Editing 1947 flying disc craze (section)

==Events of Summer 1947==
{{see also|Cold War}}
[[File:Flying disc craze of 1947 - no labels - animated.gif|thumb|350px|right|Animation of reports during the flying disc craze]]

The year 1947 was marked by renewed tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States.<ref name="auto91"/>  On March 13, American president [[Harry Truman]] pledged to contain the communist uprisings [[Greek Civil War|in Greece]] and [[Turkish straits crisis|Turkey]]. More generally, the [[Truman Doctrine]] implied American support for other nations thought to be threatened by [[Marxism–Leninism|Soviet communism]].<ref name="auto91">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjI4X7ZOvOIC|title=Watch the Skies!: A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth|first=Curtis|last=Peebles|date=April 29, 1995|publisher=Berkley Books|isbn=9780425151174 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

On April 16, statesman [[Bernard Baruch]] coined the term "Cold War" to describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/04/bernard-baruch-coins-term-cold-war-april-16-1947-035862|title=Bernard Baruch coins term 'Cold War,' April 16, 1947|website=POLITICO|date=16 April 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=November 10, 2020|title=The Truman Doctrine's Significance|url=https://www.historyonthenet.com/truman-doctrine-significance|website=History on the Net}}</ref><ref name="auto91"/><!-- On April 30, it was reported that Mountain Home AAF would be reactivated for use by strategic air force as a base for heavy planes.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/image/566107810 {{Bare URL inline|date=July 2022}}</ref>-->

Having lost 27 million people in the war, the Soviet Union pushed for returning Germany to a pastoral state without heavy industry.  Despite Soviet objections, on June 5, Secretary of State [[George Marshall]] announced a [[Marshall Plan|comprehensive program of American assistance]] to reindustrialize European nations.<ref name="marshallspeech">Marshall, George C, ''[[s:The Marshall Plan Speech|The Marshal Plan Speech]]'', June 5, 1947</ref><ref name="auto91"/>

The summer of 1947 featured widespread publications about atomic energy and war.  On June 27, retired Supreme Court Justice [[Owen Roberts]] warned the US was headed "down the old familiar road of appeasement" towards "An all-out shooting [[World War III]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/564374740/|title=27 Jun 1947, 9 - Spokane Chronicle at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 30, [[Albert Einstein]] and fellow scientists warned of a possible atomic war within a decade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/628457201/|title=30 Jun 1947, 2 - Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  A three-week conference about radioactive chemicals in medicine began at the University of California in San Francisco.  On July 1, Representative [[John Dingell Sr.|John Dingell]] criticized hosting of German atomic scientists in places like El Paso.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/429442639/|title=1 Jul 1947, 1 - El Paso Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto91"/>

===Initial reports===
{{main|Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting}}
{{Location map+|USA|width=150|float = right|caption='''June 25''' - [[Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting|Kenneth Arnold sighting]] near Mount Rainier|places=
<!-- Jun 25 (Mineral, Washington) Jun 24 -->
{{Location map~|USA|marksize=7|lat_deg=46.718405 |lon_deg=-122.18727}}<!-- Jun 25 (Mineral, Washington) Jun 24 -->
}}

On June 24, 1947, private pilot [[Kenneth Arnold]] claimed that he saw a string of nine, shiny [[unidentified flying objects]] flying past [[Mount Rainier]] at speeds that Arnold estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour (1,932&nbsp;km/h). This was the first post-[[World War II]] sighting in the United States that garnered nationwide news coverage and is credited with being the first of the modern era of [[UFO sightings]], including numerous reported sightings over the next two to three weeks. Arnold's description of the objects also led to the press quickly coining the terms ''[[flying saucer]]'' and ''flying disc'' as popular descriptive terms for UFOs.<ref name="auto21">Peebles p. 7-12</ref>

