The newspapers The East Oregonian of Pendleton, and The Herald and News, of Klamath Falls, both in Oregon, USA, both on June 30, 1947, reported some sightings that followed the famous sighting report by Kenneth Arnold.
These newspapers told that at the same time than another sighting that occurred about 11 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, 1947, Bill Schuening, foreman of the Lester King ranch, about 15 miles north of Pendleton, saw "planes" "the same day Mr. Arnold reported seeing the so-called 'flying discs'" - which would then be on June 24, 1947 circa 3 p.m..
The objects were so high, Schuening related, that he was unable to determine their shape but he said they were "weaving in and out of formation." He said they were traveling at an "unusual rate of speed" - which is exactly, and suspiciously, an expression Arnold had used.
From these newspapers source, it is obvious that this was not a close encounter of the third kind at all. However, 40 years later, the Eat Oregonian newspaper heard Schuening, now 70, about his sighting, now very different that in the 1947 version:
In this new version, we are told that Schuening has lived and farmed in the Pendleton area all his life. He was driving some 25 miles north of Pendleton when he heard a humming sound he thought was a tractor noise. But when his pickup rumbled over the rise and he looked across the field some 200 or 300 feet away, he saw a saucer-like object suspended five or six feet over the ground of the rolling farmland.
Schuening said: "I would have given anything to have had a camera with me." and the newspaper says his memory of his encounter 40 years ago today "is as sharp as a photograph."
Schuening said it was the same day as Arnold's sighting, but he did not tell anyone until after Arnold's story was published in the East Oregonian newspaper.
He said: "My boss told me about a flying saucer story and I told him I saw it too," Schuening says. Lester King, for whom Schuening was ranch foreman for 17 years, convinced him to go to town and tell others what he had seen. "I told my wife about it. She said that I was crazy to say anything about it," Schuening said. "Everyone said we were just seeing things."
After saying that Shcuening and Arnold's sightings were "similar" - certainly not - the newspaper says Schuening saw perfectly spherical objects that were "silver, all top and bottom," with no seems or doors; whereas Arnold described his objects as "crescent-shaped" (Arnold bever said that).
The newspaper says Schuening said earlier this month of June 1987; "There were two little guys in green suits with white helmets standing right underneath it. They were no bigger than this," holding his hand at waist level. Schuening said he was not scared at all. He was too amazed to be frightened, the newspaper says.
Schuening says he watched the helmeted creatures for a few seconds and then "they were gone. How they got in (the craft) I'll never know. Suddenly they were just gone."
Moments later, the craft zipped away toward the river, made a big circle, and headed over the mountains. "The last I saw, the sun was shining on it." Schuening figures he watched it for nearly a minute.
| Case number: | URECAT-001760 |
|---|---|
| Date of event: | June 24 or 29, 1947 |
| Earliest report of event: | June 30, 1947 |
| Delay of report: | 1 to 6 days. |
| Witness reported via: | Told boss, wife, then newspaper. |
| First alleged record by: | Newspaper. |
| First certain record by: | Newspaper. |
| First alleged record type: | Newspaper. |
| First certain record type: | Newspaper. |
| This file created on: | November 7, 2018 |
| This file last updated on: | November 9, 2018 |
| Country of event: | USA |
| State/Department: | Oregon |
| Type of location: | Driving at 15 or 25 miles north of Pendleton. |
| Lighting conditions: | Not reported. |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | No |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes |
| UFO/Entity Relation: | Certain |
| Witnesses numbers: | 1 |
| Witnesses ages: | 30 |
| Witnesses types: | Married farm worker of the Lester King ranch. |
| Photograph(s): | No. |
| Witnesses drawing: | No. |
| Witnesses-approved drawing: | No. |
| Number of entities: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Type of entities: | Humanoid or human |
| Entities height: | Small, 1 meter. |
| Entities outfit type: | Clothed and helmeted. |
| Entities outfit color: | Green. |
| Entities skin color: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities body: | Not reported. Little guys. |
| Entities head: | In white helmet. |
| Entities eyes: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities mouth: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities nose: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities feet: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities arms: | Not reported. |
