The newspaper The Nashville Tennessean, of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, on page 1, for July 9, 1947, reported in "silly season" tone, that a man from Nashville, "apparently perfectly sane and sober", wrote their editor "a long, interesting letter about his brush with a couple of Men from Mars on a nearby flying field."
The beings are said to be strange little men, "all heads and arms and legs, glowing like fireflies," and landed and alighted from a flying saucer as the man drove along a highway.
The man and the men from mars "exchanged greetings (in sign language) and the saucer finally took off in a cloud of dust", the letter said.
|
|
[Ref. nt1:] "THE NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN" NEWSPAPER:
|
Meanwhile, as newspaper office telephone calls on this latest form of mid-summer madness multiply, it's obvious that the subject is getting a grip on people.
One man, apparently perfectly sane and sober, wrote the editor of the Nashville Tennessean a long, interesting letter about his brush with a couple of Men from Mars on a nearby flying field.
These strange little men, "all heads and arms and legs, glowing like fireflies," landed and alighted from a flying saucer as he drove along a highway, the man wrote.
The man from Nashville and the Men from Mars exchanged greetings (in sign language) and the saucer finally took off in a cloud of dust, so the letter says.
Later, a tipster who operates a rooming house, telephoned for a photographer to make a picture of "some real flying saucers."
He said he had a couple, first floor front and prompt with the rent, to, and this pair, he added "really toss 'em."
"They're throwing their own china," he said as an after-thought - "and I really don't care, so long as they pick up the pieces."
Note: this is not the full article. The full article first deals with the Roswell debris being those of a weather balloon. The article also talks of the photograph of the Louisville phenomenon, and other sightings. My image and transcript here are the parts of the article that are about the "report" dealt with in this file.
[Ref. lg1:] LOREN GROSS:
A passing note should be made of the first recorded "encounter" case having to do with the 1947 flying saucer wave. On July 9th the following account appeared in the Nashville Tennessean:
Meanwhile as newspaper office telephone calls on this latest form of mid-summer madness multiply, it's obvious that the subject is getting a grip on people. One man, apparently perfectly sane and sober, wrote the editor of the Nashville Tennessean a long, interesting letter about his brush with a couple of Men from Mars on a nearby flying field. The strange little men, •all heads and arms and legs, and glowing like fireflies,• landed and alighted from a flying saucer as he drove along a highway, the man wrote. The man from Nashville and the Men from Mars exchanged greetings (in sign language) and the saucer finally took off in a cloud of dust, so the letter says." 113.
113. Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessean, 9 July 47.
[Ref. mk1:] MARTIN S. KOTTMEYER:
1947 and all that
[... other cases...]
]On July 9th, the Nashville Tennesseean published a long, interesting letter by an apparently sane and sober man telling of his brush with a couple of Men from Mars on a nearby flying field. The strange little men, "all heads and arms and legs, and glowing like fireflies," landed and alighted from a flying saucer as he drove along a highway, the man wrote. The man from Nashville and the Men from Mars exchanged greetings in sign language and the saucer finally took off. (27) Though the description begs to be written off as the product of a backwoods tale-spinner, the use of sign language is an interesting reflection of the newness of the saucer phenomenon. The lack of a shared knowledge of language presumes a first contact.
[... other cases...]
][Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
24.
Location. Near Nashville Tennessee
Date: early July 1947
Time: unknown
A man wrote the Nashville Tennesseean that as he was driving along a highway, a flying saucer landed on a flying field, and two strange little men, "all heads and arms and legs, and glowing like fireflies," emerged from it and exchanged greetings with him by sign language. The saucer finally took off in a cloud of dust.
Humcat 1947-4
Source: Loren E Gross
Type: B
[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
In early July 1947 - Nashville, Tennessee, USA
In early July 1947 :
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Disc landed on flying field, two strange little men, "all heads, arms, and legs, and glowing like fireflies" emerged from it and gestured toward the witness.
Close encounter with a an unidentified craft and its occupants. One disc was observed by one male witness on a highway. Two 3-foot-tall dwarves, each wearing a luminous suit, were seen.
Hynek rating: CE3
Vallee rating: CE3
[Sources are listed as:]
"Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports".
[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
NASHVILLE (TENNESSEE : USA)
A man driving by an airfield saw a disk land and from it emerge two “luminous beings all heads and arms and legs”. They exchanged gestures with the witness before returning to the object, which took off in a cloud of dust.
Gross 1976 p96 citing Nashville Tennessean 9 July 1947.)
[Ref. ni2:] THE NICAP WEBSITE:
Early July, 1947; Nashville, Tennessee
Area of a sighting of a landed disc and two occupants. (Bloecher)
Firstly, the lack of serious in the tone of the article with little circumstance does not allow to lending credibility to the story. Then, the apparently "logical" of greeting in sign language since the Martians do not speak our language is naive, since they would not know the sign language either. The saucer landing on an airfield is also naive, suggestive of invention. Unless all this was a truthful account made ridiculous by the newspaper. The publication of the full letter, if it ever existed, would have made it possible to decide, probably.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||||||
Probable hoax.
* = 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 | October 19, 2018 | Creation, [nt1], [lg1], [mk1], [ar1], [ud1], [pr1], [nt2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 19, 2018 | First published. |