When Arnold landed in Yakima, he described what he had seen to a number of pilot friends, who suggested that maybe he had seen guided missiles or a new airplane being secretly developed by the United States Army.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=ddB7do2jUx8C&dat=19470627&printsec=frontpage|title=Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search|website=News.google.com|access-date=24 June 2022}}</ref>
After refueling, he continued on his way to an air show in [[Pendleton, Oregon]].  He was first interviewed by reporters the next day (June 25), when he went to the office of the ''[[East Oregonian]]'' in Pendleton.<ref>Lagrange, Pierre (1988), [https://pierrelagrangesociologie.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/lagrange-impossiblebut-spencerevans-1988.pdf "It Seems Impossible, but There It Is"], in John Spencer & Hilary Evans (eds.), ''Phenomenon: From Flying Saucers to UFOs – Forty Years of Facts and Research''. London: Futura Publications, 1988, pp. 26–45.</ref> Any skepticism the reporters might have harbored evaporated when they interviewed Arnold at length,<ref>Lagrange, Pierre (1998), [https://pierrelagrangesociologie.files.wordpress.com/1998/12/lagrange-interviewwithbillbequette-iur-internationaluforeporter-winer1998-copie-2.pdf A Moment in History: An Interview with Bill Bequette], ''International UFO Reporter'', Vol. 23, n° 4, Winter, pp. 15, 20</ref> as historian [[Mike Dash]] records:<ref>Dash, Mike, ''Borderlands: The Ultimate Exploration of the Unknown''; Woodstock: Overlook Press, 2000; {{ISBN|0-87951-724-7}}</ref>

:Arnold had the makings of a reliable witness. He was a respected businessman and experienced pilot...and seemed to be neither exaggerating what he had seen, nor adding sensational details to his report. He also gave the impression of being a careful observer...These details impressed the newspapermen who interviewed him and lent credibility to his report.

{{external media|audio1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0D8eAm8h2Y Kenneth Arnold radio interview], June 1947}}
The following day, Arnold was interviewed on the radio about his sighting and his story was published in afternoon and evening editions of regional papers.<ref name="Bloecher"/><ref name="auto33">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54076142/kenneth-arnold-ufo-sighting-june-25/|title=Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting June 25, 1947|newspaper=Corvallis Gazette-Times |date=June 25, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>  By June 26, Arnold's story was being widely reported throughout the United States.<ref name="auto21"/>

====Additional reports====
{{Flying disc craze of 1947 map of reports - Jun 26}}

Arnold's report was the first of many.<ref>Peebles - chapter 2</ref>  On June 26, press reported that Byron Savage of Oklahoma City had seen a flying disc about six weeks prior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624257337/|title=26 Jun 1947, 1 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Bloecher">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kBJDAAAAIAAJ|title=Report on the UFO Wave of 1947|first=Ted|last=Bloecher|date=April 7, 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmFVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=Flying Saucers Over America: The UFO Craze of 1947|first=Gordon|last=Arnold|date=December 3, 2021|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476687667 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  That same day, press reported that a Kansas City carpenter named W. I. Davenport recalled having seen nine discs while working on a roof the prior Wednesday.<ref name="auto35">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/564372494/|title=26 Jun 1947, 1 - Spokane Chronicle at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto53">G. Arnold, Ch. 4</ref>  Also on June 26, photographer E.H. Sprinkle of Eugene, Oregon reported having attempted to take a photograph of a formation of nine bright objects in the prior weeks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11961250/flying-discs/|title=flying discs|newspaper=The Courier-Journal |date=June 27, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto37">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11713669/case-13-e-h-sprinkle/|title=Case # 13 E. H. Sprinkle|newspaper=The Eugene Guard |date=June 26, 1947|pages=1|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> 
<ref name="auto12">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624259269/|title=28 Jun 1947, 4 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto59">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IINjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA106|title=Washington Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries|first=Lynn|last=Bragg|date=September 1, 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493016044 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

{{clear right}}

====Pacific Northwest reports amid jet speculation====
June 27 saw reports of past sightings from a housewife in Bremerton, a home-builder in Bellingham, a motorist and his family from Wenatachee, a couple from Salem, and a woman from Yakima.<ref name="auto22">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/768897049/|title=27 Jun 1947, 1 - The Bellingham Herald at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto59"/>