| Entities fingers: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities fingers number: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities hair: | Not reported or not visible. |
| Entities voice: | None heard. |
| Entities actions: | Were under UFO, departure. |
| Entities/witness interactions: | None. |
| Witness(es) reactions: | Observed, went. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Stunned. |
| Witness(es) interpretation: | Not reported. |
| Explanation category: | Probable misinterpreted helicopter, or invention. |
| Explanation certainty: | Medium. |
[Ref. eo1:] "THE EAST OREGONIAN" NEWSPAPER:
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Two Pendleton Residents Tell Of Mystery DiscsPENDLETON, Ore., June 30 (UP) -- Mysterious objects, flying high and fast, were reported today by two Pendleton area residents. Mrs Morton Elder, McKay Creek farm wife, reported seeing seven "perfectly round, umbrella-like" objects flying in a northwesterly direction about 11 p.m. Sunday. She said the "planes" made a humming noise that resembled the sound of a musical top. She said they were flying in a perfect wedge-shaped formation at a "very fast" speed. She described them as "white as snow" and "round like a mushroom or an umbrella." She said there was no sign of a tail on the objects. They were flying "very high." At the same time, Bill Schuening, foreman of the Lester King ranch, about 15 miles north of Pendleton, reported he saw objects similar to those reported near Mt. Rainier Wednesday by Kenneth Arnold, Boise, Ida., flying businessman. Schuening said he saw "planes" the same day Mr. Arnold reported seeing the so-called "flying discs" whizzing along the Cascade mountains at an estimated 1200 miles an hour. The objects were so high, Schuening related, that he was unable to determine their shape but he said they were "weaving in and out of formation." He said they were traveling at an "unusual rate of speed." Arnold reported the objects he saw were also traveling "like the tail of a Chinese kite." |
[Ref. hn1:] "THE KLAMATH FALLS HERALD AND NEWS" NEWSPAPER:
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Two Pendleton Residents Tell Of Mystery DiscsPENDLETON, Ore., June 30 (UP) -- Mysterious objects, flying high and fast, were reported today by two Pendleton area residents. Mrs Morton Elder, McKay Creek farm wife, reported seeing seven "perfectly round, umbrella-like" objects flying in a northwesterly direction about 11 p.m. Sunday. She said the "planes" made a humming noise that resembled the sound of a musical top. She said they were flying in a perfect wedge-shaped formation at a "very fast" speed. She described them as "white as snow" and "round like a mushroom or an umbrella." She said there was no sign of a tail on the objects. They were flying "very high." At the same time, Bill Schuening, foreman of the Lester King ranch, about 15 miles north of Pendleton, reported he saw objects similar to those reported near Mt. Rainier Wednesday by Kenneth Arnold, Boise, Ida., flying businessman. Schuening said he saw "planes" the same day Mr. Arnold reported seeing the so-called "flying discs" whizzing along the Cascade mountains at an estimated 1200 miles an hour. The objects were so high, Schuening related, that he was unable to determine their shape but he said they were "weaving in and out of formation." He said they were traveling at an "unusual rate of speed." Arnold reported the objects he saw were also traveling "like the tail of a Chinese kite." |
[Ref. eo3:] "THE EAST OREGONIAN" NEWSPAPER:
|
Man sticks to his reportStories of UFOs started in Pendleton 40 years agoBy Hal McCune PENDLETON. -- Bill Schuening figured the humming noise was a tractor. But instead, when his pickup rumbled over the rise and he looked across the field some 200 or 300 feet away, he saw a saucer-like object suspended five or six feet over the ground. "I would have given anything to have had a camera with me," he says. But his memory of that moment 40 years ago today is as sharp as a photograph. Schuening, now 70, saw a flying saucer. To him, it's not a question of whether or not he thinks he saw it. He saw it! "It was definitely there," hovering above the rolling farmland some 25 miles north of Pendleton, he says. No one had heard the term UFO at the time - there had been no cause to coin it. Schuening helped usher in the era of unidentified flying objects. But it was an airplane pilote of Boise who drew the headlines. Kenneth Arnold landed his plane in Pendleton on June 24, 1947, and told East Oregonian reported Bill Bequette he'd just seen nine shiny, flat objects streaking across the sky at incredible speed. The story was