Somewhere in the Skies - 1947: Beyond Flying Saucers and Roswell (Part 1)

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

On episode 377, we dig into the summer of UFOs. While 1947 brought us both the Kenneth Arnold "flying saucer" incident and the Roswell UFO crash, there was an alarming amount of UFOs plaguing the skies throughout the United States and beyond that very same summer as well. Patreon: www.patreon.com/somewhereskies ByMeACoffee: buymeacoffee.com/UFxzyzHOaQ PayPal: [e-mail] Website: www.somewhereintheskies.com Store: http://tee.pub/lic/ULZAy7IY12U YouTube Channel: CLICK HERE Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/somewhereskies/videos Order Ryan’s new book: https://a.co/d/4KNQnM4 Order Ryan’s older book: https://amzn.to/3PmydYC Twitter: @SomewhereSkies Read Ryan’s Articles by CLICKING HERE Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per Kiilstofte Produced by LIONSGATE Copyright © 2024. Ryan Sprague. All rights reserved. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim. Well, I hope you like my little song. Book Direct at Soysvilletales.com. Hey everyone, Ryan Sprague here, host of Somewhere in the Skies. If you've ever thought about supporting us, we have great two easy options for you right now. If you listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, you can click the subscribe button at the top of your Apple feed. Or you can join our Patreon at patreon.com slash somewhere skies.

Both of these options give you the same benefits. Early access to the main show, bonus episode. and content and priority to ask our guests, your listener questions. So to help support Somewhere in the Skies, click that subscribe button on Apple or visit Patreon.com slash SomewhereSkies. Thank you so much for your support and keep looking up. The year 1947 holds a certain level of prominence when it comes to UFOs with good reason. It was both the year that nine crescent-shaped craft were witnessed over Mount Rainier by Kenneth Arnold, ushering in the term flying saucer.

At this point is when I would say approximately is where I had this terrific flash. Hit the air, my aircraft lit up the inside of my aircraft. And I assumed, of course, at the time in a split second that it was probably a P-51 fighter that it dove over my nose and it was the sun's reflecting upon his bright winged services that caused it. However, before I gathered my witch together, I looked way off here to the north, and then when I saw where the flash came from, it was an inchelon formation of a very peculiar-looking aircraft, and they were rapidly approaching Mountaineer,

and it was at about this point when I got here, I could see their tail surfaces, or the rear end of them, and the second craft from the rear had a more or less present-shaped look, and it had a hole in the center of it. And, of course, I kept mulling in my mind. That said, damn, this look an airplane I ever saw. I looked at my sweep secondhand on my 24-hour clock, and they had covered this distance of approximately 50 miles in a minute and 42 seconds.

It was placing their speed at approximately 1,700 miles an hour, 17801, it came out at that distance, which was, of course, unheard of in 1947. I says, well, I tell you, they flew like eradicated. like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water. And of course then, all of a sudden, the term flying disk and this type of thing or crescent-shaped or whatnot was completely dropped, and everybody started seeing flying saucers. And they've been seeing them ever since. And it was also the year that something crashed in the desert outside of Roswell, New Mexico.

Headline edition, July 8, 1947. The Army Air Force has announced that a flying disc has been tried. and is now in the possession of the Army. Army officers say the missile found sometime last week, has been inspected at Roswell, New Mexico, and sent to Right Field, Ohio, for further inspections. Army Air Force officers reported that one of the strange shifts had been found and inspected sometime last week.

As a matter of fact, the 509th Atomic Bomb Group headquarters at Rockwell, New Mexico, reports that it has received one of the discs, which landed on a rant outside Rockwell. The disc landed at a rant at Corona New Mexico. Mexico, and the rancher turned it over to the airport. Blancher W.W. Brazil was the man who discovered this offer. Colonel William Blanchard of the Rockwell Air Base refuses to give the tales of what the flying

disc looked like. These events would arguably usher in the modern UFO era. However, these events did not exist in a vacuum. And as we'll see, there were many, many other lesser-known UFO events to have happened that same year. During World War II, as battles waged in the skies over war ravaged Europe, many pilots of both the Allies and the Germans would claim to witness strange glowing objects near their planes. These objects would become known as foo fighters,

and each side suspected they were a secret weapon or reconnaissance device of the enemy. Only when records were examined after the war did it come to light that each side, was not only seeing these strange objects, but they were alarmingly uncertain of what they were, who was in control of them, and what their technology could potentially do. Almost immediately following the foo-fighter sightings of the Second World War, another apparent wave broke out over much of Scandinavia, known as the ghost rockets, and similar to the foo-fighter sightings, both the east and west would suspect the other as the Cold War was about to grip the world.

