The FBI's 62-HQ-83894 case file includes investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and fl…
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_· C O N F I D E N T I A L
'9 3 9 1 - / a 11
Au1horily:
NND 90986
IN IUi.PlY
REFER TO,
l HEADQUA R TE R S
t ;t -
AIR DEFENSE COMMAND
MITCHEL FIELD, NEW YORK
12 Septel.'liber 19iT
'OBJCCT a Unident1f'ie Flying Objoot
(Int rvin - Alphew, o. Powell)
SUl.nlART O? mama TIO I
The following information ft8 recei'Y&d 12 At1£U1t 1947 fro:i Ur.
lpheua O. P01'ell , 28 Redwood Road, New Hyde Park, Loni; hlWld, rel tifl
to the sighting of a poaoible flying d1so ~ Augu•t 194T.
On 4 Auguet 19•7, r Powell, an Airlinea Captain with P n American
Ainni.ye , Jne., waa the firet pilot or a Con1tollat1on type airoraft on•
flight trcm Gander, ewtoundland, to La Guardia Field.. 1ew York. Mr. Powell
took oTer the airoratt at Gander, ewfoundla.a.d and departed at approd111atel7
l2SO P. lf., Eo.ateni Dqlight Saving 'Hm ror La Guardia Field, Bow York. At
1600 P• • , at poe1tioa approximately lld.dway between the Enrett ( a) F&n
Arker IUld the Bedford Badio Eoooon (ETerott ie 3 mile• ffl7 or Boeton.. Ka•• ••
and Bodford 1• 15 ms.1.. or the same oity) both llr Powoll and Mr iv. 1:e,
naT16ator on this trip, •i(;bted wrl.dent1.i'ioble flying objeota . fo the be•t
ot llr . Povell'• knowledge, the tollonng weatbar oond1t1ons existed at that
time , Visib1li't7 wae 6oodJ cloud oo.erage ••• trom. 8- 9/l.Oths # with topn at
10. 000 feeta md the wind at the e.ooo toot level was eati:.atod o.s bcin&
270/25 mlca per hour . The iroratt was at a.ooo teet1 airspeed 266 mphi
&!ld the course•• 214 degre•• • magnetic.
Ur mute , who wae sitting in the co-pilots seat (the right aide ot
the oookpit) fir1t ce.lled 11:r. Powell ' ■ attention to a bright orango objeot,.
-.rhich was on the right ald• ot' the plane , and slightly below the lovol of' the
a1rerart . Jlr Powell fflll unable to 1ee the object. a1 he ba.d no visibility to
the right nd down. from bla position. Po,rell inmediatoly cl11noed out bi1
eide wiudow and noticed, at a 45° angle to the lort. and unidentified tl:y1ng
object. It wu bout one mile nay at an altitude or approx1matel 7 1 , 800
feet. Irr- Powell banked to obtain a better view or the objeot. The object
'fte under obaervat1on ~or approxtmatoly 50 ••oond1, and during thie time waa
vie,red by Ponlle 1lr Powell dHor1be4 the objeot aa being bout the length
ot & P-40 t uaelage , blunt at both end■ , 07llnclrioal in abspe . and hatlng a
bright oran,o hue . Kr Powell. stated that the object had• definite sbapo, d
that there 1me no aucgeatioa or gaaeoua d1ec1pe.t1on •• there would be lf the
orange color wore the •xbauat tro~ • rocket , or a jet airoratt. Mr ~owell
eatimato4 the oouree or th• objoot to be 200° magnetic, end that th• object
wae tra-relling at approxinatel:, 160 aph. Kr Po,rc,11 loat sight or th• object,
when. • oleud oaae between. the aircraft and the object. :rhe pursuit of 'th•
object ..._. not oontinud. lnaaJIWOh H it would ha-re neoeaai tated a departur•
from the eetabliahed aiJ"'lla1'• •
,/
CONFID~NTIAL
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C b N -F I D E ~~ T I A L
HEADQ U ARTERS
AIR DEFENSE COMMAND
IN REPlY
MITCHEL FIELD, NEW 'I/OR~
IIEFEII TO:
15 Septeaber 194,'7
StmJI?C'f z. Unldcntif ied Flying Object,
(Interview - alter I. \i'hlto)
S0?.!!1\RY OP Ir.FOlll!AHO t
The follo-.ung informtion rcl~tivo to th8 d htiug or f. possible
tlying di~o 6 Auzuat 1947. was received 10 Septo bor 1941 from Mr. Walter
I . 'Whito, 19-67 19th Street. Ja.clcaon He1ghta, h• York.
On 4 Ausu,t 1947., Hr. 1 te, Pen American Airwa,- Ino. • wao tho
navigator or• Comtellation typ• &iroraft 011 & flight :fro O nder., Baw
roundlo.nd to La Guardia f iel4, New York. At 1600; at & po•ition appro~i
matel y 10 miles , or Bosto11, l!ua • ., Mr- v::bitc aighted a .tlyin(S object '1hioh
h• waa unable to identif'7. At thi• time IL'" lffllit• was oi'ttift6 1n the co
pilote sent, and loolc'lns out the right aide tor other uroratt that mlcht
be in the, vie111S:t:,. J6r Wb1te •te.ted that when he t1rst i~ted t!te object.
it nppou-od to o about S miloa awuy, aud at l•Qat 1. 000 ~eet beloir the leffl
or the Conetellation. Mr i:hite beli•~•• tut he etudled th object tor almo■t
SO aecond• befcre he called th• pilot'• att:Gntioa to i t. White doncr1bed
the object•• 'being a deep gold in color. md that its• surface rerlected
lieht. It appeered to bo bout 113 feet iJl:. length,. and. f'rOltl 2-:; feet in depthJ
elli ptloal in 1h9pe and blanted at th cn4e. Hr te eati ted the speed of
the obj1ot as being 176 mi.lea per hour. e.nd that it tra..-ellin& in 11D ee.at-
r l y cilreotion~ one eourso ot approxitlately llOQ r,uetia. Mr Wlute then
told tho nirore.ft oomm:i.ndor that there wns wi un1dentU'ied object to the r16}\t.
and ag~in glanced ..out to observe the objoot, oatoh1ng a me atary gl1111.pce ot
it before th9 pilot b11nked the pl ne to the left. ffllen tbt e.1rorntt banltod
Ur White lost light of the 0bjsat. At thil potnt. Mr Powell, 'the aircraft
C&ptain, exolaime<l that he wa.s &ble to eo a air:d.lar obj9ot on hia o1do.
Jir \'ihi t. was unsble to ts o tne objeot on ' Pcrwoll' e •ide. ne •tated the.t
he does not bel1en that it wuc tho• • obj~ot that he had Tielffld ift.8.elllUCh
aa the on he li&W 1r it ha<t romaiuod on the aa oow- e woud ha.TO beou
hidden trom 'View b;y that titie b7 'tho Wii:iGB t1nd tail oectioff! or the Conctella
tion. ~ ffld to st tod 1.hat the pilot thoo righted the plo.:a.o. t'he ontb•• iu
oident transpired in leoe 'then a min~te ond one-halt.
'Mr tvhito deacriMa 'tlie
i-
ath~, ooniition et the tilne of' si&btinE• •
0
folloirs a a'bout 6/lOt aoattered oumul ua, arith top• at 10.000 r et: vidblH.ty
10 miloe, w1rid at t·Ught lowl. 'l'est at a:bout 16 lllph. 1'he !'light level of th•
a iror aft &t this ti ,nq,, a .'000 feet, TAB 270_ and tho cnotlo course was SW.
\
AGEB1'S HOfflS , J4r ,c.l ter I . 1:te ha obeon employed by P&n rioan Airway,
' I
for -the pa.at t'i "\"O years •• a Tiie.tor. and during the r Y10r1cod with Pil
\ co~~FIDE~~TIAL
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co~~FIDE~~TIAL..
in conjunotion Wit h coctraot flying for th• .AlF. Mr TJblt. eta.tea tbat he
ho.1 tloWA 'With Mr Ponll on a nmber of' oocaaiona, and h• ooruiclera h1a
to be a Tery atabl• pertonJ completely reliable, an4 not t;i ven to
•t11ght1 or tu.or" .
Reb.te4 Reports So• Swmaa17 or lnfont&t1on, 12 September 194'7• Bq !DC.
aubjeot~ •t1u1dentiti•d FlyiAg Objeota• (intemew • AlpbGua O. ?owell) .
Prerloua Distribution,
- lone
'
'ftluaticm
Diltr1but1on
- AAF (S oop1ea) or aowce or 1llt'ormat1oll
- ADC (2 oop1e1) C s
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Mr. A. O. Powell 11 a graduate or the ATiation Cadet Flying
AOE!JTS JIO'l'ES t
Training Program. ha-.1.ng gradua.ted from Marnll l.l'ield , Alabama. With the
Class ot ,n. c. Since graduation.. Irr. Powell ha.a flo,m .for Ptll!. AJHrioe.n
Airway• and. at thi• date, h&a onr ~ , 000 oomm.and pilot houra to hla credit.
Mr . Powell appear, to boa cala, intelligent ind1Tidual, ~ot giwu t o
flights or tan.oy, or eaeilT •waT•~ by what he hae previoualy r~4 in the
ne..,.papere •• reg•rda report• or thi• tn,e. Jtr. Po,rell haa a rear ot publi
oity and eeemed h•e1tant to enn tell hia atory leat he beoo'IM tM objoot ot
ridicule. llz- Powell was queationed as to the poasibility that what he
aighte4 mi6ht have been a tow target, a pilot b&lloon, or a radioaonio device
uaed for meteorological purpose• • Kr Powell at&ted that he has aeen aumerou,
pilot balloona , radioaonic device• and tc,r targets, while on f l ight•J the
object obaer,..d on thi• flight defhi tel7••• •ot on• ot th••
Evaluati on
Prerloua Distributions
- Rona of eo uroe or Wormatio11
C 8
Distribution
- AAF (S copies)
- ADC (2 copiea)
y
t
CG~~FID E ~~T I AL 1
--- PAGE 5 ---
•
.J.UIO: t,r. Jlca.. sun, Jlrai--- u,, Blrat....... jla. • 4'4 I .r..i,. a.1.
nlt.11 -or, oa J,00&1 •1'171ac Dteo. •
I ~Yi
. I . 1., lad.,; 1)
-Mj~, JOUliDift AI• JOB«>•, Orlaaclo, l'lort.4&,
!01 Ooa•a4hc 0.•ral, .lir Dlfea•• Coa•lld, u,ae1 fto14, • • Tork.
1. ~orwar4ocl for latoraaUoa ot 70ur Bea4'11&Z'tera.
2. !ldo Bead.q-a.anere baa 11&4.o ao la•oo'1pUoa ot •nnac Dl ■ o•
~ r \ e be-.uo lilli• 1• aa ho1a,oc1 oaH.
!OJI. !Ill 0(1()(.UJ)IJrG GPIIAL:
3 hclet a/o
82715
--- PAGE 6 ---
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--- PAGE 8 ---
Report on Loofl. "'fflPS Diac"
1>333.5 ID (8 Jul 47 2nd In1
HQ., ADl DEP'DSB COIOIARD, Kitchel Field, Bew York, 2S JuJ.r 1947.
'1'01 CollaandiA& General, A.NT Air Forces, lfa•hington ~5, D. c.
ATflh AC/AS-2
Forwarded tor your intoraation.
FCR TH! COIIU.NDING GENERAL:
~ 3 Incle: R. S
✓ ti
Colonel, GSC
/ n/c Asst Chiet ot St~t-Intell•
•
--- PAGE 9 ---
• .,.!Ir. . . . . . ~ . . U, · • WHtflw
,ror ■lrml"9hllffl •fk1 Y~~
• fJartfy cloudy end we,m toctayf t.
night end tomorro,w wlttt • few
scattered shower• this aftMnoon.
Hlth today N, low tonltht 70, hlth
tomorrow IO.
PftlCI: CINTS
cers Reported
rom y • t~,teS, But· Seem
•• I • d Here
City Is Baffled By
·- Dazzling Display
Of· Spooky Discs
• TIM stra111e. th1ap tut haT•
been Lil nfaht lkJes naee ..June 25,
WeN o-,er Blrmhapam last nlallt.
On one thtn1 everyone who bu
...._ Ille mystertoua objects acre•
-tbeJ are round, saucer-lib. After
that. every ,tory differs. Each ol
the hundreds of callers who re-- .A
parted wttnetliq the bafflinl UT )
delllon1tratlou here last nl1ht hacl
....
a different Yenion of what the7
lome 1ald the objects -ro
larp, ,ome small. TIiey were mov• ,
.._ at ll"eat ,peed. Tbe, were 1u.
padecl hl the air. Tbere wu aound
, i . . Witll ~Ir movement.. Tbe7
m"8d nolNleulythrQa,h the blaek
~- TIiey were at ,reat diatance
from the earth.~ bad fallen to
the ,niaDd. They were la perfect
formalloa. Tbq weN collldlDC
with Neb other.
But wbatever the thm,a are that
have aet the nation acot liDce f1nt
reported 12 da)'I aco by a man la
W ' ~ n State, the7 cleflnltelY
were over the Malle City Jut nilbt.
It seem., ID fact, that more Bu,.
minlbam realdenta aaw the objects
tball hl ~ other place.
• •••
llEPORTS BEGAN comiq hlto
the Aae-B"erald city room atvand
I o'doclt Jut Dlabt. For more tball
a11 lroour thereafter, the place was
bedlam. Tbe switchboard operators
were swamped with calla. Repo~
en, office boy1, copy rwaders -
evel)'one In the place wu cajled
lllto actJon. y
Reports came In from Ecqewoocf.
Mountain Brook, Avondale, Soutb-
1lde, Palrfleld, Pratt Cll7, Wut
End, Central PU$. Beuemer.
Tbere wu fear, exclteme!)t. b.o r
ror, S;!re~•J~.-..,.. ~~ One
- • - • tha
--- PAGE 10 ---
~ ~·
• I / / •
S-TIII -•!¥tNWM NM
~Flying
Saucers RlpOi1ed
- Skies
,In ·B.irniinaha■
Continued I',_ ,._ I
.
Altlloqll tbe reporta to1l'lle A,._
Benld lat Dilld ........ off at
aboal t p.m., tMN ...... llul call
ftaa 'a mu at JI, ..,_ .. hd
- die ob,lec!ta Oftr. tie IOUth
Nltern lfftlon. 'fll1I IDOl"lliq, t.bere
,... more reperta, DION quert•
eominl Into Tile News.
)IIJ. WllltelllaedaJDelllllto
Blrmiqbam Nlidnta: "Wa'U do
neryWq U.. Ana, Air Forefl I
empowered to do ,to run down t.be
lll1lterJ ol Ult dllca. Thia tblJII
..... to ..... _... be,olld tbe
)obit of. IIPft1llatla. Blm!t111~m
cu rest u..-ad tbe air bue wW
keep - tbe alert uW tbe .,..
t.ry ls aettfed." • '
l=!ajt•iiJ
r
'ii!ili!jJns ~i!;i!lijl'iniidt(t!JJ' .;·
i·1J1irtl s !!f'filil l~q 11t1l l i[:i
5
r ,ili
~1a,,1t at~l~,,, : ;. rfi1!lst1,•
i .. 5I fl a.[ l•• Ir!1'1:, i 11-!11flffl
1
1! Ji,1;rl1' 11,:11'' JiJ ,i~l il 1a
r,
~f,ar it ,,~i,,,I; t,i st~fi lilli
--- PAGE 11 ---
✓
--- PAGE 12 ---
............. -
. . . . . .,.,.,,. . . . . . . . . . . . pbe-
..,...._ "I ban ~ mr IU - ... IJ!Aa' ......., r -
~ ...... •
ata!f to be • the alert tw ~ 1a- lDto Ilia tnlll ~ "I aw tlaa lud
fonnatl~ ta.lY mlpt 11U1ff OD~ ~ 11.pte ol a DO.a ' and lT II#
matter, .. aid; ~ • Jdill bup,9' lie rnorted.
