Editing 1947 flying disc craze (section)

===Weather balloons, pranks, and hoaxes===
{{external media
|title=Hoaxed discs
|image1=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23512763/standard-speaker Harston with a hoaxed disc from Shreveport]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18838873/the-times/|title=Clipped From The Times|newspaper=The Times |date=July 8, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> 
|image2=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23512763/standard-speaker Rev. Joseph Brasky of Grafton, Wisconsin poses with hoax disc]
|image3=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18841058/the-gazette-and-daily/ Kemper disc] of York, PA<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18841058/the-gazette-and-daily/|title=Clipped From The Gazette and Daily|newspaper=The Gazette and Daily |date=July 12, 1947|pages=4|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>
|image4=Morfitt disc of Victoria, B.C.<ref name="auto85">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/506005135/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - Times Colonist at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
}}
On July 8, United Press reported that Soviet Vice Counsel Eugene Tunantzev denied responsibility for the discs, saying that "Russia respects the sovereignty of all governments and by no stretch of the imagination would use another country for a proving ground."  American officials agreed, dismissing speculation that the discs might be 'secret weapons of use in bacteriological warfare'.<ref name="auto78">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/334399780/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - The Journal Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  $1,000 rewards were offered in three different parts of the country: in Los Angeles, the "World Inventors' Exposition" announced a $1,000 reward for a  'flying disc' by the end of the week.<ref name="auto100">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/249335572/|title=8 Jul 1947, Page 1 - Muncie Evening Press at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Similar rewards were offered by entrepreneur [[Culligan#History|E.J. Culligan]] of Northbrook Illinois and the [[Joe Albi#Athletic Round Table|Spokane Athletic Round Table]], described as a 'group of gagsters'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/550962474/|title=8 Jul 1947, 4 - The Gazette at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On July 8, papers ran comments by White House press secretary Charles G. Ross who jokingly shared a telegram from a professional juggler who reported the "saucers" were things used in his act that "got out of hand".<ref name="auto109">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/347821422/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - Casper Star-Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Pulitzer-prize winning journalist [[Hal Boyle]] authored a satirical report from inside a flying saucer.<ref name="auto109"/>

On July 8, it was reported that Norman Hargrave reported finding a object containing the inscription "Military secret of the United States of America".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/6159572/|title=8 Jul 1947, Page 1 - Lubbock Morning Avalanche at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Another unsubstantiated story was circulated of a disc being recovered on the Texas Gulf coast.  Flying disc reports spread to Sydney, Australia, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Copenhagen, Denmark.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/325468177/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - Nanaimo Daily News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto90">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/683746787/|title=8 Jul 1947, 3 - Los Angeles Evening Citizen News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Sightings were reported in Saanich, B.C.<ref name="auto85"/>  In Victoria, B.C., a palm-sized disc was photographed and turned over to police by Arthur Morfitt, who said the disc landed near him.<ref name="auto85"/>

By July 8, reports had spread to 41 states.<ref name="auto74">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/205470618/|title=8 Jul 1947, Page 3 - Oakland Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Science-fiction author and [[Fortean]] [[R. DeWitt Miller]] compared the current craze to 19th-century folklore, speculating the discs were either a new weapon, interplanetary, or else "things out of other dimensions of time and space".<ref name="auto104">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/101172712/|title=8 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Bend Bulletin at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Newspaper and radio firebrand [[Walter Winchell]] cited DeWitt's book "Forgotten Mysteries", highlighting three 19th-century reports that Winchell alleged were similar to the ongoing disc craze.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/325779550/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - The Tampa Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Tobacco salesman Lloyd Bennet, of Oelwein, Iowa, claimed to have found a 6.5-inch diameter disc in his front yard.<ref name="auto104"/>  Frances Adams of Austin similarly recovered a disc which was photographed and publicized.<ref name="auto77">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/359898241/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - Austin American-Statesman at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  F.G. 'Happy' Harston, a Shreveport auto salesman, recovered a 16-inch aluminum disc thrown by pranksters.<ref name="auto107">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/210767436/|title=8 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Thomas W. Wilson, also of Shreveport, chased a "disc" which was revealed to be a balloon.<ref name="auto107"/>

John Caldwell, of Austin TX, reported seeing a disc and also shared having seen a mysterious aircraft 57 years prior; Caldwell dismissed both as illusions.<ref name="auto77"/>  On July 8, celebrity [[Orson Welles]] publicly denied any connection to the flying discs, saying "I [[The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|scared the shirts off Americans]] once.  That was enough."<ref name="auto93">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/391653138/|title=8 Jul 1947, 3 - The Journal Herald at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Media reported on rumors that a disc had crashed near Lancaster, CA, setting fifteen or 20 tree afire; ranch owner Fritz Godde denied the reports.<ref name="auto90"/>

