The article below was published in the daily newspaper The High Point Enterprise, High Point, North Carolina, USA, page 13, on July 13, 1947.
See the case file.
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High Point's own "flying saucer," described as a revolving object resembling a "huge red ball of fire" traveling at a rapid rate of speed, was sighted about 10 miles south of here yesterday afternoon by two veteran flyers, Ed Lewis, editor of "Southern Wings," an aviation magazine, and Dick Milsaps, a member of the magazine staff.
The two men stated they were flying into High Point at an altitude of 1,000 feet when they noticed a glare to the left of their plane. Glancing to their side they saw a huge object, round on top and with a large black band through the center.
Ed Lewis, who yesterday afternoon sighted the city's first flying saucer while flying his private plane 10 miles south of here, will be interviewed by Enterprise Editor Robert L. Thompson, during "Tar Heel Talks" over radio station WHPE this afternoon at 1:30.
flying in a northerly direction at a rapid rate of speed. "The bottom part of the object was revolving and periodical bursts of fire came from underneath as if from some form of exhaust," Lewis said. This was about 7:20 yesterday afternoon.
Lewis said when he noticed the object he swung his small two-place plane to the left in the direction of the "thing" but that before he had traveled far in this direction, the object passed him up and soon disappeared in a northern direction. The path it traveled indicated that it was headed in the direction of Winston-Salem on a route leading between High Point and Thomasville, he added.
"It crossed directly in front of me at about the same altitude we were flying," Milsaps stated, "and it appeared to be traveling between 300 and 400 miles an hour." "We thought it was the sun at first," Lewis said, "but it was high in the sky and this was about 20 minutes before sunset."
The two men described the object as being cylindrical in shape with a black band near the base. Below the black band was another portion of the object revolving clockwise. The bottom was flat and the object shone in the sky like a huge red ball of fire. Every few seconds a small burst of fire emanated from the circular, flat bottom, the two flyers said.
"It was bigger than an ordinary airplane," Lewis, a trained private flyer and an army veteran, said. "We attempted to follow it but were left behind and we saw the object disappear from sight in a northern direction." He said that his plane was traveling at about 115 miles per hour. "It gave off a blue-like light as it disappeared," Milsaps said.
The flyers were en route from Pauls air park, 15 miles south of the city, to Fraley field when they sighted the "saucer." It was the first report of a "flying saucer" in this vicinity.
Prior to the report from the two flyers, the Enterprise received a report from J. M. Hoots, of 213 Church street, who told reporters that he and a group of other persons saw a "flying thing" late Friday afternoon hovering over the southern part of the city. Hoots said that the "thing" was a bright oblong object, shining like chromium, and that it was sighted while he and a group of other persons were standing on South Main street. "It disappeared, apparently headed straight up," Hoots said.