----~
OUAftft DClTUl&NT of ·• i • -- ,
Uae ~ eeae wbea a mun- _..... 1amee Bala. 1111 Soutll atll
DeN4 IOIM of tba dllCI bad fallft Street, uw tbt'N diael tra....unt
la a raYiM MIi' Avoawood: Ar. lrolll •Mt to welt. Two more were
IIOrier ud ~apb•r wot b lpotted later, ~ b, a ltp&l•
iba ICll9MI UMl folUld IIOtbiq. dlle, u aeta~•1:ua.rec1.
Reeld•ata ol die dlltrW ul4 Ula J . L. Xardua, noo autoa 9tNet.
dlles bad PIINd low and appeared Beaemer reportacl ...uaa "atruae
to ba~ falll9 lD tlaa Ina. lllhW-- movlq tllrouah Uie 1k1 be-
Boben c.aaanc;_ Ap,Renld ~ .._.mer aa4'1ted Mouataln.
eGP1 ~ ~ Ilia camera -r11e7 ,.... -••• - - ...... ., lie
wbea tlaa o\aiaeta :,aaed o.er Ilia aald. • - ·-, --.
re■lddae oa alll Strea and Blah• • • •
laad A..-n-. Bia deftloped flla "'W1alrllu UIIOUI- were nDC)l'ted
nvealed two rouacl. wldta •Potl oa aeea - Ifaa. Smhi, 1', lal 10th
the black, elole tioaltller, one l•rt- Place, loath. and lllamn Pllaro, 15,
er thaa tM otller. lie aald be laff GI 10tb A v • a a a, 8outb. "We
Ula plctaN a 15-NeoDd expoaure. weren't loold.al for tum," .tbe bon
nva otber penom_,.... with him reported. "We were ataad11 111 tile
wbu tlaa plelure wu made. yard wben we uw rouD allver
But wltn-■-- aren't needed anr Dathe• clrclllll around. THJ came
lCJlllU' to l)e.ar out raporta of UM one at a Ume at flnt, tho die num
atralll• demonatratloa. Too~ n., 1lier lDcnlfed. n-, Named to 10
penoU-Cood, aoUd dtbe ave over the moaatalJl.
aeen the tblnp. In fact, they're • • • -
tblnlrl•I r,t eallblC Ula ahow out at At police beadquuten, Offlcer
Jlunpr Bowl tonllbt, "Tba Dlao- E. E. MeNaal aald reporta ol the
lllbt Opara." • dllea MIU at 1:10 p.m. aad CNNd
about ao mlDat91 later,
Scores Of People Report "Strem of• u;bt t1y1q • • r,.
r - - ; - My-ious Discl, alow" ware reported . . bJ 11n.
u. 11. Sockwell. ueo llu4ow
~
~ ""lJ H-
Bnldenta of Eut Lake, uth- Greaa Aent. SIM la1d 1be
atde, West &ad, Woodla'WJI and ~ lDto Mr y.,-4 u -,c,a u lbe Marci
•mar reported ■eelnl the flylnl the a-.port on the radio. &be ucl
cUaca or aaucara tut DiJbt. One dlae ber baabaad and tiff Mil'bbon aaw
wu reported IND yesterday after- atx of the ~ ftJinl •~ low...
aooe Offr die Warrior River. Th• Bbe utd th-, were tu ala of a
aumber _.D at one time varied.
•••
= ..N1M ol the dlael we.re - n by "'810 Al TA■LI.I"
CoDnla Murdocb, 512 South 10th cru.,,.. -i eallad to flDd out if rm
Court- "'1'lley -re 101>1 of lllht at UM aald·Mn. Gordon MJN,
Baaemer Super-Hlab
.-.MUld the aky," ahe re- way, wbo telapbened TM
•
H. S. ...,_, Ull '8th Street.
aald lie and Mlclabon uw "40 or
" - - tlua ~
--=~abeand.-
r:r=
IO" Upt n,ota Ill the ay, apparp~ laaabud aD4 tMlr - - ....
~ 17 over die Central Park A1r(Rlrt tbe ''balll of tin" u tbe7 pre
pared to 1et lDto ttaelr ear
U"8L
••• after a vlait with Mr. and Mn.
°'1! realdent ol Bllll Lab. be• ' GordOD Buab at Brtptcm, t .
tween t :IO and 10 tut lllCbt.
She aa1d the flub u,hta.
,wbleb appeared a■ bellcoll
l.lpta ~ over a blll, CUM
.,~ _.__,..,_u.. _ _ _ _, , . . ~
Tbe Uptll would ea111e at
lllhtninl ,peed and tbea .top
dead it1ll and bani la tu U:.,1
the, aald. TbeD t.bay wowa
dart off a,alD. eOm• retarDlDI
lD tha cUrectloa ol a-mer
and eome 1otu on. Som•
would e1rde. Othen would
pau Neb other ud 1earce1Y
avoid eollilloa.
"TIiey were alloat a■ taro
I u 1D1 dlDlDC room table," .tie
utd.
bueball and traftled Ill a "blal
curve from aouthWflt to aomlleaaf.
...
The aaucen came at tatervala of
about ftn NCODda.
.
--- PAGE 13 ---
e1l•,. Jji► ,,~~ ~ ii i1 it 111►1
5 l.,,_"' ~~a lJi"" t= th r!
, U!i.~~-
1
• t:r•el
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- i1M ,iud&~ ,!it . ~,li1~i ·rhlll,,l t1G ~,~ihir' i:l!,.r1lu ~ n th~~
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--- PAGE 14 ---
• . \
RESTRICTED
.,
S-T-A-T-M-'E- -T
I, Staff Sergeant Irn L. Livi~•ton, RA 1h li:;J 07?, Air ~oros, h ..ve
a,,,,roxim,.tel;v- 250 """''-="11 f l y ~ time f\S "Oilot --nd Armor er Ou.nner have
the fol loving t~tement to mA'lce {"Onct'!rning the 11.T>nearence of "1'lyin,v; D1 acs"
in the Ticini ty of ~irminghrun, Aln.bama.
At 204" hours, 6 July 1Cl47 • :hilo ! ·r-,s e"'tiDP' si.,~er ot my residence
l\t 1354 Meedow Lane, Gre-?n Acres, Birmingham, U/'\bama, rrr::, next door nei.ghbor,
1-lr. 'Herman H. Sookvel 1 • c~llP.d for Me to come to th.e front ~oor the.t there w PrP
cooe "J'l.yi~ 'T)iace" outside. Im.~ ediPt~ly I went out in thP front y .. r~ to
observe the objects. The objects ~'One"red to th.e '<l'e11t of 'Birming'·e.m trAveUng
in~ South .,~stern r•r~~t •on . They """'ll)eared to be n~~rorlmntely ?()()() fe~t
abovi, the horizon t"t .. lu; d."!gree angle from 'flhere ! w.. s st9ni.,1v "' t n n un
eatimated ~istAnce PY~Y~ The objects r'l")ne!'ll"ed to be ~,,nroxtm~tely t vo (?)
feet in diameter , roun~ in ehA~e, "!)roduollag A ~im P,low of 11,-,bt rnd trpvnli~
at ~n est1mate1.aneed of five (5) to six (6) h.undr~d miles ner hour .
The object• or obj~ct An"Oe· red to be trAveling in P definite ore rather thAn
straight ~nd AB soon c~ one WPS out of ~ip,ht /'\nother woul d An~ear be~i d
it, but not nlw,va in the s me -oath. ! q p w one th~t SPemed to come atr~i£ht
u~ . The view of where it cl'tllle f r o~ w~s obstructed by~ nearby house; ~nd
when 1t r"l'IChed the ltl t i tude of A'!>""'l"oximately 2000feet, it •tarted off in
the •~e direction ~a tne oth~ra. I did not Pt any time see ADY more than
one at the time and even though there could haTe been on _y o .e, 11\V -•~•n"~!
belief 1• that there wore eeven (7) to ten (1~). 'l'he Discs were silent ,ind
aTI'?eared to be col!J"Ooaed of e einr,le lir.bt.
~~~ -A.:..-.- ca~
Ir~ L. LiTingaton
St...ff Serg eant, 1lA 14 153 972
Subscribed Pnc'I sworn to b,fore me this 7th ~,r:r of July 1q47.
RESTRICTED ••
--- PAGE 15 ---
.
IDJIDTi Ln\er ot fl'aaad,w.1..
to a a, •➔- cawni.
Mlenle 11Yiaioa, ATC,
'°" '°''·· IIJ/8,
Lolw Ial■a4,
(AfflllflOlla
•• t.
ln•llic....)
POil TD O<IIIAIDDD OIIIIW.t
~e.91,~
IIAllIOS C• MILLIR,.
Capkia, .U.- Corpa,
, 1 Iaola . IIJ~, Inel.Upaoe.
Piaal lpt ot Siclniae, ,23 .1111 41
lat Ind.
IA, ATLAN'r.IC DIVISitfi, ATC, FORT TOTrEH, L.I., HE\l YORK 6 Aug 47
TO: Commanding General, A.1r Tre.nsport Canmand, \1aab1ngton 25, D.c.
AT'l!h Cbie! ot Start
Forw.rded in accordance with inst ons outlined in
'fflX Cli-95, your Headquarters.
~ Incl:
n/c
REST, lCTED
• S 8PIP1Dl:NTIA1s
-
--- PAGE 16 ---
GBNPIDErtTliL
...
.. 9lgbting s
,
Stranp interm:i.Uent i'laehes that ay tie in
w1th •nying Diece•.
3. nae. 1 Hanlon Jlield I Stephemi.lle, tlewfNmdl and.
4. TiM s 034SZ, 23 J ~ 1947.
s. Alti tude , Approxillatel,7 10,000 ffft high.
6. "8ather s High scattered corniU.onJ 'rlsib1.11ty betti,r
than titteen (lS) miles.
7. Heading 1 From South, heading ?n,1E (approxiantely 30° )
8. Speed : High velocity; stated to be taater th~n a
conventional airplane.
9. Description : The observers saw a light which at tirot appeared
to be a ,hooting star or airplane. It appeared
again, and a m1111ber ot intermittant fiashe• were
seen tor a period of appro,:imately three (3) mi.nut.a.
The nashea were reddish in color. Observers aa14 it
was not a tailing star because it did not appear aa
such; nor was it an airplane, l>ecause ~ s~wee
too abrupt and the?"e was no noise ot a motor.
10. Reported by: Miss Patricia .Abbott, (Nffl'foundla'¥! 'National) Ooverment
&aployee and Lt. Halllllakar, t:S.vigator and Public Relat
ions Of'ticer.
ll. General The intormants (noted in Par.10) were waltd.ni when they
noticed a peculiar reddish light. Both Miss Ahl;\ctt and
Lt. Hamaker stated that at first., they thought it was
a 1'alli,ng atar, ·but it left no streak. It appeared
again; they thought 1 i micbt be a plane flying at. n
very high altitude. Alter obeerri..'lC i ta am:>9Uffl"a,
they concluded, because or the silence (no hum ot mot.er)
and abrupt darts ot the U g.lit., it, was defi nately not
Ill\ Airplane . Neither Iii•• .Abbot.t nor l,t. Hammaker bwl
seen anythlre; like i t be!Ol"e. ·
~ ~ # ? ~--
WILLIAM Ji• 00TH
Captain, Air Corps,
Intelligence Of'ficer.
SBMFfBE~Th~t
--- PAGE 17 ---
..
..
1. Tnmlal\\ect llerwitJa, u laol.oauN 1, 2 ..S ,, an nMl.
·-.,oru ~ atp\hp ot •tq1ac ••o•r.- la -..r...n.., w1 nolaiv
linet M fol.1-•• :
P1Jlal -.,n ot 8SCll'illc • 2000S, 10 ~ 1947
• • • • • OOJOJ, 11 Jlaq 1947
• t • • • • 00151, 20 Jaq 1947
2. -.r...... m • • ~ . tlda bead.qaanen, 48\el 1217JQZ
4'111,- 1t4?, Npltias 9iall'tap ot •tqiac ,,..__. "7 CouWtle llllC
Dflllr., a.tOlllllllallll ~ , a Onacl Palla, •..tCNDll.aDI, •
,11e .S,- -6 9 ~ 1947, att..W ber•i\11, u iaalNIIN 4, 1a •ipit
8'et • 1, oA 11119 •tctnbc "7 C.IIMble
, mRSlf.
POI TD r.cwtJDDD OIIIIML, •
41-1-
1. ftM1 IP' of Hcla'tas, 10 h1 47
2e a ■ a I , 11 1111 47
Je 8 I ■ 8 , 20 J,al 47
4. ltc-4 MM••• • Coan DAIii! ,
I
I
RESTRiCTED
88ftil'!IDl!l 11 IA:L
--- PAGE 18 ---
,
. .. OONfU)ENTIAL
-~
FINAL REPOOT OF SI GHTING
. , (
•:- / ,.
l. Ck'g . s 1388th A.AF' !U, llBC, ATLD', ATC . Harmon Field, Newfoundland.
2. Sighting : F1.yi.ng :lisc or other ajrborne object.
). Place Approx six (6) miles SSW of Harmon Field.
4. Time 20CI0/7., 10 July 1947
5. Altitude : 8- 10,000 ft.
6. Weather : Clear, Scattered CUmulus 8 - 10, 000 ft.
?• Heading : N?lE on horizontal course .
8. Speed : Very high velocity. ,
9. Shape & Size: Circular like a 1'8eel, estimated to be s ame s i ze as a C-54
as s een f'ron 10, 000 ft.
10 . Color Translucent or Silvery, l eft ~ 1Jl uish Black tra il a pprox
15 miles l ong.
ll. Fhotograpl.s: ?.r. Robert w. Leidy reported that he took two .!2) Kodachrome
snap shots of the trail.
12. Reported By: ~T. John N. !'erhman, TWA. mechanic; '.r. John W• .toodruft,
PAA rtechanic; and l.'r. Robert E. Letdy, PAA mechanic report,'9<1
the above facts to the I ntelligence Offic er on 15 July 1947.
A Flash e port was T.tX ed t o : Action copy Conmandine
General, Hq. ATC, Attn. Asst. Chief of Staff , Intelligence.
I nfo copies: Comr-anding Generals Hq. ATLD and Hq. NBC
13. General t ~ister's t'erh.,nan, Vfoodruff, and Leidy ~ e enroute !'ran
Stephenville Crossing to Harmon Field at the time of the
sighting. 1:•r. Vloodruff was the first to sea th!t Disc, it
a ppeared t o rent or split the clouds thru which it passed
and le.ft a Eluish Black trail approx. fitteen (15 ) miles .
l ong behind it. The trail was similar to the afterglmr or
a powerful landing light or search light beam after it is
suddenly switched off . lhe object maintained a straight and
horizontal course 11ccording to Mr. Mer tunan and~ . Woodrutt,
Mr. ·Leidy stated it a ppeared to be on a great curved course
on a horizontal plane. The object disappeared into the
Morth Northeast. ~ . Leidy sqs he took two (2 ) Kodachr0ffl9
Photographs or the trail. The film has been transmitted
to the Asst. Chi ef of Staff, Intelligence, Newhundland
BMe Command for processing.