However, it's perhaps a wave of sightings, many of them specifically disc-shaped, that occurred predominantly over the United States in the late 1940s that would not only capture the public's imagination, but signal a distinct shift in the activity of the Earth's skies. Today, we explore the year of 1947, beyond flying saucers and Roswell. is somewhere in the skies

with Ryan Sprague. On the afternoon of June 29th, 1947, at around 4.45 p.m. in Clarion in Iowa, a bus driver would witness several strange objects zip by his vehicle. As he was watching these bizarre aerial objects,

four more suddenly shot by. This second group forced him to apply the brakes, and he brought the bus to a grinding halt. Stepping off of the bus, the driver looked upwards to the sky in an effort to see any more of these strange objects. Several moments later, he focused in on around a dozen more of these white oval craft. He would estimate they were traveling at around 300 miles per hour

and were at an altitude of around 1,200 feet. Furthermore, he would estimate they were around 200 feet across. The objects were only in sight for several seconds. However, even after they had gone, the witness could hear a strange hum, like an electric motor, still very audible in the air around him. The incident, though, was only one of many to come. In the late afternoon of July 4th, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 14-year-old Paul Moss claimed to have witnessed an orange flying saucer over the Delaware River. What's more, the bizarre object appeared to be following a transport plane. On the same day in Springfield, Illinois, several motorists witnessed flying saucers moving across the sky over the Illinois State Fair.

Some would even stop their vehicle to witness the discs as they seemingly shot across the sky. The following day on July 5th, at the Civil Aeronautics Administration Office in New York, Maine, they received a similar report of multiple discs over Augusta. According to the report, Dan Kelly of W.R.D.O. Radio had contacted them to advise of a dozen discs, traveling at great speed across the skies. Another report came from Major A. Browning the following day. While piloting a United States bomber plane over Kansas City, Missouri, at around 10,000 feet, he witnessed a bright silver disc-shaped object in the skies that was with him. The following afternoon, on July 7th, in Phoenix, Arizona, a strange object was witnessed circling high in the skies

over the region. On the same day at around 350 p.m., Lieutenant A. Mormon would report a flat object with no wings, as he flew near Mount Baldi in California at around 20,000 feet. During the late afternoon of July 7th over Tucson, Arizona, just days after the Roswell incident, Lewis Zesper and two more patients at a military veterans hospital would witness an oval-shaped craft. Zesper would estimate the object was around 20 feet across and made from a metallic material. What caught his and his colleagues' attention, however, was how wobbly the craft was, as it made its way over the area. It seemed that the skies over the United States were awash with these strange objects,

and when government officials behind closed doors claimed the crafts were not top-secret American aerial vehicles, the realization that the skies were undefended and open to attack truly begin to set in. Whether these vehicles were of extraterrestrial origin or from the Soviet Union was now a question for debate. Another incident that would unfold in the state of Arizona is particularly interesting for several reasons, not least due to the apparent belief, at least publicly, that the incident may be connected to secret Soviet aircraft. On the afternoon of July 7 that around 4 p.m. in Tucson, sudden storm clouds formed over the region. Shortly after, followed lightning, thunder, and rain.

As the water came down, one W.A. Rhodes would rush out from his house to the workshop at the back of his property. As he did so, however, he suddenly noticed a strange object in the sky to the east of his location. He continued to watch the strange object and after several seconds realized he was watching something quite extraordinary. The object was a bizarre, elliptical shape and was traveling somewhere in the region of 500. hundred miles per hour and was approximately 25 feet across. Due to the gray color of its exterior, it sometimes appeared to blend in with the gray skies in which it traveled. Knowing his camera was just inside the door of his workshop, Rhodes reached in, grabbed the camera, and managed to snap a picture of the craft. Almost as soon as he pressed down on the shutter, the craft zoomed off at great speed. As it left, however,

Rhodes managed to see a type of domed area on top of the craft that he assumed was for a pilot. He would also state that the shape was similar to a shoe heel or a U shape with a definite front and rear. Rhodes would report the incident to the military who would send investigators to speak with him. They would ultimately take the negative of the photograph into their possession. Before they did so, however, the picture he had taken had appeared in the Arizona. Republic newspaper on the front page of the July 9th edition, it would turn out that authorities were also interested in roads for other reasons. The editor of the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper had received a strange letter three days earlier.

It detailed an apparent conversation between two Soviet merchantmen who were speaking at Long Beach Harbor, where their tanker had recently docked. According to the opportunistic eavesdropper, Soviet scientists and engineers were working on saucer-like aircraft. What's more, these futuristic vehicles were powered by atomic energy. Even more intriguing, once they were in the air, they would soar along the Earth's gravitational contour lines. Furthermore, and undoubtedly unnerving, if true, these vehicles could spew controlled radioactive clouds that could kill anything in its path. Perhaps most intriguing in terms of connections to Rhodes sighting was the kidney-shaped exterior

of the craft, as well as the fact that the pilot would control it from a top-raised section like that which Rhodes had described. So had Rhodes photographed a secret Soviet vehicle? Or even more speculative, was he himself some sort of Soviet agent? Only when Kenneth Arnold clarified the shape of his famous sightings, being U. or Crescent-shaped, did authorities drop this line of inquiry. On the afternoon of July 9th, one J.C.M was off duty from Murak Air Force Base, now named Edwards Air Force Base in California.