{{external media
|image1=[https://saturdaynightuforia.com/html/articles/articleimages/carrolltimesheraldalbertweaver7-9-47.jpg Albert Weaver photograph]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16245710/the-journal-times/|title=Clipped From The Journal Times|newspaper=The Journal Times |date=July 9, 1947|pages=7|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>
}}

Media compared the ongoing craze to the unexplained fireballs reported in May and June 1945 over Japan, beginning with the May 23 night raid of Tokyo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/402580806/|title=8 Jul 1947, 5 - Wisconsin State Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

July 8 saw the first publication of a flying disc photograph, captured by Albert Weaver of Michigan.<ref name="auto106">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/501000238/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Also on July 8, press ran a photo of three prominent disc observers, Kenneth Arnold, E.J. Smith, and Ralph Stephens, who had gathered to "compare notes on the 'flying discs'"<ref name="auto84">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/628198085/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - Lodi News-Sentinel at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Roswell debris====
{{main|Roswell incident}}
[[File:Marcel-roswell-debris 0.jpg|thumb|At Fort Worth Army Air Field, Major Jesse A. Marcel posing with debris on July 8, 1947]]

On July 8, 1947, RAAF [[public information officer]] [[Walter Haut]] issued a [[press release]] stating that personnel from the field's [[509th Operations Group]] had recovered a "flying disc", which had landed on a ranch near Roswell.

The following day, the "disc" was revealed to be pieces of a weather balloon.  On July 9, ''[[Roswell Daily Record]]'' reported that the debris consisted of "large area of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks."<ref name="7bqsQ">{{cite news|url=http://ufologie.net/rw/p/roswelldailyrecord9jul1947.htm |title=Harassed Rancher who Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About it |newspaper=[[Roswell Daily Record]] |date=July 9, 1947 |access-date=February 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109043134/http://ufologie.net/rw/p/roswelldailyrecord9jul1947.htm |archive-date=January 9, 2009}}</ref>

====Reports diminish====
{{see also|Rhodes UFO photographs|l1=Rhodes flying disc photographs}}
On July 9, the Oakland Tribune announced that reports had dropped off and "it appeared the show is over".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/205471452/|title=9 Jul 1947, Page 3 - Oakland Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Press reported that the Army and Navy had begun a campaign to halt the flying disc tales.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/303514720/|title=9 Jul 1947, 1 - The Daily Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Also on July 9, media reported that a triangular object found near Oxford Ohio by John Strucks was also a radar target used on weather balloons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/249279881/|title=9 Jul 1947, Page 1 - Palladium-Item at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Dozens of "flying discs" in Richmond, Virginia were revealed to be paper plates released by jokesters from a tall building.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/560787757/|title=9 Jul 1947, 1 - St. Joseph Gazette at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On July 9, airplane inventor [[Orville Wright]] argued the disc reports are "more propaganda for war, to stir up the people and excite them to believe a foreign power has designs on this nation".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/56081240/|title=9 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Courier-Gazette at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

On July 9, Missouri press reported that a contraption made from pie pans, wires, and radio tubes was found burning on the Clayton County courthouse lawn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/573455827/|title=9 Jul 1947, 1 - St. Louis Globe-Democrat at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
[[File:Rhodes UFO photos.png|thumb|right|The [[Rhodes UFO photographs|Rhodes flying disc photos]] of Phoenix were published by the ''Arizona Republic'' on July 9.]]
Al Hixenbaugh of the Louisville Times photographed two objects streaking across the sky.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/476855227/|title=9 Jul 1947, 1 - The Oshkosh Northwestern at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> William A. Rhodes [[Rhodes UFO photographs|photographed an object]] over the skies of Phoenix.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/117325958/|title=9 Jul 1947, Page 1 - Arizona Republic at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Disc reports from Iran were published in US media.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/140787133/|title=9 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Plain Speaker at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