I
. ..
AM •
CAPT. A. C.
Intelligence Officer
·Rt:.STRiCTED
COl'IFIBENml •
--- PAGE 19 ---
.. .
1. Organisation: 1388th AA F RAse Unit
AP0 864, ~/o Postmaster, New York, N.Y.
2. Sighting I Flying Dj sc or other airborne object.
). Place : Codroy, N~wroundland, 59co3 • W Long.; 1,7o50, N Lat.
4. Ti.Jae : OOJOZ hours, 11 July 1947.
5. Altitude i Appro"ld.mately 6.000 feet .
6. Wellther . Clear; at dusk.
1. Headi1'g . From northwest heading eastward.
a. Speed . Very hieh velocity.
9. ShAre & Stze: Disc shat>eli; was reported as being the she of a
barrel-head, ~inner-plate arvt. ~ize of a plane
that is flyL~g high. The trail i a ve t he whole
object the appearance of a cone.
10. Color : Flame color ed with a trail of a lighter name ~nlor.
11. Reported by~ Mr. John Legge, Mr. lb. Ev&ns and Albert Samm.9 of
Codroy, N~wfoundland.
12. General , Mr. Legge and Mr. Evans were standing 011tside Mr. Legge 's
store when they both sighted the o bj ec+.. Both "len stated
t hat the d i sc was very bright with an after- r,1.ow which
made the object look like a cone. It was a very clear
night. In s!)ite of the high velocity of the fiyin g
object, they said they ~ould not possibly have mistaken
it for a plane or a r ~lling star. Beside s the two Men,
the object ffllS sighted by Albert Sam:ns; he rP-portert what
he had seen t.o his mother. Mrs. Samms stated t hat Albert
was in no way a larmed about it, he w~s alor.e and on hi s
way hC1mo when he sighted it, arxl watched it llhile it wae
in s i ~t . '-ll)ert was quite c onvinced fran the color and
behaviour of the object th at it was not a plane, but
de!'inately sa:ie !'lytng objPJct.
The inforinant, Vr. Legce, is believed to be reliable .
H'i is ·a man of approxim11.tely .forty; has had c onsiderable
experience as f oreman ot B•1chan3 l!ir,e, Newfoundland, where
he was in charc c of three hundt-ed m~n. During the war,
Mr. Legee was si mamber of a civilian volunteer Air
D-,uction Corps. With that >, c kg:round, Vr. Legge stAted
that he felt sure thlit the object he had seen was eorne-/
thing new which he had never seen before. v
--- PAGE 20 ---
Final Report of Si(1lt ing
General cont'd , ~lbert Sann• 1s a t w~l•~ year old boy . He was alone
when he saw the fiying objer.t, he wa::: very denr,1 te
il1t1.t ·, e no.ti never seen anything 1 i\r.e it bef r-re. Hi e
mot.her, Mre . Semnu,, ia the Pret Mistre s s ot thi- t ~wn,
and after hee.rinr; Al bert' :: d•er:ri~tion, felt that it
antnrered to the deec..iption of a •Flying Disc" . Ur .
Legge reported h i s -.ight in~ shortly afterw&rd s to Mrs.
S&IT"Tls b .. ,. .,, se hP was sure it shoiild be IT'&de known to
her in order th11t tt i!- i ncident nrl ght be r ep,,rteri ~·
t.clegram t!fflle<\:1 at,-,~ .
There wa~ one other sight,~ c repo rt.~ from A 11 vqr
War d en at South Br ancl- . The !!\an ~0•1ld not be con
t ,1,c t,,,ct at time or inter view,. with other partiea.
~owev~r, a secor,d-hand rlescrlption or his ,nghting
WA!' obt'll n811, and it a greed with th e siv}ltings at
Codrey.
]
I
lnU,IAl,I H. Sl!ITH
Captain, Air Cor ps ,
Intelligenr.• 0 ficer .
--- PAGE 21 ---
eaNFIDENTfAL
FitlAL REPcm' OF SIGHTING
1. Organization: 1J88th AAF Bass Unit
APO 864, c/o Pos t."118ster, N~ York, N.I.
2. Sighting Plying Disc or other Air borne Obj ect.
J. Pl&ee s On bo&rd Steamship ltBUROec>" enroute from Sydney,
Mova Scotia to Port &CY Basque~, Pfewtomdland,
ahout one hour out h-o:n Sydr-~.
4. TiM : OOlSZ 20 July 19u7.
s. Alttt,ude • JOO otr t.tte h,.,rbori e.t an est!.,.ated quart, • mile range.
6. Weather s Cl.ear am dark.
7. Heading s lfNB (J(1-) East, ,:,f True Horth) on hor1Mntal plane .
a. Speed 1 H!gn nlocit7, stated to be teeter than a tr!lc~r bull -,t .
9. Descrip+,ion s OlserYers did. not see u,e o-.,je~t, thf!tY saw 1 te n.ashes
am all ~our t'hservers agref:li there W1tre rour (h) or
fiT"' (S) nashP~ approxi-nately one (1) secon:' apart
arrl ~uidistant. 'nle tlAshes were said to be a1lnry
to reddish i n eolo~, an~ were described. by two ob~erv-
9rs to he like t.hoee or a F!rs Fly ,:,nl_y larger and at.
,:,q-.tal intervals, an~ did not look like a sh~ot!n~ star
• or airpl&M .
10 . Reported by: lfessrs Maitlluxi, L11.rldn, Do~s and H•ilton ot
Hamilton, Metcalfe and Kansas City Brfdg9 Companies
wfiich concern i• doing the c-mstructiOD at Haraon '1.eld.
11. General s Tt\e tour gentlemen (noted in Par.lo) and Capta.1.n Gullage,
Mae♦,er ot thP "Burgeo•, were standing on the starboard
deck, and •• the Captain was trying t 'J Jescribe a pt"erloua
Bighting, he ■aw the tla ■hes; the other tour gentlemen
al.so eaw th• "~ deacrib4td her91n, and believed that it
,ras not a aeteorite or airplane N9C&UH ot its ■peed,
color, and ev.,~ spaced discharge, or nashes.
Captain Gullage to1d the tour e"lntl....n that he h'ld Hat
t h~ same thing at approxima tely the SUl't time and location
(ehlp'• position) on the eTening ot 15 Jlil.y 1947, except
at that tt,.,.,, the object or tlallhee were tra•elin~ tast er
and frequently lhangin~ enurae (he ■aid it chang-1 cour■e
ahruptl7 sevf.rnl times) and was headed genera lly to the
- CUNFIBEN I~Al
--- PAGE 22 ---
Fi.Tl<.). ReP<?r~ of Si ghting:
Genoral c ont' d , s&"W. The Captain also told the four gentlP"Uen
th=. t he 110 ~ willi ng tr, make a complet~ report
if the infor mation !s desired for official
purposes.
-;,f~,?q. , ' - ? .; •
lri.LLIAll R. SMITH
Captain, Air Corps
Intelligence Officer.
--- PAGE 23 ---
..._ 11.u. lsafl
•. *·. . _
...,.,••:•. ·- ~
.. Pl.I . . . 1' "'- 19'7,
. ._ ,,_ .. lad. . ,., . . . .~ ona.... .
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aal U 19ft. 1,. ,n.n ,.,.. u .
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1, wa -.wr e1-.. 1M Ula .1. . . ..,. ftlF .......-:
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, . . ..,...,• • ai,,. . . . ., . . . .,.....,
l't ear,._ IDIO fNI te 11,000 feet•
. . ,.. . . . . . . . . "Mltl
T-. 1liil lt ao,,... .. be - a. tw1wt a• lib a .._1
,, ..., •••-.au.
. . .11111a at a tent.lie ..-. ., .,..& a& .,.... . _ . . . . . •
.
a..,_. IM• . . ~ a.rt1111&1_ . ...1nf1llc or aaanl1...
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,
--- PAGE 24 ---
... RESTR\CTf_O , . •
"
1, I
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ia,..,...,~..., Jeba •• "••tnf't (eoa,•t)
•
'- ' - ' ldlll •I a-..- Ut I\ _.. la • .i..aat
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Cl. · DU H l_,. a tntU
.t.. I••• lt left a \nil lalk \lul• ta •i••
■iallu \ e a ~ , . . , .
11-1. ft• ,nt'l wa tNII •••■ sf.aa\~ t1n. . ( 1,> ,. ,waw
(IO) allN 1....
,
-
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VIiia\ _. Ille •ve• et \lie • ' ~ '
w.u, l•eldltc at \lie . . , 1• t ..,. ••nil •n1a kn•
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y_.. , - ta tlrie Anti lviltc Ille ttae ot \lie Wart
••• •
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r-COfJFIC J:z~nru;.
"RE TRiC 1_
--- PAGE 25 ---
, • RES1R-C EO ._,.,
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lll'ILJl--~ffla .
. . _ . . . . 1,UU ~ IAII IIID,..
DtJiDVl1I.An k.8 COlllAD, dlalMMN
IIO ~••, . . . . . . ., ....... Ten, •. T.
lnena.-,1ea et ,oa. •• . . .,.., n., ..,,_,.1.-r _. ••n:ete,
hlaa h.U a,re..-■, •m•• ft.U, • • h sC:a&. talra at 1~30 DI,
1' l-1r 1,a.7, lf' ~ WtllUa •• Int•, AC, lat•1Uca• Otn. . .
'- ..., i... llll9e ,.. . . . u••latet wt•• a1nn11 _. anau.., •
A. llaN ........_•lr 19,S.
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ca. . ., tu ,.. .. Sa . . - . ,
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Cl. 0a Ille __,... et 10 h1F lflal, U& , - . . . . . . et Ille N eallel
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.... - .... wllllllldel&. ...• • .....,, ..u "lMk at , .. - · Sa , . .
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4'. 0 • , - &N.S'9 effMt Ille • ' ' " '
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--- PAGE 26 ---
--- PAGE 27 ---
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--- PAGE 30 ---
Ri:.~TRIC il )
STATEM."". !iT OF MR. J OHB P . LE'zGE, CORDEOY, NE/,'FOUN.JL.:'JiD . TA}~ BY
l4~CEDES BU3.KE OF '"'HE INT~ IGE:lCE "'FiICE, HARMO;I FI~LD, pw]'OUND
LAND. 17 July 1947.
At approximately 10 o'elook in the e•ening of 10 July 1947
I was etanding by my store door; I happeo~d to l ook up and saw
wnat appeared t~ be a "FLYING SAUC~?.". I t definately was not a
ah•oting star: I'd e ~en s e•eral stars shoat before, but ne•er like
thial aor was it an a i roplane, it was too "lit up" and tra~eling
at t•• great a speed . It was n't an air0plan e on fi re bec ause it
wo uld have fallen in the ~ater . It ~as a niee elear night, no
e l ouds, it ~as jus t getting dark . I would say it was tra•eling at
the rate of a shooting star but mueh •loser. I'd es:y r ~ugbly at
6, 000 feet. It was visibl e fo r about fifteeD (15 ) seoonds. It
•~e from the North West beadin g East~ard . The oirole looked to
be about the s ize of a barrel head, and th~ trail behind looked
to be about f ifteen (16) feet long. ~he trai l behind the dis•
made the ~bo l e objec t look l ike a eone. Another thi ng that makes
me feel sure i t wa~n• t a- shooting atar is: a shoot i ng s tar usually
lea~es a temporary streak , this objeot I saw left no streak only
the one that appeared to tra vel behind the circle wbieh looke d like
an after-glow . The oirele was a bright re d , nearest I could des
eribe it ~ould be t he e olor o~ a flame, the after-glow(eone- s haped)
waa a £sint er shade. What I s aw las t Thursday night resemble d a
shooting star in no way ~hatsoe•er. There was only one.
(J JOHN P.
Witness: ;'2. ..,.._,, , , .,...-vv----L Iv--- -- .
RES i h :C11-__o
--- PAGE 31 ---
,.
•. e ESTF<iCTED
•
f- STATEMENT OJ MR. WM. EVANS, CORDROY'' ?fEWP'OUNDLABD. TAKEN BT
MERCEDES BURKE OF THE INTELLIGEBOE OFFIOEi HARMOB FIELD, •n
FOUBDLAND. 17 Jul! 1947 •
At approxi■ately 10 •'•look in the eTentnc of 10 July 1947,
I was standing eut s i de Kr. Legga's store tal king with him. W•
both aaw this thine dash aeroae the elq. I oouldn't be aoeurate
about the direotiona. If it was a shooting sta r , I'd neYer seen
one as large befor•• and it waa 1112eh brighter than an,thing I'Ye
ever aeen i n the sq. It looke d t o be a r ound object , I eou.ldn't
say it was anything e lse but round; it •had a tail on it wbieh
ahowed yellowish, but not as bright a s the oirele which app eared
and neares t I could des oribe it would be sort of red a nd yellow.
The streak behind, I would aa7, was little oTer a yard long; the
e irele looked t• be about the si&e •fa larce dinner plate. It
went so fast, it was hardly 1o s ight before it disappeared. I
eoul d nGt giYe any idea of t he height; all I • s.n say is it ~as
muo h elos er than a s hooting st ar. and travelling at a great spee d .
Wbate~er it was it wa s flying through the air; it wasn 't jus t
, a streak aoro s e the sq . To me it was n't in any way like a
shooting star, and I am sure it was n't an airoplane. I •alled it
a "FLYING SAUCER" bee auee it seeme d exaotly lik e what we had b een
hearing ,eo mueh about on the radi o .
Witness: J. ~ ' , A t-J ~-
Witneoa : t/1/~ ~ - - - -
--- PAGE 32 ---
..
STATEME:fT OF ALBERT SA.1111S , CORDhOY, !U.. .!~Ou!LLA.ND. TAR~ .BY
ME.RC.El.lES BURKE OF TRr! INTELLI GElW2 OFFICE, Hnd1Oll F'I .b:LD NE~ -
J'OUDLA.BD. 17 July 1~947 .
Last Thursday night I was out by our hous e, I happ e ned to
look up and saw •hat I thought was an airoplane. It was f l y i ng
at the height of a plane t hat is flying high. The n I t hou g ht
it leoke d s trange f or an airoplsne, be~aus e it was all lit up
ao bright, pla.nea do hav e a light or t wo. but this thi ng was Ter7
bright - sort of a bright reddish yellow . I saw it only f or a
miAute because it was travel l ing at a teriff i• peed . It shot
out of sight so quiokly I thought i t s trange i f it fia e 8Jl airop
lane. TllU, I remembe r e d "r.hat I'd been hearing about " .r1l,JI ND
SAUCERS" I ran in a nd told my mother.
.
.. J , l lb an, I
....
Witness: f: t,..). , ~ ~ J
itnese: '
--- PAGE 33 ---
Albert ruot. ed in and t ) l • ce a inu t thie th i :, h,-'d ju Ht ~,.en .
at fi r t t:.f" thouri:nt 1 t we on a 1 r fl- t ne hut tr:: en ne ret:',P.~,ber~d
bav in ~ hea r ~d a b out " r'LYI NG , AUC~hS " and he thon~nt that's wh,-t
i t must haT,- o~ ~n. I 1 ue,tion~d him: he eoid it c ou ld n't bnT~
been a pl ane betBuee a PlEnft ~ou ) on' t shoot down }jve tn~t did ,
besid e s it ~as t oo "lit up"
Mr. Le~~e rep ~rted tbft ee~e thing to me in order tbe.t I ~• iht
rep n rt s a me to St. J~h•'a in th~ morh : n g.
r
RI
--- PAGE 34 ---
... . . .