On June 28, press nationwide reported the opinion of Army rocket expert Lt. Col. Harold R. Turner, who speculated the "discs" were jet airplanes; Turner explained that "the jet planes' circular exhaust glows brightly when heated and might easily appear to be discs at a distance.<ref name="auto56">Arnold, G. p.30</ref><ref name="auto63">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/17214707/|title=28 Jun 1947, Page 1 - The Gallup Independent at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Also on June 28, original disc witness Kenneth Arnold publicly criticized the lack of any official investigation into his sighting.  Said Arnold: "If I was running the country and someone reported something unusual, I'd certainly want to know more about it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/701792044/|title=30 Jun 1947, 1 - The Fresno Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
{{clear right}}

====Reports throughout the West====
On June 28, the Denver Post reported on a crew of seven railway workers in Colorado Springs who claimed to have seen a disc the prior May.<ref name="Bloecher"/>  Also on June 28, press covered reports from a mother and son in Seattle, three airport employees in [[Cedar City]], a family near Boise, an optometrist in El Paso, a dentist in [[Silver City, New Mexico|Silver City]] and a railroad engineer in Joliet; all claimed to have seen discs.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624259174/|title=28 Jun 1947, 1 - The Sacramento Bee at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto38">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/797769263/|title=28 Jun 1947, 1 - El Paso Herald-Post at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/50526757/|title=28 Jun 1947, Page 1 - The San Bernardino County Sun at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto12"/>

====Potential explanations offered====
{{Flying disc craze of 1947 map of reports - Jun 29}}
Lt. Col. Harold R. Turner of the [[White Sands Proving Ground]] publicly initially speculated the discs "must have been" jet airplanes but later told press that the New Mexico flying disc reports were the result of meteorites.<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto40">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/10286931/|title=29 Jun 1947, Page 1 - The Mexia Daily News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 28, Washington-based ironworks operator Ray Taro speculated that the "flying discs" were caused by his foundry, which had been melting bottlecaps, expelling "little aluminum discs" which were blown out of the foundry smoke stacks.<ref name="auto54">Spartanburg Herald, South Carolina - 28 Jun 47</ref><ref name="auto44">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/138615089/|title=29 Jun 1947, Page 1 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 28, Oklahoma sightings were revealed as handbills released from an airplane.<ref name="auto55">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/774335922/|title=29 Jun 1947, 17 - Wichita Falls Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
[[File:COL Harold Turner.jpg|thumb|right|Col. Harold R. Turner, commander of the White Sands Proving Ground, speculated the reports were caused by rockets or meteors.]]

By June 29, one source reported that "These discs, some people suggest, may presage an invasion from Mars."<ref name="feof6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/503032645/|title=29 Jun 1947, 12 - Carlsbad Current-Argus at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Others suggested the discs were Russian weapons, akin to the [[Fu-Go balloon bomb|incendiary balloons released by the Japanese]] to cross the Pacific and explode in the US.<ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto9">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/210766243/|title=6 Jul 1947, Page 30 - The Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto10">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ3BBAAAQBAJ|title=Mirage Men: A Journey into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs.|first=Mark|last=Pilkington|date=July 29, 2010|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=9781849012409 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  Speculation suggested that the Navy's experimental [[Flying Flapjack]] might be responsible for disc sightings.<ref name="auto11">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/797769397/|title=30 Jun 1947, 1 - El Paso Herald-Post at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  On June 30, one Oregon preacher suggested that the discs were "the 'advance guard' of universal disaster, heralding the end of the world".<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/628197575/|title=1 Jul 1947, 4 - Lodi News-Sentinel at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

On July 1, Air Force intelligence officer Col. [[Alfred Kalberer]] and astronomer [[Oscar Monnig]] briefed press to provide reassurance that "we're not being invaded by little platter-like planes from Mars".<ref name="JulKalberer" >{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/636946287/|title=1 Jul 1947, 6 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Monnig described the sightings as "an interesting study in human psychology", arguing that after upon hearing Arnold's initial report, a colleague laughed and predicted "Watch the reports pour in now, from all across the country, from people who will imagine they have seen these things, too".<ref name="JulKalberer" />  Kalberer cited the [[Orson Welles]] broadcast and the [[May 1947 Tokyo Sea Monster broadcast]].<ref name="JulKalberer" /> Kalberer joked that he wished "someone would [[Salting a bird's tail|put salt on the tail]] of one of these discs and catch it like our grandmothers used to tell us to do if we wished to catch a bird",  adding "They're such friendly little discs.  They seem to flip around and do all sorts of kittenish antics".<ref name="JulKalberer" />

