The article below was published in the daily newspaper The Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona, USA, page 4, on July 5, 1947.
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PORTLAND, Ore., July 5. (AP) - The "flying saucer" mystery reached fever pitch here today, after "I saw them myself" statements from a veteran United Airlines crew, scores of Portland residents, and 60 picnickers at Twin Falls park in Idaho.
The UAL pilot, copilot, and stewardess, who had scoffed consistently at "flying saucer" tales, said they saw such objects themselves Friday night while flying a passenger plane from Boise, Idaho to Portland.
Their statements followed a day in which many Portlanders—including police, experienced fliers, and three newspapermen—declared they saw silvery discs undulating over Portland.
Veteran Airline Pilot
Capt. E. J. Smith, Seattle, a veteran of 14 years with United Airlines, said he observed the round flat objects—"like a pancake standing on end"—for about 12 minutes while flying from Emmett, Idaho, to a point southeast of Ontario, Ore.
Capt. Smith said the discs appeared to be flying at the airliner's own altitude — 8,000 feet — and seemed to be southwest of Ontario. He radioed the Ontario airport to look in that direction, but airport officials saw nothing.
The largest number of persons ever to report seeing the "flying saucers" at the same time jammed newspaper and police switchboards here Friday. Descriptions varied from two or three discs, visible only for instants, to sheriff deputies' reports of "twenty in a line going like hell to the west and humming."
By 60 At Picnic
Sixty persons picnicking at Twin Falls park, near Twin Falls, Idaho, said they saw the discs Friday afternoon. A party of seven first saw some about 2:50 in the afternoon. Ten minutes later, a crowd of 20 or 30 people saw another batch of nine or ten discs. The word passed around, and about 3:10 a 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.
A New Orleans saleswoman reported seeing a mysterious "flying disc" in the sky over Lake Pontchartrain Friday night.
Miss Lillian Lawless said the object was flying at a great height and at terrific speed in a northeasterly direction. She said she could not estimate the size but that it looked like "a round saucer."
In Michigan
Mysterious "flying saucers" were sighted Friday night by several residents southwest of Port Huron, Mich., who described them as flat translucent plates 12 to 15 inches in diameter, criss-crossing the sky and moving northward.
Pilot Dan J. Whelan and a flying companion, Duncan Underhill, reported today they were "scared silly" when they saw what they believed was a "flying saucer" about 25 miles south of Los Angeles, Calif.
An astral phenomenon was being investigated to determine whether Philadelphians had seen mysterious "flying discs" in the sky.
Dr. M. K. Leisy, a junior intern at the Pennsylvania hospital for mental diseases, and other persons in the western section of the city, reported seeing strange craft in the skies Friday night.