NEWFOUNDLAND CONSTABULARY
•
STATION Grazd Falla t
DATE Jw.y l3t.h. 1.947 • ,
SUBJECT Rea- St.ran.• obJecta aeen tl.,yina over Gram
Falla on n16iht. ot July 9t.b. at. approx.
u, l§ •94 AetP,
Sira
I reapect.1'\ll.l.r N vort tor 1our ~oraat.lon that, on
·ednea4a¥ ni&ht.1 the 9t.b. inat.e I UT1Ye4 boae troa
du\y at. approx. ll..30.
tJS)oD UTiYal at. boa• I Joined my wit•, m¥ mot.her-in-law
and Mr. John Jae.Iman a reaident ot s t.. John'• and tr1e;".l
ot tJie t•il.r, who were oitt.!nB on the tront. atepa ot
U. bouae. I wu a aked b' ,q wit• U I bad aun t.he
•t1¥1Da aauaera" I t.boU& t ah• waa Jokina and replied
that. I ba4 •••n nothiDt, tlyln£. Jacban and rq aot.ber
in-law then told •• that th•1 bad r eally •••n tour obJ eota
tl¥1D& 1D an eaaterl,y direction Juat. before l ani•e4•
I aaked t.hea to deacriN what. t.h•1 bad •••n• JacblaD aaicl
t.bat tour rou.n4 abaped ti&u.r•• bud paaaecl oyerhead at a
terrific apeed and nre tl,y~ aide bt •tde.
On l.ook~ a)Q'warda qain rq wile, J ackllall 1 and myaelt1• __
• •• a obJect. which I would deaorille aa bein& a hug• J•'-'-r
tlah tlaab acroaa t.he the •Ir¥• It. wollld M '1U.ic.u\. \0
determine it.a helgbt .ind apeed owina \o t.be brief period
it waa Yiaible• .1l. 1 a colour alao would be bard \o aa_, 1
but. there a...ed t.o be pboapborua ~lo• ,ltou\ it. 9 lt
waa round 1D abape and a bout. th• a1s• of a barrel bea41
1 t appeare4 to M fl.¥~ 1n a rock~ aot.ion.
Thia air 1 ia about. a ll I can• 1 a bout. t.he matt.er , ..
cont.inued to oaan th• • kt tor a bout.• halt bcNr but. no
• ~ of t.hea were •••n ~•in. ~
• ~ ,C'-,1 , , Q ~
Conat.abl•• tJ
~~
--- PAGE 35 ---
GftDIPalia,
DAT& JuJ.¥ Ja\11. i9-&7. ,
--- PAGE 36 ---
Pr011 detailed atud7 ot report.a aeleowcl tor their iapreaaion ot
veracity and reliability, aenral oonoluaiona bave been tormed,
. (a) ThJ.s •tlying saucer" a1 tuation 1a not all imaginArl or seeing
too 11Uch in soae nat~ phellOllenon. Somtbing is really tlyina around.
- •
(b) lAok ot topside inquiries, when compared to the prompt and
deaanding inquiries that have originat.d topside upon toraei- events,
give acre than ordinary weight to tbe p6eaibilit7 that this ia a d011teatic
project, about which the President, ~to. lmow.
(a) Whateftl" the objeota are, this much can be said of their physical
appearance,
1. Tbe s'lll"taoe of these object.a 1a •tallio, indicating a metal.lie
akin, at least.
2. When a trail 1a obeened, it 1a lightl7 colored, a Blue-Brown
base, that 1a aillilar to a rocket engine•a exhaust. Contrary to a rocket
ot the solid type, one obeervation i!ldioates that the tuel ~ be throttled.
which would i!ldicate a liquid rocket engine.
J. As to shape, all obeervationa state thut the object 1a cireular
or at leaat elliptical, flat on the bott011 and slightl.7 domed on the top.
Tbe a11e estimates place it somewhere near the size ot a C-54 or a Coastellation.
4. Soae reporta describe two tabs, located at the rear and
syaet.rical about the Xli:m axis ot flight motion.
5. Plights han been reported, trom three to nine of them, tlying
goocl·formation on each other, with speeds alfllya above JOO knot,e.
6. The discs oscillate laterill7 while flying along, which could
be snaking.
,, ✓
--- PAGE 37 ---
CONFIDENTIAL
HEADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE
Ottioe or the Ass i stant Chi ef or Start, A- 2
Intdl1ge noe
"HAnil t on Fiel d, Ca lifornia
4AFDA 25 August 1947
353 .6/1208- I
SUBJECT: I nveat i iation of Fl ying Disc .
TO: Headquarters, Army Air fo rces , as hin(ton 25 , D. C.
ATTE11TIO.r:AC of AS- 2
1. The attached true copy of the lette r or • F. " • Johnson of
Po rtland , Ore gon , we.1 r e ceived by this off icer 22 Auf'Ust 1947.
\ 2 . Your attention i s invited to t he si milRri ty of st at ement by
!:r. Johnson and ·.:r . Arno ld.
3. Thia l otter is boinr r eferred thi a date t o t he Spec i a l Agent
I n Char r;o , F~I , San 1-'rancisco , tor any 1nvest1get1on thev may care t o
make .
~ , 4- ~ ( / - ~ I
DONALD L. SPRIU
l Incl : Lt . Co lone l, r.sc
Cy or ltr f r F. 1 . John son AC of S, A- 2
(in du:,)
CONFIDENTIAL
--- PAGE 38 ---
CONFIDENTIAL
PORTLAND, OREGON , August 20th 1947
Lt. Col. Donald L. Springer , Assistant Staff
Sir . Saw in the port land paper a short time a go in r egar ds to
an article in regards to the so cal led flying disc having any basis
of tact. I can say am a prospector and was in the t.! t Adams district
on June 24th the day Kennet Arnold or Boise Idaho claims he saw a
formation of flying disc. Andi saw the same flyin h objects at about
the same time. Having a telescope with me at the time 1 can asur e you
they are real and noting like them I ever saw before they did not oaas
verry high over where I was standing at the the time, pl obl y 1000 ft .
they were Round about 30 foot in dimater tapering sharply to a point in
the head end in an oval shape. with a bright top surface. I did not
hear any noise as you would from a plane. ilut there was an object in
the tail end looked like a big hand of a clock shifting fro~ side to
side li~e a big magenet. 'f,iere speed as far as i know seemed to be
gr eater than onything I ever saw . 1's~ veiw I got of the objects t hey
were standing on edge Banki ng in a Cloud.
Yours Respectfully
/s/ F. H. Johnson
106 ?:o. \'fest la t Ave
Port land, Oregon
A TRUE COPY:
\
\
CONFIDENTIAL
--- PAGE 39 ---
CONFIDENTIAL
PORl'LAiID, O'lSOvN
.. 30,JuJ.¥ l.947 .
un 30 July 19u7 l!.r .tdehnrn ttan.1dn, 83u il. li . Siq)son Str.t,
Por.tland, Oregon m s inten ewed by this agent and s tated in substance as
follows : •
l(y' name is R:1.charo. Rankin. I arn47 yearo ol.d and have !town since
I i':'3S nineteen years old. I t.1.nst soloed in m a1:r cr:t.tt in 1919. I hlve 1'1.own
over all the western parts of the United st& es many t.ilm!s 8.lld have capped
all or \.ho ,, ster n ~ of the Unite l States during the years before the
la.to war for the US Forest Service. I m:i .tam.liar with almost every part o!
the -r.cs tarn United States. During a great part ot re:, life I have dcne stunt
flying for air shows a.nd various other types of aeronautical. e.:ichibit1ons. MY'
brothor was 11Tex11 Rankin who was quite well known in both c1V1llan and 1'1.l.1taJ;r
f~ng circles r or maey yea.rs before his death and during the late 11ar ran
t housands of nyln.; cadets through primary training school.a ormod and oper
aMd by h1r.l. To Jate I lnve acco:upl.i.shed 7000 hours in tho air as pilot of
both civilian and !.:il.i.t.aey aircra.rt. I a:i 1'911. acquainted Tri.th most articles
that one -woul d seo in the air o.nd I feel that I an well qualified to say
when I see :irticles flylng through the air, although I \TOuld not attempt to
say that I ac infallable and state thD.t I could definitely identify every ,
object that might be nying through th:S air. The following 1s . an account of
what I sa-., on 1h June 1947 frcc the :,or~ or my home at 1 -0. SOllth •u• st,
Bakersfield, ca.lit ornia.
~t appro:d.motely 1200 no.:in on the lu of June I was ly1.ne in ~he
.front yard 0£ rx:J hoce . Ibero '"'3S a lad ncminc t he la-m at tro tl:::le . I l ooi::c
up into t he sky and saw ten art:.cles fiylnc fran tte South to th Hort\ at what
I -ould ju~ c to be 6500 rt. ':'l-c obje c ts were fiyins ~ approx:1.rl3toly T1h.._'lt I
r.oul::1 jud('.;e to be 350 ;o.l.e,; per hoar . A.S I lu '\l? s tated b fore , I h.:lve t~one
er.ti.te a lot of r:l7ip work for t he OS Forest service . : 4 :;tinctly remember t..'l\ot
-it the t ~ I sa,.. ho arti cles I mcn~1oncrt !.t to t.ho la l who ~ -::iom.ne the
]ay;n at tho time . I tol l t1•: l.."l< that the object3 were in alt probab:llty
some sort of A;J:-rJy or !:avy test plnnc s i'ro., the ne ~°b'J test cantors on tho
"'eserts o~ Southern Cal..if'omia. ::aving quito a kncr.vlcdce o! aircraft in
:eneral I o.tte:-,pte 1 to c~ lain to the l..a l r:10 11:.n.:; th'? J....;m th.:t. thl obj t s
.-:ere irob ab~ on s cne sort of tra.:.n.:.nr: ':'\l ,3.'..o:'l fer either t.he Ar11y or ?!avy.
At th~... tw lid not cive the s r;htcst • thoucht to aeyt•lint; but t h:it t he
object a m?re so,e .,or or te ::;t :hip f or th e ~rrncnt ..ervices . ~e ol)';,..ct...
reser.m eii the pictures that I haw seen of ,.ho .::F5U-11 t.he o =.;. llerl 11Fly-.i.nc
?lap). ck Clfjax that Uv- ··.avy : - t cs• .:.J'\S• .\ fte r :..he objec t-s di sap e.:irad I
p roce"'d.. i,to the houst. "'.1\1 ·~, ny noon '"lC'l •••t nr.roxlr-..ntely lLlS ! . nt
back into the • ard to .,it .md lie in '..h -.? sh~1e . At t his timo tho obj~ t.s ro
ap:'IC".U'el .:;o:~ rro-:a S.Jrth to South, al t'1ou.=·1 t '1is tioc th~r ~ ~!'o only s even
o£. "'.re articles. '\'fh~n I firs t ~'\- the ott.ct nal •,on objects :.he:, , re rJ.yi.J\:
in a •vn f'ornation W' t}l one o :)ct s e.c,... inc1y star-..,li"!: in the rear or t hr
f or: t.:.on. W'-.!?~ t~ ot:e :: ~.. a ?r-Cr:ied :e secon:i -1.oe ti,ey were t.:.11 ·n thn
rtV fa-11n l UCl -ilt''OU::h there r.as onl:, seven c:! the ject '\..., t · -r ~ • .:me . I
re~f'!:'."bc:- ± t hi::. t ime that tol1. t 1c ad, U'\ o m s ::;till o r ·.::tn.,. on tlc lar.n,
tll8t ~b.'.l',~ ~~.rce of tho objc cts ha1 ce ded b::.ck t,o thfl.i!" b.? o on ~ rt· ff-
crcnt course . actually • '•"'!U:}.t t'1_-. t, t~ "'l'a:J · " C.:l e, ·"vlt too ot er •.hroe
object.,. hdi3 . ,rob~ly con'! - c'• ~,, hd r b.., -c on the other "iie of tho n~t:l • s
!'ro:l 3aker -!i el ~. .. , :. or o 1 -i..,cr .,.,:, en I read o :...r ·en e ll' .lr.10 c ~ -.lnc
that ho h.i.l seen artic,.os fl:,in!: t,hrou,ch t.h a:r o"1Cr t.h.. ~ :. ~·e " 0.1!'\~itw
--- PAGE 40 ---
~ I r..U.Md tba.t the aniGJ/N that I saw ~ tr obah=tle .... ,._,• •
I •s still r.lllotant. to •ntS. tld.• to ~ Wil#nc that would pib_-
ab~ eq t.-t. I was Ol'U7• After eoaltae I llellticmid tm 1act to the
edltor d t.bl fl()Ngonian•, a Port~ Ol"egon hWapllpi!I•-• At W.a t.1ae I -
in Portland tor tie 1"'a&i.nder of tale .._r. The nnlts t1 U. oormn,•U. .
with the editor ot ·tiae paper i1 p11t. tort.al in t.be ~ - - ~
&rt.iol.e. .
I fully' re~• that 11111 1s a broad atateme~~1n view ~ Eot;
th& there !as been a, aach publioity t t e ,at. forth ln ftrlOll.9
papen or the count.rr. I aa d a , ~ ll1nt in eT.-y respect am I a■ t!
corm.need tb&t ta U"t4oles I saw aw actually .... sort, ot ~ wbinas
al.though I cannot ..,- from wblre tbq came or to 1b ere thq wn loinc• I say
what. I lan aid with no idea ot publiait)r or J)ff9onal gata.
SIG!l E D ~
Portland.1 Oregon
30 .,~ 1947
--- PAGE 41 ---
'
Pilot Recalls- , f -THl
- :-~ -r O
_NIA.Jf
_ ,Tit_. U
_B&U>_I~":'
_ A~----'--: -~.,;._'1..:..:..
14'_~,.:...'.
Seeing Discs • " T'. iE ORBGO: :u.; 11
3 Ju l y H ,,. 7
Por tland , Or e t; oc .
Diclc Rankin Tells
. Of Odd Aircraft
More reports ol "flyln& flap,
jacka" turned 11p Wedllesday,
one -from no le.a than Dick
Rankin, brother of the late Tex
Rankin, and blmlelf an expe
rienced pilot of more than. 7000
boun' tlyln& time.
Rankin, who i.w recovering
from an old back injury r~
celved in an automobile acci
dfflt, came to PorUand over
the week end to apend the 11um
mer. He saw the "allver ca u
cers" over Bakerlfield, Cal.,
J u ne 23, while lying on the
l awn run batblns, he tol d Th~
Oregon ian.
"I hesitated to 1, y much
about them," R.lnkl.n ·aald, " un•
t1l I noticed all the hulJabaloo
in th e papers. I punled over
their 1tran1e ahape tor a while
arid JinaUy concluded~bat they
were the navy's new- Xl'SU-1
flying flapjackl!, wblch Ille thin
and ro u nd , with twin propellers
and ,tubby tail."
Oaly Oaa XFIU-1 Built
1 (The navy and the manufac,
turer have announced officia l•
1 Jy tha t only one such machine
wu built and that It never left
Connecticut.
"ThHe planes were flying
hl&h, maybe 9000 feet, and fa ir •
Jy fut, about 300 or 400 mile•
an hour. I first counted ten of
them In formation , iolng north.
Abou t 2:15 P . M. UM!y r eturned
on the rever,ie course, headed
110uth. But there were only sev•
en In the formation.
• "They were not weav in.c or
bobbln,c tn formaUon I couTd n 't
make o ut the number or loca•
tlon o f their propellera and
couJtln't d btlngulth any w in.«•
or tall. They appeafed almowt
round. They looked li ke pie- 1
lures of the na~•• ftylna flap.
jack," Rankin 1ald.
