This review of UFO cases from the 1940s was written by Jan L. Aldrich, who
is engaged in full-time research into the history of the UFO phenomenon.
The article appeared in the Summer 1996 issue of the International UFO
Reporter, and is subject to the same copyright as the printed version.
In July 1952 a medical doctor at the Veterans Administration Hospital at
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, wrote to Air Force Headquarters about his
observation of a UFO made during the spring of 1947 near the Augusta,
Maine, airport. In March or April of that year, as he was traveling from
Rumford, Maine, to work at the VA hospital at Togus on an early Sunday
morning, he saw several "saucer like objects" over the Augusta airport.
"The objects were fairly close to the ground and appeared to scale like a
pie plate through the air," he wrote. "They revolved and hovered over the
landing field. They were not conventional landing or flying air craft as I
know."
The objects reflected the morning sun, and "there was a trail of smoke not
large like an exhaust from an auto coming from the edge of the revolving
objects." The objects appeared to be 40 feet in diameter and revolving at a
rapid rate. He would not see the UFOs again though he would travel by the
airfield many times. He thought at the time that he had seen an
experimental Air Force craft. He told only his colleagues of his sighting.
The physician's letter was not added to the 122 case files the Air Force
had for 1947, but with 12 other 1947 incidents it was placed in a catch-all
Project Blue Book file of hundreds of letters, many of which also reported
UFOs, titled Public Response to the Life Magazine Article of April 1952.
(Life's "Have We Visitors from Space?" appeared in the April 7 issue.) This file is not among the Blue Book records. The microfilm file was given to Herbert Strentz with over 30 other rolls of microfilmed records including
the Air Force's extensive 1952 clipping collection. Barry Greenwood of
Citizens Against UFO Secrecy now has this material.
Another physician who read the Life article sent an account of his
experience to Civilian Saucer Investigation of Los Angeles, a group
featured in the piece. The physician and his wife, a professional painter
and sculptor, observed a slow-moving, luminous elliptical object on one of
their nightly walks in Birmingham, England, during the spring of 1947. The
long axis of the object had the apparent size of the moon's radius, and the
small axis was about one-quarter of it. The object, which had a bright
reddish-orange glow, moved silently from east to west and disappeared after
about 15 to 20 seconds. The witnesses thought they had viewed an
experimental aircraft and decided to remain silent about the event. (Report
in CUFOS files.)
New light on 1947
Thousands of reports like these have languished in the files of UFO
organizations and individuals or in the 1947 newspapers. In 1967 Ted
Bloecher completed The Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, which recorded over
850 incidents, mostly from June and July. In compiling his report, he used
142 North American newspapers, fewer than two percent of the newspapers
published in 1947. Another study by Loren Gross of more than one hundred
1947 California newspapers found 142 new UFO reports (UFOs: A History--1947
[1988], p. 13). A pilot study for Project 1947 used several hundred
newspapers, mostly from the eastern United States. As in the Gross study,
many new reports were uncovered.
Project 1947, a two-and-a-half-year research effort, was conceived to build
upon these prior efforts and expand our knowledge of the beginning of the
modern UFO era. With contributions from researchers all over the world, the
number of 1947 newspapers screened to date is over 3800, and the number of
UFO incidents is well over 2700.
Extensive press coverage from Kenneth Arnold's sighting on June 24 until
the official explanation of the Roswell incident on July 10 characterized
the wave. The press seemed to accept the balloon explanation not only for
Roswell but for all UFO reports, and with numerous stories of pranksters
and hoaxers further discrediting the phenomenon, UFOs nearly--but not
entirely--disappeared from the pages of American newspapers.
There was still a trickle of reports. In Boise, Idaho, at 12:30 p.m. on
August 22, two pilots--Glenn Eichelberger, an instructor, and Ray Williams,
an airplane salesman--observed two objects from the ground. The closer one
had a flat bottom and a domelike top and appeared to be spinning as it
flew. As the object went over the foothills, it bounced and weaved, then
straightened out, turned sharply to the right, and disappeared. When the
objects first appeared, they were flying on a north-northeast heading
(Idaho Daily Statesman, August 22).
Outside the United States, sightings continued on both Canadian coasts
after the American coverage subsided. In South America, especially Chile
and Argentina, the reports started later but lasted longer, into late July.
There were few reports in Africa, India, and Australia. The U.S. State
Department and the Consular Service translated a number of Chinese
newspapers which indicated UFO activity there. The rest of Asia is not well
documented, with the exception of some official and unofficial reports by
American military personnel in Japan.
The level of activity in Europe is yet to be determined. Approximately 100
reports are known. German and Austrian newspapers were still tightly
censored by the Allies in 1947 and printed few sightings. Few newspapers
have yet been screened for Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. There
are references to the "ghost aeroplanes" in England in March and April,
sightings in Belgium in April and May, and newspaper accounts in Hungary in
May and June. The London and Paris newspapers generally ridiculed the
phenomenon as an American aberration. However, references in the Indian,
Hong Kong, and Singapore press to July sightings in Liverpool, Birmingham,
Manchester, Northern Ireland, and the French countryside indicate that UFOs
were reported in Europe more frequently than previously thought.
Scandinavian researchers have supplied many sightings from their files. But
European coverage remains spotty. The extent of UFO activity in Europe will
be clear only after more European researchers check their files and local
newspaper archives.
