Des rumeurs d'un atterrissage de soucoupe volante ont incité l'importateur Robert Balzer et l'actrice Gloria Swanson – une croyante aux ovnis – à investiguer.
Cecilia Rasmussen, journaliste au Los Angeles Times, a rapporté dans un article du 17 Déc. 2000, L.A. ‘Battle’ Launched a Golden Age of UFOs:
En janvier 1957, l'actrice Gloria Swanson et un groupe d'amis ont entendu qu'un vaisseau spatial avait atterri dans les collines d'Hollywood. Donc, off they trekked through mud and dark of night to an area off Lakeridge Road. (History does not record what they had been consuming before they set out.) In a shallow hole at the end of their hike, they found a 12-foot-diameter disk, which purportedly had knocked down a lamppost upon landing. The cockpit seats were upholstered in coral Leatherette, and two electrical cords dangled to the wooden flooring.
Amazed by their find, they called The Times.
After a careful inspection, Times aviation writer Dewey Linze not only found that the “spacecraft” was lacking an engine and controls, but — after interviewing neighbors — learned that it was a prop that had been discarded after a documentary was filmed on the site.
This photo by former staff photographer Gordon Wallace was originally published in the Jan. 25, 1957, Los Angeles Times accompanying an article on the movie prop saucer. Wallace’s photo also was published with Rasmussen’s story in the Dec. 17, 2000, Los Angeles Times.