R.ankJn, who plans to ,rpenrt
the aum mer her, at 8i44 N . E.
Simpson street, h1 now able to
re.um" a little fl ying for fun ,
but not comme rcially. he 11ald.
He now operate1 a 1trln1 of
autG rourta. ,rpendln,c h l1 win•
lffl at P•lm Springs.
I •,
I',
--- PAGE 42 ---
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A. o. 1IIU a,..,w •• 111n• lala tapnaete• ., tile t.annaat • t • lie alalw
teia....... -
Ooao•ftlae Vil·• • --'••• • l t . _ lte . ,.. tllat M •lle-..4 U.
lel.W . . . _ .... wata llie atleaptel M --•le l.a lllm,awtnc to haw . . _ a-...
a fNI ~ . UJIUI UlllwiN NU..,_ Ulat U. hMIIII 81' - - 9 ' ftw a l .
M aM ~• .... data .. llaw • • _. _ , . a foot ~ aad extmtr4 at
i.e.. . . .._ l»MJk •4 O'f Ul• deTloe. . . n... cU• aol tin1• . . .__ df
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11- ,..... . . Ille • . . _ , n... a4 • • eta. ~ lb• da'tioe. !'be nal!le ■ &14 DOI
, ie... ~ • aok• or odor.
fte um• boT• • ~ • ,.._, t.be • atcte .s..,,a ..._ untt ..., tW
Ille entee • • • " *-,,17 ■•cl!lt ffta '-ttloa lo tep.l. tei l e URI • h1...it
' - - . . , that 11 • • more a\naa11ae4 aa4 Gllft'9&. VU• alt ._. . _ ~
_ . ._. le a -pelatN •~ ft...a t19.
la ld1 an.u. .• vaa lde•e>-1,- aa14 ~ . , !le had ...21 tt • W!xa ►
• • a.n.s latemew, Ille riatecl Uaat 11 . . . ..1 1, ~.a 'Mia • ...........•
...... la• lN'P, ._._act~• .... ■- Ille eodr1Tnace a'bo·1t ltOO P .K.
- . . «.3e::a1& u.at M lla4 . . - )ala 1-,- to ·,i.. 1'1Ter lo pt •o•
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nlat.. . Ill•
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u. • _ . u Wn11t wp . . . . . .._, a.. ••JJ9' u.. n,taa a ... • • • •
...U a17 ... ll , _ a _ , -1•• i i 41-W•arecl Nhind. a hill 11l1all
e,Had Illa n•••
ma ,_,._••._..._ ..._. 111e . .,.s....... ___. ......,._n~
, _ . la U. , •• 111U l'NUN la - . UplM f/11 lb■ . _ . UTer 0 . , . , lib!• •
ie . - - fRr Ill drof ,_. .... aa4 lw1w t 1PM , . . . . . . . . . • Ulat plaiN.
........... M M• • • • • • 11119 - V i - - - _ . dOU\ tbn• hl.CdNd t..t ltelw
Ille na d U.. • ..,.. ~ lie • • u aplut u.. ..... ..U• d Ille • r• •
u.. I • . . . • ...ma& lie ..ieao ,. aaq- U • a1 na,e1 ,1aa, • tnMe&
• ii 1, ...U M - - . . . . . . 1M - , . . . llklnlN ael4 U.. ll . . ~ Ir
♦nm ._. M - • lt. IW&. Ml .... Ulle a .... ,
~11,
--- PAGE 43 ---
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--- PAGE 44 ---
--- PAGE 45 ---
--- PAGE 46 ---
M'ADQUAR'l'CRS
S:LYIN6 DIVISION, AIR TRAININ& COMMAND
Office of the ComMandt,. e-...,.1
Aamlolph Field, T.._ , ,
10 "'1T 1511.7
1. The iaal.Olecl ll>IO 1• tOZ"WU'decl tor your intCll'llat!en.
2. In Use ennt that. k. B, B. Al'lllt.raq hM been i n ~
l11' your IN4qanc-a, reqae•t that. a oopr or the ll>JD N hmiat.
to \bu ~ .
JOit ftl OOlll(U'l)mJ CIIDIAJ.1
l laol H. L. c:aJBID
_,IC u. eoia.i.. o.s.c.
un.. Chi.et ot awt• ..e
lat In4 DC
BIAl)QOARTl!RS Tllffll 111 POBCE., OFrICI OF THI 188T CHIIP 01 STAn'• A-2,
M:>OIS FI!LD, SAN ANTONIO, TWS, 16 Jul,y 1947
TOt Cc n41Jta 0antl'al, P'J.¥1.n& Di.Ti.lion, U.:r Training Cc nA, .8andoll)ll
'1d., Tex.a
ATTlh ·Aeat. Chier or Sta.tr, A-2
lnol.oeed 1• llaaorandaa ror t.he Oftic•r in Charp in refeNIICe \o
Lt.. •• B. n.ru\rOQ&, u euggNted in paragraph 2, baa i c COIUIWdcat.ton.
l Incal
lfOIC, cit.cl l~ Ju., It?
l Inol wit.hclrawa
UOIO, 4t.d 7 Jul.T 47
. ·v
l..
_/
--- PAGE 47 ---
•
I■ ■AJPIIII ,a - Offtm ll O'Nl□ J
W .... v••• ._., .-......
.vm••··
1. Oli 14 '9Jr 1•1. in ,_. ....... ~9109, 1,otll
Ir. . . ti.ell, 8aa jJlli111l•• t w . .
tzt 11 ... •• UII . . hllnd11 tJIIWllaU• ... . . . . . . . .._ AIMIi ...
111 NI a1u.. n.11. Arla•• at JleOO •~ • • .,-. 1~7 &a • Ml
,_ ....1u1. . . . . . . 'r ~ 1l!llr . , ...,. . . °"I•• ..., . . ., •>r
•u •1 • & •--- et JOO ....,., uA .-a& •JMI d - , , •l--...
Ja.-O ..... . . . . - - - ~ ~ alliee anti Ht fl i . . ...... • • to•
la . . .. . _ ,,.tsi1. ttw • ab wld-• •bftlw ••~ta at ,._ •••1-llr.
altltd♦ .....--..- 6.-, ,.._• ---• &f!INlda•lJ' 18D ••■-•• ..a
aa •Ull&W ■,-.& et aa, ... IA . . . . . . . ea.U ta. , • .,.._ _.. '1f'bl
~ a+SDJr ul la & elae ,__,t•• fM •tt.aW Ille fl tlle .Wt.
. . , . _ .... . . , . . . . . . ~ , , tPNlln 1a ••• •••. a .Al'M..._ ,_.,,
• · • •:.. . . tlle IIMta ~ _.. ... MNa, 1bN tllll9 f t ~ ~ •lend--~,
. . .,.., 111n. Lt - - · . . . . - - - . l a - . , th• wa.t• - ~ ........
~ .. ~-•silllleaal _,. llUW&ft •bl• ...... n . . ~ . . . ..
Mlllt 11 JIO!lla
I
--- PAGE 48 ---
- .,
e
UllIOf~TIP'IABLr. OPIJ~;,..->
,l LU.ws 71 :J..D, CH \JI OLlJl,
AJUZONA.
7 Jlll.7 1947
IW&OBJlffl:JI( ,Oi THI. om cm Ill CHARCII
l. OIi 1 Ju, 1947, Lt. • Ul1• O. •atuav, USII, 19S803, P-eo
sw.-, .nu n.w, Cblodl••, Art.. . ., ... u ~ "7
thie A&mt., Md at.at.eel ill abstanee1 Tba\ en 30 J\IM 1947, at about.
0910, UST, be wu tlJ'1.QI at. 25,000 IN\ a.. Grand Cayan, Ari•na, ill
a p.eo ~ dftnft. lie at.at.eel \hat he aa blladlftc - t h t.Ollarda liUH
Pield, Arbona, wh• h• ea t.. round objeeta pi.ng at. inconcelftbl•
8JI•••, .trd.ab' . . . . H• tllll'Ula et&t..cl that h1I reacUOAI 'NN to
tarn • q hoa th• obJeet.e. Re fvth• a\&W t.bat. one ot tba anlde•
Utlable GbJene toU~ecl the Mht r •eoondl apan. Re tvtMr 1taW
\.bat dm to the spNd ot t.b• objeot.a, be tould OGlT ... that. Ulq ...,.
Cllrow.u, and t.b& \ \hq WN poeaibl• lJcht. ~ in -,...• fte tu\bel'
at.aw thn 1, wu h1I optruon t.bat t.be obJ.ota .... • ~
• - ten 1a cl1ae'-• Ill ooncla1on, be et.ated U.t t.h• obJff\a
~ ha~JIS'Ol:Mlbl.7 hlt, t.bt O'GIUd a ppJ"Old.aatel.7 t.•~r1•• llll•
eovtib ot t.bt Soat.h a.ta ot ONld ~ . Arisoaa.
AQQfTtS ROT!S a L\ ll.Ol.&7 Pft h i • pc,aMDt, a4dNiN ua W.AJ.T.c.,
Point. lhp, Pon Humae, C&U.t.
2. OD 1 4'1117 19411 Capt.&la llalAola O. Aaet.~, ~ ,
Inauuew, Siael-• -1ne, 1llhnr '1.-W, ChandlAP 1 Arhona, -..
1nl...-d.... '-7 lb.la Aa•t. and a\ated in . u ~ • • ftat bJ.• ~ ,
lat. L\ s. B. Alllat.ran&, atat.lomd at ~ 10th AM', boob u F, 'feaa
bad Nla\ed to h1a tu\ be ... a fonlllt.ion ~ unexplaSl\able •Jeota
iii tb• 1J.dll1'7 ot Lake Mud, ...,. Ca~aiA Anaatr cmg, llll'\hn at.at.cl
\bat hi• ~ at.aw Ule 0'3eo\a . . . beecU.Qc oath, an:l ..-. at.
appNJd.a\&lT 10,000 tNt. alt.ltda.
Nl!ft'S NO'fLCJ a C.4dn AIIIA~ oe..W not. ll•• \eo m1b w ...
t.1o11
OIi UM HJM\a \Mt. hi a b10tb• had aeen. Lt.. 1. B. Al'IIIIWen& - be ·
OODt.Mled . , Rq, lOt.b A>,, BIWb Field, Texu tor tU'\hlr intemaUon.
u .,
\
L,- C. A.1.cb'leh, ~pMS.al Aps,. Clc-AJ.'I, J'1'l9C
THI IS A ftlUI (X)Pf
I.
C.Z• i,;.C~'O
,: •
,vl,,. . v \l:
--- PAGE 49 ---
Un1dent.U1aD1- Obzot..a.
D 333.5 ID (16 Jui ,.7) .J..•t Ind.
HQ i l J l lti.t.cnel 1iald, New
m P B R S E COMIW(D, Y o r! C , ~ J \ l. J . .
Y 19/+7 .
TO: Ccmundi.Qg General, Arwv 1.ir IPorce•, lfaahingt,on 25, D. c.
1 '!'TM: >J:.I AS-2.
l. Fcrwardea tor your information and utilization.
FOR TH! CCIOWIDING Gl".N!RAt:
- --c.-7 . ) -. )l' . ~~
In.to c7: • H. S)(lffl Y-L- n ,, -
CG, AMC, Colonel, GSC C//,-; ~ • ""- •
~ Wright l'ld, f"v A.Ht Chi.et ot Statt-IA~U.
Da_rton, o.
~
..
I
,
Jf
.,
f
--- PAGE 50 ---
--- PAGE 51 ---
1 HEAD Q UARTERS
TENTH AIR F'ORCE
BROOKS r' l £L~, SAN ANl"ONIO , TEXAS
Cff 1ce o f tho Ass is tao.t ..:hief' of Staff , A-2
IN AEP LY A E ,- £ A TO :
DC 333 •5 16 .Ju l :: 1$47
SUJJEC T: lnidentifia lle Gbjec t s
TC : Com1rs.ndin~ Genera l
:, i r Do fv r.s e Coru,"ll nd ,
...i tcho l !- ie ld , ::o,·. Yor k
AT'rr;: rtSS t Chief of : taff ,
1 . Ii.closed he r e·:,it l for yt-ur i nf'or ri..- ition is icvectio,ti or. re l a t i v e
t o Unidentifia '.. lc ( b~ octs \\hi c h •uas i.nitL, ted at !.t:.'l.c!. ua r te r :; , .: lyinc D1Y1-
sion , Ai r fri:. inir,{; Conna.r.d , Rand o l rh . ield , Tex.as . 'i'his Offi ce a.c:. isted ,
ns notod in Inc lost.r e ~ , by c or.ir, leti nL a. :emor a.ndum ror the < f fic e r in
Chn r;;e •
2 . 1:0 f u_r the r n.ct: or. is c ente r. platC;d b: t i--.i!; :.ee.r' q· ..,, r ~or z c o ncor nine;
invest i e;atlon of t r.i s iuc icent .
2 Inc l s :
1. :~CI C dtd 7 Jub 47
2 . ltr, ~ATC , w7 1 I nd
a nd 1 I nc 1 , :'( I C , d td
l ~ Ju l~· 1':47
I
l JUl ....
--- PAGE 52 ---
11-" -.: ~ All if '/ 7
/f~J r .. ·, 7 4 73
203e llagnolia Aw.e. ,
Loa A!!gelea 7, <Jalif.
Auguat ~ 194~
D'i.rect.or of Mi 11'tary Intallegeno•,
llar ~partma.nt, Waahington. 25, D..C.
IJ;ear Sir:..
On SUnday a!tarnoon, July the Sixth, I observed something very
strange ; 1 t 1a related. - - at least ill my own min~ w1 th t he
phenomena of t he •Fabulow, J':3.ying ~uceraf and I cannot report on
thia second phuaomena, without speaking or the first.
As I do ~ot wish to be considered the victim ot mass p ■ychology,
a crGok,-pot or-visionary, it is rather har d !or me to m....k e thi s
report. I am doi ng it beoause I oonsider it my duty.
A neirapaper article spoke ot the Bureau of standa rds as •Havi ng a
fi nger in the pie• in many experiments so not knowing whore to
write or who to write t o l wrote to the Bureau , and Ur. Hug h L. Dryd
, -
eh has suggested t hat you were the one to r eport to .
I had been amused at accounts ot the• !lying saucers•. ~eryone
was talking, laughing and joking about thema nd I di d not -believe
in them~
l)le Hollywood T,arzana BU■ wa s par ked a t the Terzana end of the line
and the driver wa s busy making out his .reports preparatory to malti ng
th• return trip. / I wa s the only one in t he bus and I sat i n the
middle or the side next to v~ntura . ~o the bus was parked nort h ~nd
south~
As I looked to my rig ht , a •Saucer appeared out ot nowhe re~appar
ently out ot nowhere and it was followed by several others; they
were of uniform size and spaoed a t :tegular intervals and it seemed
as 1! they turned a c9rner from the ~e s t and they rolled along
at g rea t speedto the Nort hward and parXa.llel toVentura Boulev~rd.
Tl
As soon a s I becameconvinced that what f saw was not an i llusi on
but wha t every one wa s talki ng about I ~egan to s tudy them and it
was right t hen that my eyas seemed to be drawn to this other phenoma
in t he air between me and the • ~ ucers".
~hat I saw waa mi lky whit• rays in the sunlight t.hat seemed to aria
crosa like the search lights do at bight ; it was nothing like the
aun shining on some bright ob j ect tor the rays were not spa ced and
they were not so c.lose together and t hey e ris c ross ed. However, they
did seem to converge t owa rd a center but they d.id no t ~eet t here.