Also on July 1, headlines like "Flying Disc Deal 'Solved'" reported that a flying disc had been recovered in New Mexico after a local man chased the object until it landed.  The object was identified as a "five by eight inch piece of tinfoil".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/79807919/|title=1 Jul 1947, Page 2 - The Post-Register at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  In San Angelo, on July 2 the press relayed a report from Ivy T. Young who speculated that his hobby of releasing silvery balloons with his name attached may have been responsible for the disc sightings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/781616993/|title=2 Jul 1947, 1 - San Angelo Standard-Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

===Increasing prominence===
From June 24 to July 1, official response was one of skepticism and humor; that changed during the first week of July, when reports from reputable witnesses prompted further reactions and investigations.<ref name="auto36"/>

====Lt. Governor sighting followed by official investigation====
On July 2, Idaho Lt. Governor [[Donald S. Whitehead]] revealed publicly that both he and Boise Justice J.M. Lampert had witnessed objects on June 24, the day of Arnold's sighting.<ref name="auto31">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566291520/|title=2 Jul 1947, 1 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aJVq5-ZkuEC&pg=PA180|title=Outbreak!: The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior|first1=Hilary|last1=Evans|first2=Robert E.|last2=Bartholomew|date=April 11, 2009|publisher=Anomalist Books, LLC|isbn=9781933665252 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5tTAAAAMAAJ|title=Report on the UFO Wave of 1947|first=Ted|last=Bloecher|date=April 23, 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref> The next day, papers nationwide reported that Lt. Gen. [[Nathan F. Twining|Nathan Twining]], commander of [[Wright Field]], had announced that Air Material Command had opened a probe into the discs. Twining claimed that a "reputable scientist" had seen the disc-like objects in flight. Twining urged all persons seeing the strange objects in flight to contact Wright Field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566291653/|title=3 Jul 1947, 1 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

That day, headlines proclaimed "U.S. Stops 'Laughing Off' Stories of Flying Discs", quoting an Army Air Force spokesman as saying "If some foreign power is sending flying discs over the United States, it is our responsibility to know about it and take proper action".<ref name="auto36">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/683746478/|title=3 Jul 1947, 1 - Los Angeles Evening Citizen News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Army experts acknowledged that they could not explain the disc and reported having checked research authorities and contractors, none of whom knew anything concrete about the discs.<ref name="auto25">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/38901616/|title=3 Jul 1947, Page 2 - The Times at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  They suggested the discs might be the product of a civilian inventor.<ref name="auto28">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/358928569/|title=3 Jul 1947, 1 - The Daily News-Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The ''[[Idaho Statesman]]'' quoted an unnamed military officer as saying he thought the air forces and FBI had been showing "complacency" by not pushing for a more "vigorous investigation". It also reported that Kenneth Arnold has not been contacted by military or the FBI about his sighting.<ref name="auto23">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/723487694/|title=3 Jul 1947, 1 - The Idaho Statesman at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  The ''Statesman'' quoted the FBI special agent in charge of the area's FBI force, [[Guy Banister|W.G. Banister]], who reported "I don't know any more about it than what I read in the newspapers."<ref name="auto23"/>

====San Francisco fireworks and stories of landings====
On July 3, press nationwide reported a story from California Highway Patrol Sergeant David Menary who told of seeing six large metallic discs dive into the San Francisco Bay at high speed the prior day.<ref name="auto13">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/458782396/|title=3 Jul 1947, 6 - The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Menary had been accompanied by Walter Castro, a garage owner.  On July 3, US Army major Steve Monroe of [[Presidio of San Francisco|the Presidio]] issued a report explaining that Menary's sighting had been caused by 'some of the boys' experimenting with fireworks.  Monroe announced further such experiments would be cancelled.<ref name="auto13"/>

