five luminous discs going northwesterly at great speed s124Indianapolis, Indiana, Star, 8 July 1947. Claude Price may have seen those same objects at that time in Decatur, Illinois s125Springfield Illinois State Register, 5 July 1947; and Chicago, Illinois, Times, 5 July 1947; and Chicago Daily News, 5 July 1947. By 10:30 P.M. CST a luminous disc appeared over Sioux City, Iowa, headed east as a yellowish disc was seen in Seattle, Washington, at 9:45 P.M. psr s126Sioux City, Iowa, Journal, 8 July 1947; and Seattle, Washington, Times, 8 July 1947. Ending out the night, a group of luminous discs were seen traveling over Oakland, California, by Mrs. Estelle DeVaughn at great velocity going east s127San Francisco, California, Chronicle, 6 July 1947.

Up to this time the military still had not yet organized any determined investigation at Wright Field of which researchers are aware of. Such work did not seem to begin until at least July 9th. News accounts, however, do show officials were considering the issue if only to issue a few and very contradictory statements. On July 3rd, as detailed in the Introduction, Army Major Paul Gay nor stated that a preliminary investigation had been dropped for lack of evidence. Then Boise, Idaho Statesman, reporter Dave Johnson wrote that the commander of the Air Materiel Command, Lieutenant General Nathan Twining, told him that officials were indeed looking into the matter of flying discs. Twining stated that even the top secret research conducted at the famous aviation labs at Wright Field had not produced technology comparable to that being observed. Continuing, he added that a "reputable scientist" had seen one of the discs and that his report is being studied s128Ibid., p 17.

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