I rr ~hi ■ center - - a radioua or about eigh~een i nches it seemed
trom~r ea t, t here were spinning objects l! some red substance
J
,..,
--- PAGE 53 ---
2
-..
a bout t he c ol or or t he semi- ~reci ous stone Oomelia n. t hese
fra.gn.e nta ,·:e:-e sha rp a nd irregul a r a nd s hi ng . !'hey were flying
about as if f l yi r.g to a magnet . T~is w~s momentar y a nd I l ooked
to s ee i f t r.e •sauc e r s• were s ti ll t here. ·I saw one or two but
t he s ace thi ng 'happened aga i n 3nd 1 s a w t he second phenomena to r
a s e c ond. By t his ti me t he "sauce r s were ou t or s ight .
•; 11 t r:.e w~y hoipe I wa s tryi rig t o f i nd sooe logical e.xplane. t ion fo r
the "Sa ucera• bu t my c ind kept revert ing to t he second phenomena
and a s I dwelt on it I coul d no t help surmising it perhaps t hese
r a ys I s aw di d no t c ome out or the red f ragmenta that \,e re spinni ng
i n t he vorte.s. I ooul dnt hel p wonderi ng i t t his s u bst ance had beeh
c : ot from the • sa ucor s a s t heyt urned t he cor ner trou t ~e we st on ~heir
way to the ~or th/.
As our a r r:.:, ·.ould not be s ho ti ::- 1J- dly r ay s ove r t owa rd :i ve ry
croweded hi g ~way a ncl. a s t hi s \Thole t hi l'\; s eems fant a stic to say
t he l east , I t hought I ho.d be tte r t rus t s ome o,1es Jud.i;eae nt who
r eal ly knows wha t is g oing onand s o you ha ve my r eport on what
1 reall y saw , and wha t I a 11 ve ry cur ious a bout.
T,ha.nks t o Lm. Dryde n f or hi s cour tes y i n l e tti:ie oe know j ust
who to re l a t e t hi s i ncident to, a nd t ~a nks t o y ou fo r l i stening
and I hope t ha t i t ;..akes t he right ki nd or i mpressi on .
Si ncere l y y our■ ,
.
).{. ~ r.or e <Jorey
/
--- PAGE 54 ---
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--- PAGE 55 ---
conditiona, and that the objec~ 111.g bt be either ffl"tical or bori.sonal. !bl
subject rel&t.d that an7 change 1n spNCl ot the car reault.ed 1n a change 1n
spNd ot the object, and that cbang•• ot di.Net.ion reaultecl 1n a change 1n
th• anclA ot t.ra~l ot the object.
I
NKLSON atatecl be bu not talked to arq peraou that bad a c t ~ aND
~ aucera or daca but he bell.end tbat thue renect.iou plu the
u . o i ~ t and b,rateria caued b7 other report. bu been tbe buia tor.,.,
~ M\ICer report.. Subject aleo •tatecl tbat th1a .... tbeol7 coald be
t.ra• 1n relation t o ~ Mucera •Mn troa aircraft.
Attached hereto 18 a detailed atat...nt b7 ~ • c o ~ h18 nnct1np
and •xp)a1n1ng h1a aoluUon to the BO-Called Fq1ng Sancer lf;1wter'y'.
~IJ. L.-
1u:Mn D. SDl'.>11
C.I., U.S. AfflT
2
--- PAGE 56 ---
..-
JLYDO SAUOBR M!STBRY SOLRD
'
Julf 12, 1947.
Th• aoat 1apnaa1•• report• ot the ao-oalled fiylng
. ,,
aauoera or d1aoa wre tho•• tro ■ ariatora llbo clai■ th•J
aaw diac-abaped obJ•c~• flying through the air 1n Yarioua
toraationa at high altitudes and at a high rate ot apeed .
The tirat report waa tro■ an arlator who atated that th•••
ao-called flying d1eca had a ao■ewhat ahiny appearance and
would fly in formation and change their poa~tion from t1ae
to time. Moat report• atated that they appeared in the late
afternoon or about dusk.
Most all report• were to the effect that theae objects
had the appearance of an inverted diac or saucer, and ao•
of them reported that they appeared to be rotatin ~ in their
flight.
The mystery of the flying aaucers or discs may be sol
ved by the. uae of a little applied science along with a
few simple experiments.
These fiying discs or saucers can be observed by any
mot ori st traveling along the highways when the aun is
shining on moat any afternoon or evening. During the day
light moat of these ao-called flying discs a re r eflections
from the sun shining upon some bright object in or on the
automobile driven by the observer. For instance, if you
were driving i n a north-westerly direction with the sun
.
ahininJ on the handle of the front or rea r door on the l eft
side of the car, you may notice a shiny obj ect a ppear in the
ventilation wing of the window on th~ drivers left , if it is
opened to about a 45° angle.
--- PAGE 57 ---
tbeH lhllly objeot ■ ■ay hn• -.rloua tor■■ and th•re ■ay
.
be aore than one, dependia& on the nuaber ot retlectioa ■•
They aay appear to be 1D the aky when th• drinr look• through
th• Yent11a,1on wins &la~•• Their poa1t1on in th• ■ky depend ■
upon·the angle at lilllich th• objeot la reflected 1D· th• ftn•
·tilation wing ·a nd the poaition of the obaer.er. They may baTe
yarioua !ol'lla but ••17 frequently they are or a aaucer ahape
or a tat ahape when they appear-to be in the aky.
Tbe ••ntilation wing during day-light ie not ot cour••
a pert•ct ■irror, therefore, it a ppears to the driver or ob
aener that h• ia actually looking through the g laaa into the
aky. Aa h• ao••• along, t he bright obje ct• a ppear to be
traTeling at a high rate ot apeed in comparison with the
atationary objects on the ground, or the distant horison, that
he aeea through the window, or in comparison with the faintlf
ailbouetted objects on th• landacape which at times are re
flected in th• window.
Th• fiying saucer a ppeara t o be travelini.i; in the ea.me
general direction aa the automobile but sometimes a little to
the right which makea it a ppear t hat it will eventual ly croea
the driYera path. The a pparent flight direction or the
aaucer is due to the angle of the ventilation wing glass in
it.a relation to the direction in which the car ia trave ling.
The number and poaition ot t he saucers reflefted int.he glaaa
depend upon ~h• number and contour of object• reflected there
in by t.h• aun. Bri:;ht objects on a car a pproaching from the
rear ■ay caat such reflections on your ventilat i on wing in
the daytille• .
(2)
--- PAGE 58 ---
It th• ._,11at1on wing window were a perfect airror th•
obJeota oauain& the re£leot1ona would a ppear therein••• well••
all ot.ber object• within range, but th• ventilation win being
a aort ot a aeal-alrrc>r, do•• not Nllect the obje ct but only
th• bright .•pot, which leaves the impression that the obaerver
1a actually looking through the glaaa and tha t the obj e ct act
ually a opears to be in the aky, or at timea a lon~ diet ance
away. Th••• Nault• are beat obtained in the late artemoon,
or after aun down.
Tba arlatora who reported seeing fiying diace or saucers ,
undoubtedly were seeing th• reflection of bright objects in or
on their own plane. They nw t.hem aa r efle cted in t heir canopy
or wind ahield, but failed t o recognise the m as retlectiopa.
Oth•nd.•• t.hey were retlectione from other air craft .
As the aviator ·traveled along obaervin~ the n,ovement of
the disc in coapari aon with tbe mounta i ns , clouds or station
ary object• on the earth, male them appear to be traveling at
a high rat• or speed. Th• sloping angle or t he avi a tors
wind-ahield and h is position in the plane made it a ppear that
the discs were in the sky. The poaition of t he discs al so
depend upon the position of the observer and the angle at which
they are Nflected in t he gl a sa.
Some ot the report• stated that where there were more
than on• flying disc, they appeared to be tastenH ~ogether
and frequently perf ormed a dipping or rising motion and when
one would dip, they wo~ld all go thro•.igh the same " otion s i m
ultaneoualy. The aiaultaneous movemant iu due t v t he reflect-
lona all coming troa the aame object. ror instance, 1! they
())
--- PAGE 59 ---
a re r eflected tro■ eome ·bright objec t i n or on the car or plane ,
th• up and down motion or the car or plane cause• the tlyi ng
discs to a ppear to be &oing thro ugh a di pping and riaing motion,
or , if the reflecting ob ject i e atationvry a nd the car movi ng ,
th• results will be the••• •
The statement that the diec a a ppeared to be rot a t in1 aa
they aailod through the atmoophere ie due to the vibration ot
the automobile or plane . Vibrations make thu, a ppear to be
rotatin~ a t a very high rate ot s peed . Vibration is lfhat ives
.
them a flat or disc- like ahape - also •
If you wish to see some fly1n~ di s c s , make a drive a t about
dusk or at ni , ht , open your ventila tion win~ window at about a
45° ang le from tho Jrivers seat and watch the refl ections o!
the ets tionary elec~ric lights t h ,t a ppear on your left , if you
are driving , a!t3r you paos th e~ 1 and s ee how many discs you can
obeerYa flyi n~ through the air . It there a r e not t oo many l i ghts
t o your rea r, you may have a pe rtect formation of beautiful
flying discs wh ich may be red, reen or ~i lver a c cordi n~ to
the color of the elec t r ic ligh ts which you ha~• passed. They
ap ar moat realistic \,hen travel i n ~ a bout fo rty-five or fift y
ail•• per hour. Ir you do not get satistactory r esults from
your fir st experiments, try a gain . Afier yo 1 have learned
when and nher• to l ook tor t hoc , your observation~ become more
pleaoin ~ ..nd interes ting.
Evon tho 11 : ht s of an approachin~ automobile f r vm your
rear mn.y a ppear as one flying di s c 1n your ventila tion win~.
The r efl ctions ot the approachin~ liyits will a p~ear in your
veneilation uinb unless the eide ot your car prot rudes out so
f a r as t.o pr e v .. nt tte 11 ~ t beam ""rom shinin , on the ·.:ing.
--- PAGE 60 ---
.. . ·..
) -
Th••• appear beat when the approachin~ car is s ome distance
away, perhaps a quarter or half a mile. The results at night
may not be aa impressive ae tboae in the late afternoon because
at night your ventilation wing window makes a more pertect
mirror and the passing landaca~ is not as pronounced, theretore,
the reflections therein are more easily detected as reflections.
In t he l a te afternoon, boweYer, you have a teelin~ that you are
act ua l ly looking through the glass and the r eflected objects
• ~pear more real. The sun ahinin~ on a bright ring on your fin
ger with your hand resting on the steering wheel may caat disc
like reflections in your wind shield. The form or the reflect
ion will depend upon the ornamental decorations on your ring.
Th• rear door handle on my automobile reflects nine beau
tiful, little, silver, flying disca in the bright sun-light.
These appear in the lower part of the ventila tion wing and when
traveling on a level highway, they appear to be racinz along
with me at the road side. These nine discs a ppear in a fora
ation of two rows ot four each, with the ninth one 1n the lead
at the center ot the formation. They appear as whirling pro
pel lers in a vertical position. · These discs also have atreaa
era which are due to the curYeture and decorative pattern on
the handle. While traveling north in the early afternoon under
a bright s\Dl, these nine discs appeared tar below to my lert,
racing up the Talley at a terri fic rate.
You may be able to ••e flying disc ■ 1n your own home.
It you will tum on a aaall electric light 1n the hall-way
and then l>olc through the window at the other end ot the hall,
//
(S)
--- PAGE 61 ---
you aay s e e aa many as three flying discs from one electric
light bulb, w<hich may haTe more or less of a bell shape. Thea•
discs many timoa • ppear as inverted aaucera, and it you will
change 7our ?()Si tion slowl y you will see that they change their
position also. Those ara best obserTed in the late a ftomoon
or between sun do..u and dusk, lilen it a ppears to you that you
ara merely look1n~ through the window pane at the discs sus
pended in the distance. As darkness comes on, the window pane
becomes a more perfect mirror nd your discs a ppear as r e flect
ions 1n a llirror.
To watch the discs, through your vent i lation \·:ine; , Nil
along ui th you as you drive through the country, b e c omes Tery
rascinat1ng, eapacially if' you use a little imagination. It
may absorb your t hought• completely, therefore , I ,ould adaon
iah •~0110bil~ driTera watching the flying discs, t o be cautious
•
and not. run orr the road or into some other car.
Some or t he reports on tlying aaucera, heretofore not ex
plai.D~in this article, such as those re ported seeing bright
fl.aahea 1n the aky, were no doubt reflected sun-light fro■
plane s. These light beams chanced to cross t h e line of vision
of the obaerYer. - They frequently appear Yery brilliant and
may aore or l••• blind the obsener for an instant. If the
plane 1a Yery high it may not be aeen by the observer, which
aa7 be due to iapaired Tia1on or the great height at 'Nhich
the plane 1a flying. \le very often get th••• aame blinding
flaahea fro■ automobile wind-ahielda, Many ot the repor'ta
I
around July 4th. were incited by variou• tortDa ot fire worka.
I
--- PAGE 62 ---
SOllle report.a ateamed tro■ pure illagination or hysteria. while
other• were deliberate hoaxes • .my other re ports can be ex
pld.ned it all the surrounding facts a r e known .
Moat all of' the r e-.iorta and descri-ptions of the flying
aaucera coincide eo clearly with the findings herein. that
there could be no doubt bu~ that we baYe the correct aolution.
Th• ~oregoing atate. .nt may not be coached in precise
ac1ent11"1c t•nu• and may not be acientitically exact. bow
eyer, we belieYe it la ao worded that the average l ayman can
understand it and that it ii. ~,1fticiently correct to prove
the proposition.
Persona1ly• I do not belieYe that the so-called flying
aaucers or the solution thereof. are or any military value,
unl••• the Govemment wished to retain this information for
the psychological effect upon any potential enemy nation,
auch aa Germany d id 1n regard to their so-called secret
.
weapons during the war•
/
--- PAGE 63 ---
•
. . ..
Co4e llOA
DI, 7 Aapat 1947
MIMOWDQM.
!'O: Ae ■ t
CM,d of Air ltaff-2
Collection Branch, W
Vaahin,;ton 25, D. c.
1. IJ'he inclo■uN 1• an excerpt fro• a letter to
Dr. E. Tou.e7, Micron Ya•-■ Section Bead. Jra.al Be ■earch La)ora,
to17, troa Mr. John 7. Cole, pert&Ulin« to ■oM ,midentifiH obJect•
which Mr. Cole report ■ to baTe •een •ome ti• prior to the fir•t
report• of •tl)'in« ■aucer•• in the Iev England area.
2. Dr. 'l'ouae7 ■tat•• that Mr. Cole 1• a well-mown ..,ronomer
and a reliable ob■ener a■ a reault of hi ■ trainiJI«.
3. The inclo■ure 1• in a441tion t o intoraation coatainecl
i n prenoua letter■ to 7our office taken fro■ 1nterT1ew• at the
reque•t ·of Lt. Col . G. D. Garrett, Ail A.-3.
~ ,,
/
""'""
r ;1
1 A"'
ne1. WIL LIAM P. MP!.t,J.D
!' hcerpt ! 11 l tr t o Major, Air Corpe
Dr. Touae7 2 AMC Liaison Officer
)layal Re ■earch Laborator,.
..) -
--- PAGE 64 ---
'lxce1•p, troa letter to Dr. B. 'l'ouH7 fro■
~. John "I. Cole
South Brook•Tille, Ne.