On July 3, press announced a "mystery missle" had been seen in Altadena, California and was believed to have landed nearby; the witness stated that object "was NOT {{sic}} a 'flying disc'".<ref name="auto14">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/628345830/|title=3 Jul 1947, 11 - Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  That same day, press reported on a potential landing in San Miguel.<ref name="auto32">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/17214918/|title=3 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Gallup Independent at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====July 4 press reports====
By July 4, reports had spread to 11 states and two Canadian provinces, with new sightings reported in Delaware.<ref name="auto17">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566291780/|title=4 Jul 1947, 1 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Headlines declared the recent investigation had finished: "Army Air Forces Drops Inquiry Into Mysterious 'Flying Discs'; Maybe They're Just Imaginary".  An Army Air Force spokesman explained that the inquiry "has not produced enough fact to warrant further investigation".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/664344070/|title=4 Jul 1947, 1 - The Bangor Daily News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Also on July 4, the United Press quoted [[Meade Layne]], a publisher of an occult magazine, who speculated that the discs were "etheric".<ref name="auto34">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/809588970/|title=4 Jul 1947, 1 - The Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Alternatively, the San Francisco Chronicle published a letter from local eccentric Ole J. Sneide who claimed that the discs were "oblate spheroid space ships" who "have been absent from our planet since before the fall of the Roman Empire, when the Great Master left earth for the outer galaxy by fohatic {{sic}} teleportation."<ref name="auto34"/>
{{external media
|image1=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23246299/harrisburg-telegraph/ Frank Ryman photograph]
}}
That same day, it was reported that Frank Ryman, a Coast Guard yeoman in Seattle, had photographed a disc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/745115299/|title=4 Jul 1947, 9 - The Columbia Record at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto27">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/213019753/|title=5 Jul 1947, Page 4 - The Town Talk at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto59"/>  Also on July 4, it was reported that eight military men were hospitalized with burns after an acid accident at White Sands under Lt. Col. Harold B. Turner.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/2859461/|title=4 Jul 1947, Page 2 - Clovis News-Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Flight 105====
{{main|Flight 105 UFO sighting}}
{{Location map+|USA West|width=150|float = right|caption=Flight 105 departed Boise bound for Pendleton.|places=
{{Location map~|USA West|
lat_dir=N|lat_deg=43|lat_min=36|lat_sec=57|mark = BSicon_AIRCLUB_fliph.svg | marksize =16 |
lon_dir=W|lon_deg=116|lon_min=12|lon_sec=6|label=Boise | label_size = 100 |position=right}}
}}
On the evening of July 4, United Airlines Flight 105 took off from [[Boise, Idaho]] in a [[DC-3]] bound for [[Pendleton, Oregon]].<ref name="auto59"/><ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjI4X7ZOvOIC|title=Watch the Skies!: A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth|first=Curtis|last=Peebles|date=March 21, 1995|publisher=Berkley Books|isbn=9780425151174 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/569377870/|title=8 Jul 1947, 1 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  In a sign of the times, on departure Boise tower jokingly suggested the crew "be on the lookout for 'flying saucers'".<ref name="Jul5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/428762908/|title=5 Jul 1947, 3 - The Columbus Telegram at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

During the flight, the crew reportedly observed "four or five 'somethings'", described as "smooth on the bottom and rough appearing on top", but they could not say whether they were "oval or saucer-like".<ref name="Jul5"/>  One object was reportedly larger than the rest.<ref name="Jul5"/>  The crew later witnessed what they interpreted as four additional objects.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/350610291/|title=5 Jul 1947, 1 - Rapid City Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Group sightings====
The Flight 105 sighting was widely publicized on July 5. Also on July 5, papers reported a group of 60 picnickers in Twin Falls Park had witnessed 35 discs over a twenty-minute period the prior day.<ref name="auto48">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/723487814/|title=5 Jul 1947, 1 - The Idaho Statesman at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Police in Portland received reports of discs, some reports coming from members of local law enforcement in Portland and Vancouver; the International News Service reported that "hundreds of persons" viewed the strange objects, up to 20 in number.<ref name="auto26"/>  At [[Hayden Lake, Idaho]], a group of 200 people were said to witness a disc for thirty minutes.<ref name="auto18">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/569193624/|title=5 Jul 1947, 1 - The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Six people in Boise reported seeing discs the previous day.<ref name="auto26">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/723487819/|title=5 Jul 1947, 2 - The Idaho Statesman at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

On July 5, it was reported that a balloon and a six-pointed, star-shaped tinfoil object was recovered in [[Pickaway County, Ohio]] by farmer Sherman Campbell; the press speculated the object may have been responsible for recent local 'flying saucer' reports.