He was well aware of the rash of flying saucer sightings, and he had something bordering on disgust for the people that made such claims, that to him were merely attempts to get their names into newspapers. However, on this particular evening, that perception would alter drastically. After finishing up work, he would leave the building, apparently claiming, I gotta see it to believe it as he did so. Only moments later, a strange and urgent noise overhead caused him to look skyward. Above him, a plane moved through the air.

Following the plane, however, were two silver discs. Surprised but alert, he shouted for everyone nearby to come outside so that they also could witness the objects, and of course provide him corroborating witnesses. Three people stepped from the post exchange in time to see the crafts disappear. J.C.M. would state in his report that he had time to look away several times and renew his vision of the objects to make sure they were not a result of eye strain or an optical illusion. J.C.M. was adamant that the two discs were not conventional aircraft of any kind.

Furthermore, they were not weather balloons as they were traveling against the preventive. sailing winds. Although J.C.M. would attempt to round up further witnesses. By the time he did so, the objects had disappeared from sight. However, J.C.M. and another military officer would continue to scan the skies for several more moments, and their efforts would be rewarded. At an altitude of around 8,000 feet, a silver, spherical, disc-shaped object became visible. It was seemingly circling overhead. They would call several more military personnel, as well as their supervisor. Once more, they would double check that what they were seeing was not an illusion of their own eyes.

And again, it appeared obvious that the objects were very solid and very real. JCP would dismiss any notion that the object may have been a bird due to the reflection that was created when the object reached a certain altitude, as well as JCP's statements and report. Two other sergeants would also sign their name to the version of events. Further still, independent scientific advisors would suggest the incident was one that might warrant for their study. They would write in their summing up at the case that the witnesses were very credible and authentic and were describing events on a clear day with perfect vision. The military, however, appeared eager to distance themselves from the incident, stating that it was of little importance.

Whatever their stance publicly, however, behind closed doors, the wrangling over these strange crafts were where they came from and how best to deal with it. And it became clear that they were not done dealing with it indeed. barely 24 hours after the Murak Air Force Base incident, another event over a military installation would unfold. This time over Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, multiple witnesses would see a grayish balloon traveling overhead close to the nearby mountain range. Also on July 9th at Catalan Island in California, three Army Air Force veterans would make a report of six, six. flying discs overhead. Just as UFO sightings were reaching a peak in what is referred to as the first wave of 1947, around the 9th and 10th of July, they begin to ease slightly. And much to the United States military's relief, it would seem. Many journalists and broadcasters were eager to

take them to task over the impotent way they approached these bizarre and potentially historic sightings. It was also during this time that meetings between the FBI and the United States military took place. According to official military records, an apparent mistrust continued to exist between the intelligence agencies and the military, with the FBI in particular, repeatedly leveling the charge that the flying saucers were a war department project, which the military continued and continued to deny. Around a week after the wave of sightings begin to settle down, an agreement was in place that the military could no longer confiscate any downed discs and that any future recoveries would be an exclusive joint venture.

Again, whether it was to make future disinformation more authentic or not, local FBI offices would receive instructions to perform full background checks on all UFO witnesses, and enthusiasts who came to their attention. They were, of course, looking for any communist ties, none of which were ever found to suggest such a link to the UFO community. And while sighting certainly did occur during this time, it would appear that the public concern was nowhere near the heights it had reached in the opening days of July. One particular incident, however, involving a unit of the

United States servicemen based in the Far East following the end of the Second World War, would perhaps stand out amongst the rest. The incident occurred on July 16th, over Utah. At around 3.30 p.m., a B-17 passenger plane was traveling over promontory point when it would encounter nine flying discs, the witness was an active member of the United States Air Force and was stationed in Fuchu, Japan. He was on a return journey from the U.S. back to his post in Japan when he witnessed several strange objects while over the state. The witness would claim that the objects at first appeared to be large birds as he viewed them from the nose of the plane. However, it soon became apparent that they were not only heading straight for him, but they were moving much too fast to be

birds. Right before the moment of impact, however, the objects feared left. As they did, the witness could clearly see that they were nine round discs. He would estimate them to be around 60 feet wide and had a faint blue color to their undersides. They moved in a loose V formation and began to climb higher as they passed the plane. The witness would immediately make his way to the cockpit to report the incident. Although the pilot claimed we've seen nothing out of the ordinary, the flight engineer did corroborate the sighting. Interestingly, from the flight engineer's perspective, he could see the top of the crafts, which he would describe as sand-colored. The witness claimed that he had been out of the United States for the 18 months leading up to the incident. Consequently,

