The article below was published in the newspaper The Lincoln Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, on page 1, on July 5, 1947.
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PORTLAND, Ore., -- (AP) -- The "flying saucers" mystery reached fever pitch Saturday, after "I saw them myself" statements from a United Air Lines crew, scores of Portland residents and 60 picknickers at Twin Falls Park in Idaho.
The UAL pilot, co-pilot, and stewardess, who had scoffed consistently at "flying saucers" tales, said they saw such objects Friday night while flying a passenger plane from Boise, Ida., to Portland.
Their statements followed a day during which the "saucers" were reported seen in many parts of the nation.
Many Portlanders - including police, experiences fliers, and three newspapermen - declared they saw silvery discs undulating over Portland.
In New Orleans, Miss Lilian Lawless said she saw an object, shining like silver or chromium, flying at a great height and at a terrific speed in a northeasterly direction over Lake Pontchartrain.
Describing what they saw as flat, translucent plates 12 to 15 inches in diameter, several Port Huron, Mich., residents reported seeing the "saucers".
Capt. E. J. Smith Seattle, a veteran of 14 years with United Air Lines, said he observed the round flat objects - "like a pancake standing on end" - for about 12 minutes while flying from Emmett, Ida., to a point southeast of Ontario, Ore.
He radioed the Ontario airport but airport officials saw nothing.
Sixty persons picnicking at Twin Falls Park, near Twin Falls, Ida., said they saw the discs Friday afternoon. A party of seven first saw some and 10 minutes later, a crowd of 20 or 30 people saw another batch of nine or ten. Word passed around, and soon the waiting crowd saw another batch circling and climbing.
At Seattle, Frank Ryman, coast Guard yeoman, said he took a picture of what some residents north of Seattle thought was a flying disc. The photograph showed a pinhead-size light spot against the dark evening sky.
The Oregonian dispatched a plane to hunt Portland's saucers. It found nothing but empty sky.
From Summerside, Canada, on Prince Edward islands, came reports of the discs. One was said to be moving south and another southeast.
Nearly all of the observers agreed that the objects - whatever they might be - were round, flat and shiny. How big they were remained uncertain. Dan J. Whelan, Los Angeles pilot, estimated the one he saw at 40 to 50 feet in diameter, while Port Huron residents thought they were small.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- (INS) -- An Augusta physician said he was certain that he saw the "flying saucers."
Dr. Colden R. Battey claims he spotted the peculiar soaring discs six weeks ago in the middle of the day while fishing in St. Helens sound near Beaufort, B. C. This was four weeks before the first published reports of the discs.
West coast reports recently mentioned the "flying saucers," stating that watchers have seen them frequently since June 24, and suggesting that they were a new type of aircraft known as the "flying flapjack."
Battey declared he had not mentioned this sooner because he regarded the peculiar objects as either balloons for meteorological purposes of the new kind of "flying wing" aircraft.
PENNSYLVANIA
PHILADELPHIA -- (INS) -- Several Philadelphians Saturday joined the growing list of persons across the nation who have reported sighting"flying saucers."
Dr. M. K. Leisy, a junior interne at the Pennsylvania Hospital for Mental Diseases, reported that he saw a dark spherical object with a luminous halo moving slowly through the sky.
Leisy said the object appeared to be propelled with whirring jets.
Authorities said "several" other persons in West Philadelphia reported that they saw strange objects in the air Friday night.
ILLINOIS.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- (INS) -- A group of motorists reported Saturday they had glimpsed the mysterious "flying saucers" which have been puzzling army officials and meteorologists.
One of them, Claude Price, superintendent of concessions at the Illinois state fair, said the group stopped their cars on a road two miles west of Decatur and watched the discs shoot across the sky.
[Photo caption:] 'FLYING DISC' PHOTOGRAPHED
-- Coast Guardsman Frank Ryman reported he photographed a mysterious "flying disc" near Seattle Friday night and said he thought the white dot near center of the picture is it. Photo is nearly 20 times enlarged from original. (AP Wirephoto Saturday.)
(Special to the Star.)
OHIOWA, Neb. -- More eyewitness reports on the "flying discs" in Nebraska came from here Saturday.
L. Kaderabek said on the night of June 23 he and his family saw "objects in the western sky that seemed like rockets shooting from among the clouds at about 15 or 20 seconds apart." The discs were traveling at a very rapid speed, Kaederabek reported.
The Ohiowa observers watched the spectacle for approximately an hour.
Omaha and Scottsbluff residents previously reported seeing the discs.
To: Kenneth Arnold or Newspapers 1940-1949.