Also on July 5, press reported on the disappearance of an Army C-54 transport plane.  The plane went missing after departing Bermuda bound for West Palm Beach with six men aboard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/80175383/|title=5 Jul 1947, Page 2 - Statesman Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Years later, the disappearance and flying discs would be incorporated into the [[Bermuda Triangle]] folklore.

Wire service reports quoted astronomer Oliver J. Lee of the [[Dearborn Observatory]] as suggesting the discs were "probably man-made and radio controlled".<ref name="auto18"/>  Human behavioral expert John. G. Lynn blamed the "wave of saucer hysteria" on "recent predictions that an atomic war would break out, laying waste the United States".<ref name="auto18"/>  A Louisiana paper quoted physicist Norris Sill, a member of the Navy staff at the [[Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll|Bikini tests]], as discounting the suggestion that nuclear fission was causing the sightings, saying there was "no plausible connection between the two".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/213019734/|title=5 Jul 1947, Page 1 - The Town Talk at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

====Atomic link claimed====
{{Flying disc craze of 1947 map of reports - Jul 6}}

During the 1947 craze, flying discs and atomic weaponry became linked in the public consciousness.<ref>G. Arnold, Ch. 12</ref>  On July 6, headlines proclaimed "Discs Atom Products, A-Bomb Scientist Says".  Articles cited an unnamed "noted scientist in nuclear physics" affiliated with CalTech who had been part of the Manhattan Project.  The scientist declared "People are not 'seeing things'" and 'said flatly that experiments in "transmutation of atomic energy" being conducted at Muroc Lake Calif; White Sands, N.M.; Portland Ore., and elsewhere are responsible for the "flying discs".<ref name="auto64">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/527531897/|title=6 Jul 1947, 4 - Scrantonian Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Papers observed that the "Bulk of the flying disc reports have generated in a wide circle through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon surrounding the [[Hanford Site|Hanford works]]".<ref name="auto58">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/182928820/|title=6 Jul 1947, Page 17 - Star Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Col. F. J. Clarke, commander of Hanford, denied knowledge of any connection.<ref name="auto58"/> [[Harold Urey]], atomic scientist in Chicago, dismissed the report as "gibberish", as did Atomic Energy Commission chair [[David E. Lilienthal]].<ref name="auto58"/>

The Associated Press reported that fighters had been placed on alert at [[Muroc Army Airfield]] and Portland, Oregon—two hotspots of reports in the prior weeks.<ref name="auto46">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/566291869/|title=6 Jul 1947, 1 - The Times-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  By July 6, reports had spread to 31 states.<ref name="auto46"/>  Louis E. Starr, the national commander of the [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]], called for more information about the discs, declaring that "Too little is being told to the people of this country".<ref name="auto46"/>

====Reports peak====
By July 7, the [[Los Angeles Times]] proclaimed: "Flying ‘Whatsits’ Supplant Weather as No. 1 Topic Anywhere People Meet".<ref>Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1947</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='UFO' Review: Outer Space, the Inside Story |url=https://manhattan.institute/article/ufo-review-outer-space-the-inside-story |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Manhattan Institute |language=en}}</ref><ref>Last Week Tonight, April 21, 2024</ref> That day, newspapers announced that reports "poured in" from the San Francisco Bay.  Berkeley professor [[Raymond Thayer Birge]] reassured the public that the discs "aren't coming from outer space".  Army pilots began flying "camera patrols" as 11 planes were equipped with telescopic cameras in the hopes of capturing images of a flying disc.<ref name="auto52">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/292796768/|title=7 Jul 1947, 1 - News-Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Also on July 7, press reported the account of Vernon Baird, who claimed to have seen a 'Flying Yo-Yo' over Montana.<ref name="auto49">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/428764300/|title=7 Jul 1947, 1 - The Columbus Telegram at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Baird, a civilian pilot working work for a mapping firm, reported the object "came apart like a clamshell. The two pieces spiraled down somewhere in the Madison Range".  Baird described seeing similar objects darting around "like a batch of molecules doing the rumba."  Later that day, it was reported that Baird had admitted the entire story was false.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/624925011/|title=7 Jul 1947, 1 - Ventura County Star at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