he was largely unaware of the UFO excitement in the United States at the time. Both he and the flight engineer, however, were clear on what they witnessed. Interestingly, the flight engineer in question was reassigned shortly after the incident. On July 29, two more sightings both on the western side of America would take place. The first would unfold over Hamilton Air Force Base in California. As Captain Rye heard stood near the runway, as another pilot had just come in and was leaving his plane, he noticed two strange objects approaching the facility. He would nudge the pilot in question, Lieutenant W. Stewart, to see if he too could see

the bizarre aerial crafts. And he most definitely did. Furthermore, each watched as a P-80 begin to approach to land. The two strange craft appeared as though they were going to pursue the plane. However, they simply flew overhead in a weaving motion. The objects were definitely circular, within an apparent raised section in the middle for the occupants. Rihard would estimate that the disc was around 20 feet across and had a metallic white tint to its exterior.

As he and Stuart watched, the two crafts suddenly dashed off and were out of sight within seconds. Shortly after, in Canyon Ferry, Montana, three motorists traveling to the city of Helena would witness a craft they would describe as a flying saucer zipping through the air at an approximate altitude of 3,000 feet. It would approach the motorists at great, speed, who had now stopped their vehicle.

The flying saucer would remain hovering over them, a slight flutter every now and again, making its exterior glisten and shimmer in the late afternoon sun. Then the craft would zoom away, appearing to melt into thin air within seconds. It would later come to light that the previous day, an airliner would narrowly miss a collision with a disc-shaped craft as it came into land at Boise in Idaho. The sightings would then continue to escalate well into August. On the afternoon of August 4th at around 4 p.m. in the town of Everett in Massachusetts, a pilot and his navigator would witness a bright orange object zooming along beneath their position.

The craft would remain visible for around 30 seconds and was moving approximately 1,13,000, 50 miles per hour, it would then disappear into a bank of clouds. Two days later, at around 6 p.m. on the evening of August 6th, came an even more bizarre incident in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A former bomber pilot was in his garden when he witnessed a strange object spewing blue, white flames, screaming over his property. He would later estimate that it was moving around 450 miles per hour. With him were several neighbors who also witnessed the extraordinary flight. As it passed, a strange hissing sound was clearly heard by all who witnessed it.

On the same evening in the small town of Robert Lee in Texas, five people would witness a flying disc make its way overhead. As it did so, it would change direction and position. itself several times. It would then vanish from sight only to reappear about 15 minutes later. In total, it would maneuver around the sky for about half an hour. Then, it would appear to change shape, going from a disc to a thin cigar-shaped object. It then finally vanished into the early evening sky. On the evening of August 11th, while attending a softball game on the night, the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri, a commercial pilot would notice several dark

specks approaching their location, and they would notice that they were in a very definite V-shape. The closer they got, however, it became obvious to the witness that these objects were indeed disc-shaped. There were again nine in total, and they were traveling around a thousand miles per hour. Even more bizarre, every two seconds or so, the objects would flip in unison. They were dark on one side, and then upon flipping light on the other, far from being the only witness, the players from both teams of the softball game, as well as around two dozen members of the crowd. watch the objects pass over at the ballpark. And quite by chance,

the softball game was between aircraft ground instructors and aircraft mechanic engineers. It just can't make this stuff up. And certainly, witnesses with good knowledge of aviation were all in attendance. The sightings of silver, disc-shaped craft would continue throughout the remainder of August. They would, however, begin to decrease in regularity.

By the time September was unfolding, the sightings, or at least the reports of them, had all but stopped from being a daily occurrence. The vast majority of the sightings during the summer of 1947 were, for the most part, exactly that. Sightings of the crafts from various distances with little or no interaction. So, were there any actual close encounters? As we'll see next week, there most definitely were. In Part 2 of 1947, beyond Roswell and Flying Saucers,

we move from our skies and onto the ground, as we continue our exploration of the year 1947, where the stakes are raised and occupants are witnessed and encountered, proving that 1947 was a pivotal year in the UFO timeline. One will continue to search for answers to, both here on the ground and somewhere in the skies. This episode was researched by Marcus Loth. To learn more, visit UFOinsight.com. Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get the show.

It helps us gain visibility and find new listeners. Thank you. in advance. You can follow us on Twitter at SummerSkies and on Instagram at SummerSkies Pod. If you have had a UFO sighting that you would like to share on the show, you can reach out to me directly to discuss further. Just look for the email address in the show notes, or DM me across our socials. Thank you as always to our network, Lionsgate Sound. But a very special thanks to you for listening. We'll see you here next week for part two of 1947 Beyond Fine Saucers and Roswell. Remember, keep your feet on the ground, but never stop searching. Somewhere in the Skies.

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