Jul7. ae, 1947.
BaTing in ■ind the ri~cule which ha■ been beape4. on thoH iuocnt
or per-hap• cullible ind.iTidual• who baTe reported dielca, I would be a little
oauUoue in lnterpretlq. :But it 1e eat• to ■ay trutbtull7, that ■oMthiDC
'UlU11&1 attracted~ attention, and I vae in a perfectl7 eober . condltioa,
'barrinc the •lld etllnllation, atforded b7 cool ■pring water filterinc throuch
llorth BaTen green■ton• craclca. It ahould be eae7 to deteraiu if the •di•k••
were a uv type jet plue, or bomber, or r ocket. '!'he !a.ct t':-t.t it vaa Jul7
3, about 3&30 P. M. ( auaaer tiM) or Greenwich C1T11 t1•e 1830 ■icht wcce•t
that the7 were •acace4 in ao• naTal demon■tration from :l&atportl, Bar Harbor
or :Belfaat. The group appeared to be at an alt1tu4e of about fiO - I autfer
troa a aild cenical arthriti ■--'but rq e7e• are well corrected tor aatigaa
ti•• and bn,enNtropia, and I doubt if rq cerebral. cortical Ledon• are euffic
lentl7 &chanced to affect rq balance. What firet -.de•• look up vae the un
uWLl.17 loud roar and I va• eurprhed not to He a well defined group ot pl&nH
quite near. Inetead I had to look rather eharpl7 to••• the bunch-of Te1'7
licht colored obJecta, in a pneral northerl7 direction and tr&TelliDC ro~7
in a n (true) direction. Thi• vaa reaeonabl7 correct,•• I vaa on Co:x'•
hill, ud looked OTer toward■ :Baclcvood'• Mount, that 1• the conspicuoua flat
tep planated hill at llarbor•ide. '!'he group could hardly haTe cOTered aore
than lt0 azacular diaaeter in the eq, and bunched rather cloeely with DO
regular toraation. There ■ight haTe been 10, I couldn't ••Y and with 90 1 ot
arc eprea4, would -•iiy be within the limit of Ti ■ibility for di•creet ob
ject■• A■ a group they were goin« •o •• to coTer 31J0 of arc, eetimated of
coune, in perbap• 10 or 15 eecond•. I f one of them, ■ay, eubtended 1/10°,
with a po•eible wuic apre&4 of 100 feet, 1t would put 1t at a di ■tance of
oTer 10 a1lee, and quite inTieible for a light obj ect. Beeide ■, vlth 30°
arc~ traftl at a 10 111. dietance vould be roughly 6 ■ile• in 15 aeconda
or 20 111. per ■inute or 1200 mi . per hour! !--rather f&at for a bo■ber--hi.
A fiO ft. object at ~ mile■ diet . would be about 600 111. per hr.-alao taet
golnc. !'he only concrete e-t·idence of fon apoeared on the left tancent of
tbe group-tvo dAlrlc ahaped fora•: ~ tf;J which a&7 h&Te been tail wine•.
Doen't tbe DouglaH bomber haTe theae? And llince they were in no regular
for■ation, but aee■ed MOD« the■aelTe ■ to be ■oTln« irre«ularly like a ■var■
of be••• vb)- ehould.n' t all of the• han ahovn win«-? The loud roar .-a««••h
the7 11a7 haft been auch cloaer, and rather amall. 'rbe •lc;y baeqTOtmd vaa
bas7 bl111, ad the eun behind ■e. One -plane tovin« a lo• of balloone, I
belieTe, vould baTe been e&eily r8Cognised. BaT7 any Meteorite• been re
ported? At that ti•• of uy. ha• there been an7 abrupt cb.all«• of radio field
etnDgth? or ionization?
--- PAGE 65 ---
.. .
..
OFFICE OF THE Alll INSPl!:CTCR
26 JULY li47
MElfORAJlDUK TOa AC/ AS-2, Counter Intelligence Branch
l. Informati on contained herein and opinion• expresaed are baaed
upon conve rsat ion with and request by Mr. Butler ot your orfice. All
pertain t o certai n phenonema c onne cted with recent widespread talk or
"flying saucer•"•
2. Approximat ely three weeks a go, on or about 7 July 1947, I
prepared to go to be d around 2230 or 2300 EDT. I was livi ng at 2807
North Glebe Road , Arli ngton, Virginia, with my wife. Illustration No. l
s hows the ceneral layout or the r ooJ11 we occupied at that time. See
Illustrat ion No. l.
( _J
;r I \
\
I\ )
UJ /,
f,
--- PAGE 66 ---
5. I had juat turned ott th• light by my bedside. but aat down
on the aide ot the bed to listed to the end ot a radio proue,m betor.
reclizdng . ID the -,a.ntiae. ay wit• and I ••r• hanng •01111 con-nr••-
tion about the seleotion or certain t'urniture tor a hCIIW we had juat
purchaaed. At the tiae or these ewnt•• as I aat t"acinr; the windows.
a light appeared at the right•hand edge ot the extreae and window and
mo-nd rapidly along to diaappea.r below the tree• or horilon. or to be
extinguished in s c.e taahlon at acae place in a general southerly
direction. Thi• 1a illustrated on the tollowing page by a very tenta-
tiYe aketch. See Illuatration No. 2. . ,/ CJ;.
Al l .t.' ~ · ~
"'""
I__ r ,,,,. ~
/
/
. .
/
f '
....
.J
/
a
--- PAGE 67 ---
t. At the ti-, 1inoe my attention wa• diTided and ab1orbed among
the 1ubjeot1 •ntioned, JI)' reaction wa1 limply that "a light paued b)","
and I gaw no turther thought to th• •tter until •oae moment• later,
When th• thought o... to . . that I had nenr aeen 1uo}) an object betore,
and that although the tir•t explanation would have been that a meteor had
fallen ~ r d earth in that direction, it did not han the appearance ot
any •t•or or "1hooti~ •tar" I had ever ■-Mn. Tbinlc:1~ ot the then
prenlent talk of flying diak:1, I :refleo\ed that probably 1ome auoh
thing a• I had just 1een wa■ the aou:roe ot a large &110unt of newapape:r
and radio publicity on the 1ubject. The next morning I jeatingly
announced in the office that I nw a tlying Hucer the nigtlt betore and
thought that it wa1 enroute to Alexand:ria,where •ome ot our o.ffice:r1
liT•• I then went on to aay that I 1uppo1ed it wa ■ a •hooting 1tar,
but that it did look: 1011tewhat peculiar. At'ter we had diaou•••d the
general topic tor acae t1ae, I dropped the subject, not wiahing to add
to the auppoaed nao:r1, which I enviaioned aa a aouro• ot 1eriou1 panic
over the country.
6. A cleaoription ot the light, or object 1• almoat impoaaible,
aince obaerntion o.f it waa 10 limited. A• ahown in Illustretion Ro. 2,
the object appeared top••• in cloaeat proximity t o • at the tiJDe it
came into view. All o.f my mental calculation• were baaed upon acme
impression or oonoeption ot it• diatance at the clo1est point, (AC).
I had no way ot judgi~ thil, except in the form o.f ffry crude depth
peroeption. Ir this by any chance were correct, ar.d inatead of a di••
tant meteor aome objoot had passed near-by, I would assume tor purpose•
of description that the distance AC on the sketch was SOl!le three quarter•
ot a mile. OM factor which I could judge quite reliably was the angular
elevation. Thi.a Ja1St haTe been approximately 3 or 4 degrees, at any
rate, the light was lnte:rmlttently behind the tallest treea forward of
ay position a• lt pa1aed, and these treea are or a normal height, perhap•
aixty or eighty feet at a diate.no~aeveral blocks . Baaod upon a aild
aasuaption aa to distance, and a reaaon.able as•U11ption aa to angular
elevation, the object would be at a low altitude, conaiderably bolow
500 feet, and ot a size approximating a ..all airplane, say 30 1'9et
aero••• The •h•pe nay have been round. 0...1, discal, or irre&ula:r; at -
the •peed with lfhich it travelled, I could only percein it a• a "blob."
I do not conaider the distance mentioned to be leas than 3/4 11111•,
lNtoauH had 1t been. I tee l sure th• t, late in the evenin:; and w1 th all
my winf\owa open, I would haw heard aome sound, which I definitely did
not in thi• ca••• It llight be well to poin~ out here the relati.,.
siailarity in •ize, altitude and airspeed of~ .firefly at a diatanoe ot
30 feet, au airplane at about 3/4 mile, and a aeteor at senral hundred
ail••• Moat of u• are familiar with thi• illuaion.
--- PAGE 68 ---
.. .
. .. .
e. Although I oould not aoourately judg• th• t i • , I 1eena to
recall the object or light wa■ Ti■ibl• tor a couple ot ■ econd■•
Taking thi ■ tigure literally and applying it to the ■ketch, Bo.· 2,
on• could roughly compute th• a peed ot the objeot at 1350 aphJ however,
I did not ■ enH that it wa■ aorlng with ■uoh great ■peed a ■ thi•. It
rather appeared to acwe with the •pe•d o t a jet-powered airplane. It
did not deviate tram a ■traight oour ■e While I ob■ernd it, and did not
perceptibly lo•• altitude.
'I• In color, the ■ubjeot had the appearance ot a retlected wh1 te
light, a oool, bright white light with no red in 1t, like the naoon on a
olear night. Th•r• wa■ no train v1■1ble to - • in the torm ot fire,
■-oke, or ■para. The wather at the aaaumed time and date was checked
through record■ ot the BollinC Pield weather otf'ioe, and con■iated ot
acattered to broken clCNdl with v1a1bilitie■ ot 10 - 12 mil••• 1'h• cloud
condition 1• further indication that the object wa■ not nece■■arily a
•.teor, ■inoe it aigbt have been impoaalble to ••• a •teor. I do not
per■ onally re-lll>er th• . .ather condition, except that I am sure it wa■
not raining.
a. At th• t i - ot thia occurrence, I waa not incll.Ded to think ot
it ■-rioualy enough to wake ay wit• and deacribe it to her, nor by a~
reaaoalng to ll&b otticial r4port. Aa tiae paaaed, I thought considerably
about the neeting glimp■• I bad ot whatenr I ■aw, and aa ■till aomewhat
contuNcl, but teel that it waa acae natural phenomenon which occur■ but
rarely. I have tlown appro:d.11m.tely 2500 how-a during th• put ~ ■-nn
year• and being 1•nerally tam.liar with a■peota ot a-nation -.n -phati
oally atate that (a) •it wa■ no weather balloon, (b) it was not the tla1h or
a beacon on th• oloud-b&■-, (c) it could hardly have beon an airplane on
tire, ■inc• it would han at least caaahed in thia general area, (d) it
wa■ not entirely a re■ult ot i•gination, and (e) it waa not ■pending
auo h tiae in one place.
Yi-- . ~ -~ / /
(,/"" JAIIES O. COBB
Lt Colonel, Air Corpe
I
--- PAGE 69 ---
' -Mft.TTO
. .-=rolt..NIWAL IIISEAIICH LMORATORY AINT LWICIJ OffICS
WASISJlr:a,,a. D. C. NAVY DEPARTMENT
--TO:
NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Cou uo WASHINGTON 20, D . C.
38 .Tul7 194'7
stJB.mC'f: ft7bc Saueen
1'0: .laet . Chld O'f Air ftatt-2
Collection Breach, AD
~ 36, D. C.
,
hppleaeiatal to tbat coatalne4 ill a letter'° 70v O'fflce,
tatecl 18 J11l7 194.,, re lnternw with Mr. c. II. Zohn who purport•
to._... . . • 1m14attf1ect flJinc object . tbe followtnc &441ttonal
ldol'll&UOD ,_. obtatne4 Oil 21 Jul7 froa c. c. llockwoocl. who we Mlltlonecl
la lbat letter ae •Tille &leo eeen the object.
C. C. Bockwoo4 NpOt"t• the object to han been either a •1ln17
aphere or 41ec, which be W01114 ban tabn to be a •teorolopo&l 'balloon
eseept for tbe fact tbat U ,... tranlltnc at a aach higher nloclt7
tllaa the autoao'bll• a4 approxiaatel7 1n tbe .... 41recUoa. !he auto
ao'bll• we aoTlnc a1HNt eo aiph. !'bere vaa 11u1e, u 8117, -.daoe wlJMl.
1lba tint .... at • •l•.,.Uoa O'f abo11t 46° 1 t appeancl about of
Ille . . . . •1■- ae t.be . , ..
• coul4 bear nothinc abon the nolN of the
car. r,..., no ■-,a or contre.Ue.
It• aoUoa , . . appanatl7 &11 horisoatal. It• aspect 414 aot cllMce
eo h.l'. . Cftlcl be olNterncl cl1U'1.nc tbe U • O'f obeenat1oa. • thoupt
it 41Nppe&N4 'b7 •1apl7 beco■J.llc too -11 to •"•
cu,Jt~/?'JJtdL_.
YILLUM P. fflJ,P
Major . Air Corpe
.AMC L1&1eon Officer
I
--- PAGE 70 ---
--- PAGE 71 ---
--- PAGE 72 ---
.G
....,
"
I
I •
--- PAGE 73 ---
JOINT CCMmfICATIOIB CITIC!
IR IESSJ.GE T.O.Or 080800 Aug. 1947
RIC'Da 1200 IDT 9Ul Aue.
FROMa A.l!. LONDON
TO: FJ.FDBL
AIX 6328 t.ug. 8t.b 1947
Your AIX 14 Jul.7 29tb •
During normal nigh~ t1ying praot.ioe at. 2230 b0111'8 OD 16111
J & DUBr)'t 1947, <'ne ot our Moequitoe • • wotcired m to an UD.idenWW
o.lrora.ft At 22,000 teet. A long obue en.me! OCl!lll8DOiae OWi' tale . . . .
.
Sea about ,:) dlea h-oc the Duteb coaat @nd ending at 2300 houn owr
Norfolk. Two trt.et AI cont.r. cta were a:de bat f'aded qu1.oklY,.. !ha mt-
1.dentitied airo."'9.tt appea red to take etticient controlled •••1• acts.an.
No exple.m.tion of thil ind.dent baa been tort.lloOl'dng .,..
h&s it been repeated.
,.
l
I. •C.II.
1..u.
C. I. o. (Action) I
a /ec
--- PAGE 74 ---
P'I.nNG DIXS
For purpoaes of ana~is by AFBm~o., eighteen reported sightings
ot "ll'lJ'ing Discs" were selected tor bre&kdOllfn into detailed particu:Lars. F.ach
report was aaeigned a number and each nuraber appears in the lert-hand colUllll
ot the data on the following pages.
Qle report, t;umer 7, has not yet been received and therefore no
1n!ormat1on is included other than Date, Na.me or Observer, and Location. The
Fourth Air Force is attempting to eecure a stat.eraent trom this observer.
Four reports, Numbere 2, 4, 17, and 18, have not been ana.l.yzetl.
