The article below was published in the newspaper The News-Herald, Franklin, Pennsylvania, USA, on page 1, on July 5, 1947.
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One Believes Americans Suffering Bas Case Of Jitters; Airline Pilot Repotrs He Chased Disc With Plane 45 Minutes
By PAUL F. ELLIS,
United Press Science Writer
Reports of "flying saucers" whizzing through the air at rocket speeds poured in again today from many parts of the nation, causing scientists to speculate that many Americans were suffering a bad case of jitters.
One expert in the diagnosis of human behavior flatly said that the so-called "phenomena" was pure imagination, hallucination or delusion on the part of many of those who reported seeing "strange objects."
Another scientist, an authority on astronomy, said he believed "some persons were seeing spots before their eyes."
The new reports that "saucers" were observed came from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Idaho and other states in the far west. One commercial airline pilot said he had even chased one of the "saucers" and that he was unable to catch up with it.
Another observer actually snapped a photograph, taken from about 10,000 feet - a long distance from which to photograph any kind of flying object. His print showed two tiny dots in the center. One of the dots, he admitted, was a defect in the negative. The other - supposedly the "object" - was little larger than a pin head.
The airline pilot, reporting the "phenomena", was Capt. E. J. Smith, of the United Airlines. He said he and his co-pilot, Ralph Stevens, flying from Boise, Ida., late yesterday saw an object and chased it for 45 minutes.
The photographer was Coast Guardsman Frank Ryman, Seattle, Wash., who said he snapped a picture of the flying object near Lake Washington.
Oregon police said they had reports that 20 of the objects were observed. They were supposed to be "flying in a single file."
A New Jersey woman said she saw one early yesterday; that it was a "golden disc" flashing across the horizon with "stunning speed."
No reports o red, white and blue "saucers" were received on July 4 [Independence Day] however.
In Philadelphia, an interne at the Pennsylvania Hospital for mental disease, said he also saw such an object. His, he said, had a luminous halo."
In Augusta, Ga., a physician, Dr. C. R. Battey, reported he saw such saucers while fishing several weeks ago. He said they were flying at about 22,000 feet," or something like four miles - almost out of anti-aircraft range.
These and other such reports brought a smile from Dr. John G. Lynn, Valhalla, N. Y., an expert on human behavior. He said the reports reminded him of the time actor Orson Welles frightened New Jersey citizens half to death" with a broadcast about 'Men from Mars' invading Jersey.
Dr. Lynn blamed the current wave of "saucer hysteria" on recent predictions that an atomic war would break out, leaving waste the United States.
All this talk, he said, prepares many people for an emotional disturbance. In many cases, he said, they see what they want to see. Still other see what doesn't exist because they expect to see something - such as flying saucers.
The Navy and Army long have denied sending up any new, super-duper saucer-like planes. Astronomers said there has been no unusual amount of meteorites falling these days - especially saucer-shaped meteors.
To: Kenneth Arnold or Newspapers 1940-1949.