One recovered disc was revealed to be a circular saw blade with tubes and wires attached, while a second disc turned out to be locomotive packing washers.<ref name="auto52"/><ref name="auto89">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/798426337/|title=7 Jul 1947, 2 - The Memphis Press-Scimitar at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Retired general [[Hap Arnold]] (no relation) publicly speculated the discs had either been developed by United States scientists or were foreign technology that "operating out of control".<ref name="auto89"/>  The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' received and publicized a letter claiming the discs were atomic-powered Russian planes.<ref name="auto89"/>

[[Winfred Overholser]], a nationally renowned psychiatrist, described the reports as a "national hysteria".<ref name="auto79">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/616084762/|title=7 Jul 1947, 6 - The Times Dispatch at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In contrast, Harry A. Steckel, psychiatric consultant to the Veterans Administration, dismissed the "mass hysteria" explanation, adding that the disc might be the result of "experiments by unknown government agencies".<ref name="auto79"/>

On July 7, it was reported than an Army weather kite was found on a farm near Granville, Ohio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/287371827/|title=7 Jul 1947, 1 - The Newark Advocate at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  Truman returned to Washington after a weekend in Charlottesville, driving himself most of the way, with police escort.<ref name="auto108">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/761535159/|title=7 Jul 1947, 1 - Abilene Reporter-News at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Also on July 7, it was reported that the FBI was investigating a letter received by the ''Los Angeles Examiner'' which claimed the discs were atomic-powered Russian craft.  The ''Examiner'' turned the letter over to authorities after a recommendation by a "top-flight atomic scientist" who appraised the letter as "not all nonsense".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/458810880/ | title=The San Francisco Examiner 07 Jul 1947, page 2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/594876423/ | title=Deseret News 07 Jul 1947, page 1 }}</ref>

===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>

===Reports subside===
Bloecher writes: "With scarcely more than a dozen sightings for July 10th, the UFO wave of 1947 had almost completely subsided. Few if any of the reports were carried by the wire services".<ref name="auto6">Bloecher, 1967</ref>  Bloecher adds: "While interest was high at the time of the sightings, it died out not long after".<ref name="auto6"/>

Another scholar commented on the brevity of the craze, writing: "The first newspaper accounts preceded a sweep of confirmative {{nowrap|stories{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}some creditable, some doubtful, some proven hoaxes, and innumerable {{nowrap|explanations{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}that caught the nation's attention in a matter of days, and the world inside of three weeks...Yet a hypothetical person not in contact with a medium of communication during the incident, and returning to read an American newspaper after July 20, 1947, would know nothing of the episode which, shortly before, held the world in its grip. The episode was that short, that concentrated, that volatile."<ref name="UnivIowa">{{cite thesis |last=Wennergren |first=Emil Ear |date=1948 |title=The "Flying Saucers" Episode |publisher= University of Iowa |url=https://iro.uiowa.edu/discovery/delivery/01IOWA_INST:ResearchRepository/12730522520002771#13730804330002771}}</ref>

In 1948, the press published a new spate of disc reports and revitalized interest in discs.<ref name="auto6"/>