The subject headings on which thfl) bre&kdol'ln has been made are;
Dato
Hour (Local standard Time )
Location
Chse:rver 'a t: ame
Cbserver•s Occupation
Observed from Ground or ,Ur
Nwii>er of Objects .iighted
Altitude
Direction of Flight
Speed
Distanee Covered
Length ot Time in Jight
Deviation tram J'traight Flight
Color
31.ze
Jhape
Jound
Trail
Weather
Manner or Disappearance
Remarks
--- PAGE 75 ---
• •
Report
Nwm>er D9te *.!!2:!!t Location
l 19~ 1215 Manitou .ipringe, Colorado
2 22 May Oklahoma City, Okl.&h0111a
J 22 June UJO Greenfield, Massachuaetts
4 24 June Mt• Rainier, ·,18.8hi.ngton
5 28 June 2120 M.a.x,well Field, Alabama
6 29 June lJJO Nera ', 1lite Sands; l~ew lilexico
7 1 July Uakerstield, Callfomia
8 4 Ju~ 2015 F;:urnett, Idaho
9 6 J~, 1345 Clq Center, Kansas
10 6 July Fairtietd-Ouisun, C:1lifomia
ll 7 July 1145 Koshkonong, ,ii£consin
12 7 July 1430 East Troy, :•1isconsin
lJ 8 July- 1550 :.it . Baldy, California
11. 9 July 2JJO Grand Falb , liewtoundland
15 10 July 1600 Harmon Field, Newfoundland
16 12 JuJv, 11330 Slmendort field, JJ.alika
17
I '6
*Local ..>'t andard Ti.me
--- PAGE 76 ---
Report O:>served
flw:iber Cbserver 's Name Occupation from
1 D. A. Houser Railroad .Employee Ground
F. J. Smith " " "
L. D. Jamison !I II It
2 Byron Savage Businessman-Pilot GroWld
3 E. L. DeRoee ~lot s tated Ground
4 Kenneth Arnold Busines s-nian Pilot Air
5 ',1ilson H. .Kayko Captain, .v..f Ground
,,
John H. Cattrell II II
Hedman ti II
"II
Theodore Dewe7 l l'lt Lieut., ;v.F
6 c. ll. Zohn :)nploJee, Nl,L
J. R. Kauke II II
C. C. Hockwood II II
"II
Nancy Rockwood :'lite ot C.C. Rockwood
7 Richarct Rankin Civilian f ilot Grol.:lld
8 :;. J . Smith United ;dr Lines Pilot Air
Ralph -,'tevens 11 11 " Co-Pilot
"
9 A. B. I3rowning Uaj or, ~ .Ur
10 Jas. H. Burniston Captain, .W Ground
11 ?fot Jtated CAP Instructor iiir
" " CAP 5tudent II
12 Not Jtated CAl- Pilot Air
tt II
CAP Passenger II
lJ Al.Yin E. lloorman 1st Lieut., ACCWG Air
14 Irie Ke4rsey Constable, Newfoundland Ground
Constabulary
15 Mr. Yehrman T,'iA Uepresentative Ground
llr. Woodruff }'Ai;_ II II
16 Grahm uajor, AAY Ground
and several other otticen,
•
*From letter received, observer
is obviously well educated.
--- PAGE 77 ---
Report Of!Viation rroc
t-:umber .5t r a1eht :light
1 Clint>ed, dove, hovere d overhead, re 3ilver Apparently small
sumed original course
2
3 lione reported Silver, very
br icht
4
5 Zi g zag cours e "much like a wa ter Brilliance
bue" slightly great
er than a s tar
6 li001'! repor t ed J ome s olar spec Not stated
ular reflection
7
8 Konf" r eported .ar.tos t dusk; Impossible to
could not dis determine
tinguish
9 None repor t ed Ver:, bright and J0-50 ' in di8Jlle-.er
silvery colored
10 None reported Reflection from Comparable t o a
sun C-54 at 10 , 000 1
11 Descended edgewise, stopped at 4,000 ' Not stat ed Kot stated
and asewned horizontal po~itior. . l'r o
ceeded ir. horizont al fl ight f or 15
seconds , s topped Again, then disapp
ear ect
12 None reported Not stated l~ot s tated
lJ None reported or light-reflec Apparent depth of
ting nature a P- 51
14 Noni, reported Phosphorous lot stated
color
15 None reported .'.>ilvery Jame span as a
C-54 at 10 ,000'
16 Followed contours of mountains five Res embled a ,\pprox. 10 ' in
miles away from observera grayish balloon diM1eter
5
--- PAGE 78 ---
Report
N\&llber Shepe $0\p'ld D:&11. v:eather
l. No definite Jhape could be ?lone None CAVU
detendned
2
3 Irregular; roWld, Db not None None Not stated
appear particular~ disc-
shaped
4
5 None stated; seead like None None Clear aocnllght
a bright lieJit
6 No details other than that None Poaaible vapor CAVU
sh&p-. was unitorna with no trailJI
protubarancea
7
8 None definite, but seemed None None CAVU
flat on baae with the top
•118ht~ rough 1n contour
9 Round, diac-shaped None None CAVU
10 No shape could be dieting- None None .;unny
uished
11 Not atated, but report re- None None CAVU
ter_a to "sauc8l"" several
times
l2 .Saae u Report Uo. ll None None CAVU
13 Flat object, ot light-re- None None Not stated
tlectin8 nature 'lfhieh appear-
ed to be without vertical
tin or any viaihle wings
14 Egg-shaped, or like barrel None None CAVU
head
15 Circular 1n sh.ape, like l~on-, Bluish black Clear with scat-
•aeon wheel trail approx. t.ered c wnulws
15 ad. long at 8 to 10 , 000 '
16 Resembled balloon t.one None ?lot stated
--- PAGE 79 ---
Report
- Manner ot
N\@l?!t Diaappearm1c• Remarb
1 Cllnbed very tast and out ot ei8ht No definite shape could be det.erm
and ev.-i with the aid ot 4 to 6 pc
er binocul.ars object could not be
broucht into tocua
2
3 Cbscured by a cloud bank Froa letter thia observer wrote, i
is obvioue he 1s a well-educated
person. Seeks no publicity.
4
5 Lost 1n brilliancy ot the moon Cbservera {2 rated, 2 &ir intell.)
phoned Field Ops to aacerta:i.. n no
scheduled experiment.al a/ c were in
vicinit7. Sky chart attached to re
6 C.mot explain, except that renec Cbserver is Admin. "3st. in the Roe
tion angle r111&y have c hanged abruptly et Jonde .;ect. or t-'RL. Two other
"scientist.e", and wife ot one, wee,
in p arty and made same observation
7
8 Don 't know whet.her t.hoy put on a tre Cl,eervers were Pi.,,_ot, Co-Pilot, ot
Menduows burst ot epeed, or disinteg scheduled UAL DC-.). ..,'tewardes s ala1
rated. HOlltever, they '1.id disappear into S8.)1f objects • .:iuggest reading o t VY.
sunset detailed statement.a.
9 Unexplained When first ei e hting ob j ect near ho:
izon, ob server looked at chart in
his lap to check posit.ion. ', /hen he
l ooked out windOl't aeain, object wai
off his lert wing at 11 0 1 clock
10 Disappeared at an anele of about JQ0 Rolled rrom side to side 3 times 1l
above the earth's svface its path across the s ky. Sun retle
ed f rom top side , but never from ui
erside , even "hen turning
11 Unexplained None
12 Unexplained None
13 Pil ot (at J(X)MPH) attempted to keep Cbserver contacted bue s in area w:
object in eight , but unable to do so reported no a/c 1n air at ti.me
14 Unexplained First. 4 discs flyi.n& line-a-trail
15 Une)(J)lained Jeemed to cut clouds open es it
pass ed thru . Trail wu like be~
s een after a higb-p0111ered landing
li:11 t it. s witched orr.
16 t:ot s tat""1 Cbj ect was obs erved paralleling t a
course of a C-47 then landing .
7
--- PAGE 80 ---
H?:AJJ-tL.:-.HTE:'.S f If rEE~TL ., FC..-t..;E
Co lorado SprinLs , Colo :·ado
2 J uly 1947
SUbJ ::CT : Su per son ic P latters
SU?a!AkY C.F INFCH!.'.ATICH :
The following info nna 1 i on was related to Counter l ntelligenc~ Cor ps
Personnel at iieadquar te rs Fifte entn Air Force , Color&.ao ..;prir., s, Co l o r ado on
27 June 1 947 o:., Mr D. A , h a.us er , 24 t;or th t:hesr,ut .:>tr eet , Colorado .>pr i nbs
Colorado, Mr, F, J . .imit:- , 24. r airview, ..lanitou Sp rint,s , Color ado a.nd Mr. L ,
D. Jami son, 241 b \,es t l\ iowa., Color~do Sprin 8 , Co l orado . All three o f t he
men are empo l yees of the P iKes Peak kailv "y , anitou !:>prinbs , Colo rado.
"On or a bout 19 ...ay 1 ~~7 d\.4r ing the i r l un ch ~er i..>d ,, 1 21, -1 3ltJ a me m
ber of a t rain crew called a. t~ent ion to a s : l ver obj ec l in ti.e s ky a i pr oachin1,
from t r.e Nor tn Zs.s t . It a ;,peare d t.o we t ravelli11, a t a i;;reat SFee<! , All
thret1 men sta t ed tha t t r.e alt i tud e o f t.ne object was very di1'ficult to de t er
mine because of i t s a ppare nt sma l l ness. They fur t.r,c:1 r s t.a ed that. because of
th .:.s it was d iffi c ult to view t he objt1ct a s beinb l arbe a n d .,avinG hie;h
altitude o r s ma ll and being a t a r elatively l ow al ti t ud e. 'i'ne~ did se.y thou c;h
that i t appeared to be higner than the t o p of ~1anitou !,'oun l.ai n wn ich i s ov er
l OUO f e e t hit.her than t ne shops which are situated a~ i t& base , ,fo defi 1w. 1,e
a ..ape o f t h e object could be de t e rmined a n d even wi th t.i.e aid o f binvculars it.
t1till c o u ld not be b r ought into f ocus . The IJinoculers u sed were of a.bou t 4 t o
6 power. The men s tated that they were cer a j n that Lite cbj-,ct did not nav e
any of t ne physic al characteristics of modern conventiona l aircraft .
The da y was di scribed as being clea.r a 11d sunny with n o t 11 cloud in the
sky and.io g r ound wind .
On reacb i n t, t : e area j ust Nor th o f J.ie.r,it ou I. outs. in t he ob j e ct 1·emaine d
io t ne immedia ~e a rea for several minu tes dur ing which time it was s e en to
exec ute ma nuvers s vch as cllmbl.:.g, di 1 ·1r, t nd r eve :sal o f direct ion of fli ;: ht .
Th i s ha£ pened ever y few seconds. The. distance and l oc..ltion be we e n views
pr ompt ed two 01' t .,e men to t h ink tnat t here .were more of • he unidentified
obj ec t s in t he sky . At times tlie object seer,1ed to hov ee r lo t11e ai r w,d then
st.art on a no ther pa t h o f fli , ht . When last seen t : e sHve c ob,;o ct was c limo-
1n,, very fat1 t toward s the ~,est almo st d i rect l y in to the wind ,
Pr e vious disLribu t ion :
Eva l u to. t.i on
None
s our c e 01· inJ'ormt\ tic,n
E 0
Hq !.,AC 3 copit,a
--- PAGE 81 ---
..
HOOCAMA l'O•M NO e-eo•
JII MAY , •••
O KLAHOMA CITY AIR MATERI EL AREA
T I NKER FIELD
O KLAHO MA CITY , O l<l.AHOMA
C.J>t-./KD.S : cp
/(J72k- I 21. J ul y 1947
ME!AO:ut;i)UU 'ro TH::: S~P.ITY CF ::-:CC.:R, OCA.MA , 7IK t,..R :-r..:.w.
SUBJ.:CT: BTIOI\ :. . :JAVl..G':. , field Enginee r, :taaio Cor poration of
America, Dallas, ':"exas . ( ltesidence: 416 K. :,. 29th Street,
Oklahoma City , Okla hOl'IIB. . )
RE : Flying Disc.
On 23 July 1947, BYRCN c. JAVAGJ was intervi ewed at his resiaence,
416 N. W. :;><)t h Street , Oklahoma Ci ty, Oklahoma , relating to his alleged
viewing of a flying disc over t he vicinity of Oklahoma Ci ty, Okl ahoma.
Subject , whose age i s 38 , advi sed he is married ar:d nas one child ,
and is pregent l y the hol de r of a Private Pi l ot ' s License , No . 39101,
( wingle ~ngine , Land) . Subject averred he has extensively s tudied elect ron
ics, sound engineer ing an d aerona utics , a nd his present occupation, which is
Fiel d engineer for Radio Corpor ation of America , of t'ices of which a re
located i n vallas, Texas, i s that of installing theat er sound equipmdnt.
~A VAGE stated that be t ween the days 17 May to 21 Uay 1947 , jus t after dusk ,
he obs e rved an object which he bel ieved to be a sma l l air cr aft i n the south.
~AVA~6 advised t hat the s un had jus t gone down and t he moon had not a r isen
on the hor izon. s ~VAG~ related that he and his wife had j us t depart ed
thei r r esidence and had started to enter their car in the dri veway a t
416 N. ii. 29t h St r ee t, Oklahoma Ci t y . He judged the time to be bet ween
8 : 30 p. m. and 9 : 00 p.m., and the l ight s fran the city of Okl ahoma Ci ty
ap~e~red to be shining on this object when he f i r st saw i t. He judged the
obj dct to be about 160° i n the south whe n he f i r st saw it, a nd as it moved
t owar d him he r emarked to hi s wi f e that "a big white plane was coming over."
,
SAVAGE sta ted tha t whe n this object was at a 4 5° angle from him., he
realized it was not a conventional. type aircraft, and it appeared elliptical
at firs t a nd a s it moved close r it appea red per fectly rowid and was flat .
SAVAGE advi sed the object , which appea red to him as a disc, had no appearance
of belng sphe r i cal and ha d a ratio of diameter to the thickne s s of approxi
mately 10 to l, appearing thicke r in the center, but this could not be
positively ascertained. SAVAGE judged the object to be at a.n altitude of
between 10 , 000 and 18 , 000 feet, and it left no trailinf effects. SAVAGE
related that it appeared to be in bulk as big as the bulk of six B-29s at
an al titude of approximately the same height. SAVAGB advisad that the obj ect
was i n his vision approximately 1 5 to 20 seconds and travdlled at a speed
whi c h he judg•Jd to be approxima t el y three time s tha t of jet-propelled aircraft.
l
--- PAGE 82 ---
Memo to the Securit7 Officer, OCAMA, Tinker Field, dtd 7/2J+/47, Fil•
372J+-I.
SAVAGE stated that there were no protrusions on this object and as it
went b7 he l istened tor a sound of noise., and at one time thought he dis
tinguis hed a swishing sound like the rushing o! air. This swishing 80und
occurred a rew seconds after this object ·had passed him. SAVAGE averred
this sound wais not verr loud and did not last very long, and it is vecy
possible that the sound could have been his imagination or expectation, as
he was not sure or the sound. SAVA~ related that he cal.l.ed his wife to
see this object but it had disappeared before s he could focus her eyes on
it. Subject s t ated-that the object appeared to diminish in size and
speed as it moved away, and it was moving in a direction of 3 500 . to the
north. Subject further stated t hat th4' object appeared to be frosty white
in color at all times.
SAVAGE advised that he has held a pilot's certificat e since 1934 and
has been flying since 1929. He advised tha t he would be gla d to answer any
further inquiries and will cooperate in every way possible . SAVAGE s tated
he was sure this object was not a meteor and in his opinion it mus t be
radically built and powered, probably atomic.
~~ / JL ~
KAUUN D. SHON
C. I . U. S. Army
(.
2
--- PAGE 83 ---
• 111 . .rUlaa •-...
CINelatie14, llueaohuaett•
July 10, lM,
OoeeneP4lnc Ottloer
. . . . . . . . .t.el4
Ohl•epee• . .■a.hullThis text is truncated. The complete file is available at the official source.
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