File 035 · 1947 · UFO

The 1947 flying disc wave in the FBI file

After a pilot's sighting in June 1947 the public started reporting 'flying discs'. FBI memos show what agents did with them: a circular saw, a pranksters' disc and a weather balloon.

Background

On 24 June 1947 private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported nine shiny objects flying near Mount Rainier in Washington State. His description of their motion, like a saucer skipping across water, led newspapers to coin the term 'flying saucer'. Within days, reports arrived from across the country, and many Americans began looking at the sky.

The FBI, asked by the Army and by the public to check some reports, collected memos from field offices in July 1947. Part of that file, now public in the FBI Vault, shows how agents treated the early reports: they recorded them, looked for hoaxes and handed objects to the Army.

What the record shows

• An FBI memo dated 7 July 1947 records that the 'flying disc' attributed to a Grafton, Wisconsin priest was a circular saw with wires and tubes attached; the memo says the press agencies were not releasing the story and that agents should not investigate further.
• A memo dated 11 July 1947 describes a 30-inch metal disc with a plastic dome, bolts, tubes similar to radio tubes and wiring, found in a yard in Twin Falls, Idaho, and states that a local official thought it could be the work of a prankster.
• An FBI teletype from Dallas on 8 July 1947 says an Eighth Air Force headquarters reported that an object found near Roswell resembled a high-altitude weather balloon with a radar reflector and was being sent to Wright Field for examination.
• The file also contains handwritten notes and letters from members of the public with their own sightings.

Timeline

• 24 Jun 1947 Kenneth Arnold reports nine objects near Mount Rainier.
• 4–6 Jul 1947 Letters and calls reach the FBI, including a handwritten letter from a witness in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
• 7 Jul 1947 A Wisconsin priest's 'flying disc' turns out to be a circular saw blade; an FBI memo says no inquiry should be conducted.
• 7 Jul 1947 An FBI teletype from New Orleans reports a disc picked up in Shreveport, Louisiana.
• 8 Jul 1947 An FBI Dallas teletype relays an Army report from Roswell, New Mexico: a balloon with a radar reflector.
• 11 Jul 1947 An FBI memo describes a metal disc found in the back yard of a home in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Checking the claims

The claim: the early 'flying disc' recoveries prove a hidden program or alien visitors. What the FBI file shows is a lot of confusion, rumor, press excitement and hoaxes. At least some of the objects, such as the circular saw and the Twin Falls disc, appear to have been pranks or misidentifications, and the FBI memos treat them that way.

What the file does not answer is what Arnold's original nine objects were. Explanations have included pelicans, mirages, an unusual aircraft, meteors or a sighting error, and no single one is accepted. The wave was real as a social event, and the physical objects handed in were largely mundane.

Claimed, but not shown

The file contains hearsay and rumors, and none of the memos describes the recovery of an extraterrestrial craft.

Verdict

Sources

• FBI Records: The Vault, UFO file (1947 memoranda and teletypes)
• Kenneth Arnold's report of 24 June 1947, as quoted in contemporary press coverage
• US Air Force, The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert (1995)

Connected files (red threads)

• Project Blue Book — The wave of reports that started it
• Roswell — The Roswell teletype is part of this file
• Majestic 12: the forged documents — Forged documents later claimed a secret committee from 1947
• The CIA's role in the study of UFOs — The wave that started the CIA's interest
• Aztec 1948 and the Hottel memo — Same FBI file, same wave of rumors

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