====Crash at Kelso====
{{main|Maury Island incident}}
{{Location map|Washington|label=Maury Island||lat_dir=N|lat_deg=47|lat_min=22 |lat_sec=48|lon_dir=W|lon_deg=122|lon_min=25|lon_sec=12|position=right|width=250| float=right|caption=Location of Maury Island, Washington}}
On August 1, it was publicly reported that a [[B-25]] departing [[McChord Field]] bound for [[Hamilton Field, California|Hamilton Field]] had crashed near [[Kelso, Washington]], killing both pilot and co-pilot; two other men bailed out, though one was critically injured in the parachute jump.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/564353540/|title=1 Aug 1947, 1 - Spokane Chronicle at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto24">Peebles, Ch.2</ref><ref name="arnoldch11">G. Arnold, Ch. 11</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IINjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA108|title=Washington Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries|first=Lynn|last=Bragg|date=September 1, 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493016044 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The following day, press accounts revealed that a "mysterious telephone informant with uncannily accurate information" had contacted the United Press of Tacoma.  The caller claimed that the crashed B-25 had been loaded with flying disc fragments; the caller further claimed that flying saucer witnesses Kenneth Arnold and E.J. Smith had been "in secret conference" at Tacoma's Hotel Winthrop.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/485766482/|title=2 Aug 1947, 3 - The World at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  General Ned Schramm of the fourth air force publicly acknowledged that the deceased pilots were intelligence officers who had traveled to Tacoma to meet with original saucer witness Kenneth Arnold, but Schramm told denied knowledge of any debris onboard the plane, telling press that "it was his understanding" that the pilots "were not bringing anything back with them".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/75097503/|title=3 Aug 1947, Page 1 - Nevada State Journal at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto24"/><ref name="arnoldch11"/>

By August 3, press reported a detailed narrative about the events: original saucer witness Kenneth Arnold had travelled to Tacoma to investigate claims by [[Fred Crisman]] and Harold Dahl, who reported recovering debris dropped by a flying saucer at [[Maury Island]].  Flight 105 pilot E.J. Smith joined the investigation, which received "lava rocks" from Crisman who claimed they were "flying disc debris".  Army Air Force investigators were contacted, and two investigators flew to Tacoma where they took possession of the debris and departed in their B-25 to return to Hamilton Field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/723484175/|title=3 Aug 1947, 1 - The Idaho Statesman at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="auto24"/><ref name="arnoldch11"/>

===Public awareness===
On August 19, Gallup published a poll reporting that 90% of the public had heard about flying discs.<ref name="auto80">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0VYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA260|title=Imagining Outer Space: European Astroculture in the Twentieth Century|first=Alexander C. T.|last=Geppert|date=April 25, 2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781349953394 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  Reports noted this poll "places the saucers on par with Orson Welles' 'Invasion from Mars', the Loch Ness Monster, and [[Miniature golf|Tom Thumb Golf]]."  By comparison, only half the public had heard of the Marshall Plan.<ref name="auto80"/>

The survey showed that 29% of the public believed the discs were illusions or imaginary,<ref name="auto80"/>  33% did not know what the discs were, and 9% offered other interpretations, including linking the discs to atomic weapons or the end of the world.<ref name="auto80"/>

===Maps and table of reports===
{{main|Table of reports during the 1947 flying disc craze}}
{{Gallery
|title=Maps of the 1947 flying disc craze
|align=center
|width=549
|height=338
|mode=slideshow
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jun-25.png|'''June 25''' - [[Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting|Kenneth Arnold sighting]] near Mount Rainier
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jun-26.png|'''June 26''' - Reports from Oregon, Missouri, and Oklahoma
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jun-27.png|'''June 27''' - Reports continue in Washington, Oregon, and Oklahoma
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jun-28.png|'''June 28''' - Reports spread throughout the West. Idaho, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and Illinois see their first reports.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jun-29.png|'''June 29''' - Washington, Oregon, and Texas experience further reports, while British Columbia and Arizona see their first reports.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jun-30.png|'''June 30''' - Continuing reports from British Columbia, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, and Texas. Reports spread to California, Virginia, and Ontario.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-1.png|'''July 1''' - Continued reports in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. First report from South Carolina.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-2.png|'''July 2''' - Ongoing reports in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. First report from Kentucky.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-3.png|'''July 3''' - More reports from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Reports spread to Kansas, Arkansas, and Prince Edward Island.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-4.png|'''July 4''' - Widespread sightings amid first reports from Delaware
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-5.png|'''July 5''' -
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-6.png|'''July 6''' -
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-7.png|'''July 7''' -
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-8.png|'''July 8''' - Reports spread throughout the United States.
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-9.png|'''July 9''' - Reports reach all states
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-10.png|'''July 10'''
|File:Flying-Disc-Craze-of-1947--nocaption--Jul-11.png|'''July 11''' - Reports have largely subsided.
}}