spread nationwide by the wire services and Arnold was marked the rest of his life as the man who started the UFO craze. He died in 1984. Schuening says he saw a flying saucer the same day as Arnold did. But he didn't tell anyone until after Arnold's story was published in the EO. "My boss told me about a flying saucer story and I told him I saw it too," Schuening says. Lester King, for whom Schuening was ranch foreman for 17 years, convinced him to go to town and tell others what he'd seen. "I told my wife about it. She said that I was crazy to say anything about it," Schuening recalls. "Everyone said we were just seeing things." Arnold said he saw nine flying objects traveling in formation across Eastern Washington, weaving over the Cascade Mountains at speeds he clocked at up to 1,200 mph. He spotted the objects about 30 miles west of Mount Rainier and clocked them to Mount Adams. "It seemed impossible," he told the reporter, but added, "I must believe my eyes." Schuening's description was similar, although he says the shiny, silver objects were perfectly spherical, while Arnold reported the objects as more crescent-shaped. Another area sighting was made the following Sunday by Mrs. Morton Elder, a McKay Creek farm wife, who said she'd seen seven "perfectly round, umbrella-like" objects flying north of her farm. The EO ran a lengthy front-page story on June 26, 1947, regarding Arnold's unusual observation. A much shorter story ran on Page One four days later that quoted Schuening saying he's seen "flying discs" the same day as Arnold and mentioning McKay's sighting. But Schuening was the only one of the three "witnesses" to claim he saw more than just a flying saucer. "There were two little guys in green suits with white helmets standing right underneath it. They were no bigger than this," he recalled earlier this month, holding his hand at waist level. "It didn't scare me at all," Schuening says. He was too amazed to be frightened. Schuening says he watched the helmeted creatures for a few seconds and then "they were gone. How they got in (the craft) I'll never know. Suddenly they were just gone." Moments later the craft zipped away toward the river, made a big circle, and headed over the mountains. "The last I saw, the sun was shining on it." The craft was "silver, all top and bottom," with no seems or doors, Schuening says. He figures he watched it for nearly a minute. [Photo caption:] Bill Schuening, 70, has lived and farmed in the Pendleton area all his life. He maintains he saw a flying saucer one some rolling farmland 25 miles south of town exactly 40 years ago today. |
[Ref. bg1:] BOB GRIBBLE:
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June 1947 While driving down a rural road on the afternoon of the 24th, Bill Schuening figured the humming noise that he heard was a tractor. But instead, when his pickup rumbled over the rise and he looked across the field some200 or 300 feet away, he saw a disc-like object suspended five or six feet off the ground. "I would have given anything to have had a camera with me," he said. "It was definitely there," hovering above the rolling farmland some 25 miles north of Pendleton, Oregon. That same afternoon, Kenneth Arnold landed his plane in Pendleton and told reporter Bill Bequette he'd just seen nine shiny, flat objects streaking across the sky at incredible speed. "My boss told me about a flying disc story and I told him I saw one too," Schuening said. "I told my wife about it. She said that I was crazy to say anything about it. Everyone said we were just saying things." Lester King, for whom Schuening was ranch foreman for 17 years, convinced him to go to town and tell others what he'd seen. And Schuening says he saw more than just a disc. "There were two little guys in green |
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suits with white helmets standing right underneath it. They were no taller than this," holding his hand at waist level. Schuening said he watched the helmeted beings for a few seconds and then "they were gone. How they got in (the craft) I'll never know. Suddenly they were just gone. Moments later the craft zipped away toward the Columbia River, made a big circle, and headed over the mountains." (The East Oregonian, Pendleton, OR (6/26 and 30, 1947 & 6/24, 1987) |
[Ref. jc1:] JEROME CLARK:
Erudite author Jerome Clark indicates that several UFO occupants had press coverage in 1947 following the Arnold sighting of June 24, 1947.
One of them occurred in the afternoon of June 24, 1947. Bill Schuening,, a farmer from Oregon, was driving his pick-up on a rural road 25 miles north of Pendleton when he head a humming sound. He came over a rise, glanced out over a field and was shocked to see a shiny silver sphere hovering five or six feet above the ground.