Other waves
Project 1947 is a massive collective effort with the 1947-era UFO sighting
as the principal focus. During research visits, when time permits, other
areas are examined. After 1947 the priorities are the 1900-1946 period,
early official and scientific interest, the early UFO era (1948-1965), and
finally more recent events. I personally have visited over 120 archives,
libraries, and newspapers in 36 states and provinces. Additionally, I have
ordered directly or via interlibrary loan material from 50 more
institutions. Over 100 individuals worldwide have screened over 1500
newspapers of 1947, contributed thousands of newspaper clippings, reports,
and other items from their files, and offered their services.
Some of these data yielded interesting hints of little-known activity for
other periods. From the work of several researchers, we have found small
airship waves during World War I (see Just Cause, September 1995, and
Thomas E. Bullard's The Airship File, privately published). Concentrations
of reports are indicated in July-August 1949 in the northwest quarter of
the North American continent (see Homer E. Fansler, et al., History of the
Alaskan Air Command: 1 January 1949-31 December 1949 [1950]. p. 50, and "If
It's in the Sky, It's a Saucer," Doubt, no. 27, pp. 416-17), in southern
New England in August 1956 (see Richard Hall, ed., The UFO Evidence, NICAP,
1964, p. 135), and the northern plains states (the Dakotas and Minnesota)
in October-December of the same year (see Loren Gross's self-published
booklets for September-October and November-December 1956, and Leon
Davidson's microfilmed newspaper clipping collection 1954-1962, located at
Columbia University). Considerable data have also been collected on
better-known periods such as the spring of 1950, the 1952 wave (especially
the early concentration in Canada and Alaska during March and April--much
material was found in Loren Gross's January-May 1952 booklet, the CUFOS
files, the British Columbian Legislative Library Newspaper Index, and John
Musgrave's Canadian UFO Collection), and the 1957 wave.
Foo fighters
We have learned more about the World War II era. Martin Caidin, in his
Black Thursday (1960), told of silver discs encountered during the 1943
Schweinfurt raid. Archivists at the National Archives could not locate
confirmation of this report. There are, however, other references to small
silver discs. Under the heading "Miscellaneous Phenomena," in a report of
A-2 Section of the 42d Bomb Wing, the following appears: "Also, on 18
October [1944], a shower of silver objects about the size of silver dollars
was reported in the vicinity of Alfonsine. These objects were seen floating
at 10,500 feet and descending very slowly."
In December 1944 the New York Times reported that American pilots over
Germany were reporting silver spheres. A spokesman at Army Air Force
headquarters said that the only reports reaching Washington were from the
newspapers and that no reports were received from the theater (New York
Times, December 14 and 21, 1944). Yet the XII Tactical Air Command's
Intelligence Information Bulletin, no. 6, January 28, 1945, carries a
report under the heading "Flak Developments":
There have however been several reports of the phenomenon which
is described as "silver balls", seen mainly below 10,000 feet;
tentative suggestions have been made as to their origin and
purpose, but as yet no satisfactory explanation has been found.
The bulletin for June 4, 1945, discusses reports from Japan:
DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT --:
Mention has previously been made in these pages to the existence
of German airborne controlled missiles Hs.298, Hs.293, X4 and
Hs.117. Many reports have been received from Bomber Command crews
of flaming missiles being directed at, and sometimes following
the aircraft, suggesting the use of remote control and/or homing
devices. It is known that the Germans kept their Japanese Allies
informed of technical developments and the following report,
taken verbatim from Headquarters, U. S. A. F. P. O. A. G.2
Periodic Report No. 67, further suggests that the Japanese are
using similar weapons to those reported by our own crews:
"During the course of a raid by Super-Fortresses on the Tachikawa
aircraft plant, and the industrial area of Kawasaki, both in the
Tokyo area, a number of Super-Fortresses reported having been
followed or pursued by "red balls of fire" described as being
approximately the size of a basketball with a phosphorescent
glow. Some were reported to have tails of blinking light. These
"balls" appeared generally out of nowhere, only one having been
seen to ascend from a relatively low altitude to the rear of a
B-29. No accurate estimate could be reached as to the distance
between the balls and the B-29's. No amount of evasion of the
most violent nature succeeded in shaking the balls. They
succeeded in following the Super-Fortresses through rapid changes
of altitude and speed and sharp turns, and held B-29s' courses
through clouds. One B-29 reported outdistancing a ball only by
accelerating to 295 mph, after which the pursuing ball turned
around and headed back to land.
Individual pursuits lasted as long as six minutes, and one ball
followed a Super-Fortress 30 miles out to sea. The origin of the
balls is not known. Indication points to some form of
radio-direction, either from the ground or following enemy
aircraft. The apparent objective of the balls, no doubt, is
destruction of the Super-Fortresses by contact. Both interception
and AA [anti-aircraft] have proved entirely ineffective, the
enemy has apparently developed a new weapon with which to attempt
countering our thrusts."
(SOURCE: RAF, Fighter Command Intelligence and Operational
Summary No. 30, dated 15 May 1945).
I expect more detailed official documents concerning World War II reports
to become available within the next six months.
Project 1947 still needs many kinds of assistance: newspaper research,
search for material in the UFO literature, translations, unpublished items
in private and organizational files, and research in official archives. If
you can help in these areas, please contact me at Project 1947, P. O. Box
391, Canterbury, Connecticut 06331 or e-mail me at project1947@earthlink.net