On July 9, with the announcement of new disc reports from Kansas, reports had come from all 48 states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/445659156/|title=9 Jul 1947, 445 - Daily News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  That same day, press ran headlines reporting: "Army, Navy try to stop rumors of 'Flying Discs'".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/13590060/|title=9 Jul 1947, Page 17 - The Kokomo Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Hoaxed discs recovered in Hollywood and Detroit====
On July 10, it was reported that Russell Long of North Hollywood had discovered a 30-inch diameter disc which allegedly struck his house and came to rest in his flower garden.  The disc, still smoking, prompted a call to the fire department; firemen reported an "acrid, chemical smell".  The device was described as having exhaust pipes, a fin and rudder.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/265266336/|title=10 Jul 1947, 3 - The Press Democrat at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The local fire battalion chief told press that "It looks like someone went to a great deal of trouble for a joke."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/10339753/|title=10 Jul 1947, Page 10 - The Chronicle-Telegram at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  The disc featured a glass radio tube.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/681669028/|title=10 Jul 1947, 2 - The Lexington Herald at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Local FBI chief Richard B. Hood reported that the FBI took possession of the disc and would turn it over to the military.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/742779524/|title=10 Jul 1947, 1 - Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In Detroit, Emmett C. Daniels discovered a disc with "red painted hieroglyphics apparently of oriental origin".  Local workers took credit for creating the disc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/97795926/|title=10 Jul 1947, Page 7 - Detroit Free Press at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Balloons====
The Navy announced it had conducted a test, releasing a helium balloon carrying a tin-foil screen over Stone Mountain, Georgia.  As anticipated, local newspapers received disc reports.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/5066310/|title=10 Jul 1947, Page 16 - The Sandusky Register at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Leroy Leach of Dover, Ohio reported discovering a balloon with foil on his farm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/324939471/|title=10 Jul 1947, 1 - The Union County Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
On July 10, a local army recruiter was photographed with a shattered kite and balloon that had been recovered from Bakersfield.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/3624437/|title=10 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Bakersfield Californian at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In Lima, Ohio, a cardboard disc attached to a balloon was recovered by Julian Faccenda, workers at a local factory took credit for the device. Original disc witness Kenneth Arnold flatly denied that the objects he saw could have been balloons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/174586/|title=10 Jul 1947, Page 8 - The Tipton Daily Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The Wisconsin Civil Air Patrol announced it had ceased its aerial search for discs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/334400206/|title=10 Jul 1947, 3 - The Journal Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In Barstow, California, one columnist observed that reporting on discs might jeopardize national security: "If these 'flying discs' are enemy experimental dummy bombs or rockets, we have given the enemy valuable information.  We have published the exact location, time, etc.  This would make excellent data for enemy agents."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/747987583/|title=10 Jul 1947, 7 - Desert Dispatch at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Walter Winchell speculated that, despite official denials, the disc reports likely stemmed from secret Navy flying wing aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/325781270/|title=10 Jul 1947, 1 - The Tampa Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Twin Falls recovered disc hoax====
{{main|Twin Falls saucer hoax}}
[[File:Twin Falls saucer hoax.png|thumb|175px|right|Hoaxed saucer from Twin Falls]]
On July 11, press reported the recovery of a 30-inch disc from the yard of a Twin Falls home. Residents reported hearing a "thud" around 2:30{{spaces}}a.m., but dismissed the noise as a truck.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566292718/|title=11 Jul 1947, 2 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> At 8:20{{spaces}}a.m., a next-door neighbor reportedly discovered a "disc" and summoned police.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8d1EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA106|title=Crash: When UFOs Fall From the Sky: A History of Famous Incidents, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups|first=Kevin D.|last=Randle|date=May 20, 2010|publisher=Red Wheel/Weiser|isbn=9781601637369 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Local police arrived and took possession of the object.  The matter was referred to both FBI and military intelligence.  Multiple officers from [[Fort Douglas]] flew in to investigate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566292842/|title=13 Jul 1947, 2 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>Two lieutenant colonels, two first lieutenants, and a civilian.</ref>  Authorities "clamped down a lid of secrecy pending the outcome of further investigation".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566292702/|title=11 Jul 1947, 1 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Local press featured a piece on Army "cloak and dagger" during the disc investigation, mentioning that photographs of the object were confiscated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566293198/|title=15 Jul 1947, 4 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On July 11, the FBI reported the apparently-mundane object had been turned over to the Army.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/393708035/|title=11 Jul 1947, 1 - The Independent-Record at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

On July 12, it was reported nationally that the Twin Falls disc was a hoax.  Photos of the object were publicly released.  The object was described as containing radio tubes, electric coils, and wires underneath a Plexiglas dome.  Press reported that four teenagers had confessed to creating the disc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/594877292/|title=12 Jul 1947, 9 - Deseret News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The Twin Falls hoax, with its nationally published image showing a bemused army officer holding a disc-like object of mundane construction, has been called the "[[Coup de grâce|Coup de Grace]] of press coverage" on the Summer 1947 Flying Disc wave; in the days following the story, "press accounts rapidly fell off".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81xoS94LSncC&pg=PA39|title=UFO Headquarters: Investigations On Current Extraterrestrial Activity In Area 51|first=Susan|last=Wright|date=August 15, 1998|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=9780312207816 |via=Google Books}}</ref>