He was even ore startles to see "two little guys in green suits with white helmets standing right underneath it." The beings were about 3 feet high. A few seconds later "they were gone". The UFO headed east towards the Walla Walla River, made a circle, and flew towards the mountain.
Four decades later, the witness stuck to his story.
[Ref. jc2:] JEROME CLARK:
The author says that a newspaper referred to the mysterious craft seen in 1947 in the US by the name "flying saucers" for the first time on June 26, 1947, two days after private pilot Kenneth Arnold saw nine discs maneuvering over the Cascade Mountains; which report ushered in the UFO age.
The same afternoon as Arnold’s sighting, Oregon farmer Bill Schuening claimed to have seen a spherical object hovering five or six feet above a field, and just beneath it were "two little guys in green suits with white helmets". They were no more than three feet tall. A few seconds later they vanished. Schuening did not see them enter the craft, which then flew off toward the Cascades.
Clark comments that in the early UFO era, however, such reports, relatively rare but hardly nonexistent, received little attention.
He indicates as source: "McCune, 1987"-.
[Ref. lg1:] LOREN GROSS:
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24 June. Near Pendleton, Oregon. (daytime) Did Bill Schuening see some "little men?" (See news clipping on page 7) IfSchuening did, he didn't mention it in 1947. Here~ his other report about sighting multiple objects at a distance: "Bill Schuening, foreman of the Lester King ranch about 15 miles north of Pendleton, reported he saw objects similar to those reported near Mt. Rainier Wednesday [sic] by Kenneth Arnold, Boise, Idaho, flying businessman. "Schuening said he saw 'planes' the same day. The objects were so high, Schuening related, that he was unable to determine their shape but he said they were 'weaving in and out of formation.' He said they were traveling at 'an unusual rate of speed."' (xx.) (xx.) Klamath Falls, Oregon. Herald-News. 30 June 47. |
Note: in the next page, Loren Gross provided a copy of the [eo3] newspaper article.
[Ref. eo4:] "THE EAST OREGONIAN" NEWSPAPER:
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[... other cases...] The June 30 EO included a short story reporting that Bill Schuening, foreman of the Lester King ranch about 15 miles north of Pendleton, saw flying objects similar to those Arnold described seeing that same Tuesday. Morton Elder, a McKay Creek farm wife, reported in the same story seeing flying saucers the Sunday afterward. In 1987, at age 70, Schuening reiterated his story shortly before he died. "I told my wife about it. She said I was crazy to say anything," Schuening recalled in that '87 story. [... other cases...] |
[Ref. eo5:] "THE EAST OREGONIAN" NEWSPAPER:
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[... other cases...] The term "flying saucers" was first coined here in Pendleton, on June 25, 1947. The day before, Kenneth Arnold flew in to Pendleton with news of his sighting over Mount Ranier. There's never been a plaque or acknowledgement of that historical event. Mrs. Morton Elder and Bill Schuening were also documented in the Pendleton newspaper, along with two nuns in La Grande, as having seen saucers over the Pendleton area. [... other cases...] |
[Ref. lh1:] LARRY HATCH:
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679: 1947/06/24 14:00 1 118:55:00 W 45:55:00 N 3331 NAM USA OER 8:5 |
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
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22. Lieu. Near Pendleton Oregon Date: June 24 1947 Heure: afternoon The same day as the Kenneth Arnold sighting, a man driving down a remote rural road heard a loud humming sound and driving over a rise he saw on a nearby field a large disc shaped craft hovering six-feet off the ground. He could also see two short figures wearing green suits and white helmets standing right underneath the object. The figures suddenly vanished and the craft then shot towards the Columbia River, made a big circle then flew towards the mountains. HC addition # 728 Source: Bob Gribble, Mufon UFO Journal # 290 Type: C High Strangeness Index: 7 Reliability of Source: 8 Commentaires: Interesting report that occurred on the same day of the Arnold encounter. Also notable is the clothing description of the little men, which was said to have been green, not the little men themselves. |
[Ref. ni1:] THE NICAP WEBSITE:
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June 24, 1947; near Pendleton Oregon Afternoon. A man driving down a remote rural road heard a loud humming sound, and driving over a rise he saw on a nearby field a large disc shaped craft hovering six-feet off the ground. He could also see two short figures wearing green suits and white helmets standing right underneath the object. The figures suddenly vanished and the craft then shot towards the Columbia River, made a big circle then flew towards the mountains. (HC addition # 728. Source: Bob Gribble, Mufon UFO Journal # 290, Type: C) (Comments: Interesting report that occurred on the same day of the Arnold encounter. Also notable is the clothing description of the little men, which was said to have been green, not the little men themselves.) |
[Ref. ni2:] THE NICAP WEBSITE:
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Category 7, ENTITY Preliminary Rating: 5 Man Sees Figures Standing Near Disc June 24, 1947 Pendleton, Oregon Albert Rosales: June 24, 1947; near Pendleton Oregon Afternoon. A man driving down a remote rural road heard a loud humming sound, and driving over a rise he saw on a nearby field a large disc shaped craft hovering six-feet off the ground. He could also see two short figures wearing green suits and white helmets standing right underneath the object. The figures suddenly vanished and the craft then shot towards the Columbia River, made a big circle then flew towards the mountains. (HC addition # 728. Source: Bob Gribble, Mufon UFO Journal # 290, Type: C) (Comments: Interesting report that occurred on the same day of the Arnold encounter. Also notable is the clothing description of the little men, which was said to have been green, not the little men themselves.) |
[Ref. kt1:] KENN THOMAS:
This author says that after Kenneth Arnold's sighting, ranch foreman Bill Schuening reported seeing similar objects from the Lester King ranch 15 miles south of Penfleton.
He says the source is "Pendleton Area Residents See Mysterious 'Object'", in East Oregonian, June 30, 1947, page 1.
[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
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June 24 1947. Afternoon. PENDLETON (ORGEGON [sic]: USA) Farmer Bill Schuening was driving his pickup truck on a country road 40km north of Pendleton, when he heard a humming noise, and coming over a rise, he saw a shiny silvery sphere hovering 1.5-2m above the ground. Standing underneath it were two beings 1m tall, dressed in green suits and white helmets. After a few seconds the beings disappeared and the craft took off to the east, circled then flew off towards the mountains. Clark 1998 p 214 citing Hal McCone in Pendleton East Oregonian 24 June 1987. Evaluation: Lacks contemporaneous documentation. |
The problem, obviously, is that in the 1947 Press version, Schuening saw several high flying objects he called "planes". And he used words said by Arnold: "weaving in and out of formation" - which may indicate that the newspaper confused what Arnold and Schuening had said, or that Schuening simply read Arnold's story and imiated it to the letter. The 1947 version has almost nothing to do with the 1987 Press version in whcih this becomes only one object, landed, with occupants near it.
The Arnold sighting location is about 85 km away from Pendleton in straight line. The 1947 newspaper articles are inconsistent about the sighting date. It was either the same time as Arnold's, June 24, 1947, at about 03:00 p.m., or the same time as Mrs Morton Elder's sighting, June 29, 1947 at 11 p.m., but it cannot be both. The 1987 newspaper article obviously is not a scientific report. For example, Arnold never said the object he saw were "crescent-shaped". He only said, in a late report he wrote, that one, and only one, of the nine object, may have had a different shape than the other, a somehow "bat-like" shape.
This clearly opens the possibility that Schuening saw nothing and invented all he claimed to have seen. Or, maybe, at 70, he had some illness which totally blurred his memories.
To make the matter even more complicated, the 1987 version can be explaned away as a helicopter sighting: men in green suits and white helmets may be military personal, the "flying saucer" made some noise. The noise it made must have been rather loud, as Schiening was driving and behind a hill that his the saucer and was already hearing it. The small size of the occupants may just mean the cradft and the occupants were more distant than Schuening believed.
I guess I will never know what the correct explanation is, but an extraterrestial craft landing is certainly not a well-establilshed explanation in this case.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||||||
Probable misinterpreted helicopter, or invention.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | November 7, 2018 | Creation, [eo1], [hn1], [eo3], [bg1], [jc1], [jc2], [lg1], [eo4], [eo5], [lh1], [ar1], [kt1], [pr1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | November 7, 2018 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 9, 2018 | £Additions [ni1], [ni2]. |
