High Alert! UFO over Oak Ridge National Laboratory, circa 1951

Professor Alan D. Conger is the key player in this case, and we'll begin by introducing him thorough a few key quotes from his obituary:

Alan Conger, a pioneer in genetic effects of radiation, died 22 Dec 1995... He was 78 years old. Alan was born 23 Mar 1917, in Muskegon, Michigan. He attended Harvard as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, and received the Ph.D. degree in biology in 1947.

After (working in the weather service for the Army during WWII), Alan returned to Harvard to pursue his graduate work.. Alan had become interested in the genetic effects of radiation... He began his research career in this field at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1947 and had a major role in the early bomb tests in the Pacific.

 

Only small part of the following plays a role in the UFO case, but it's too valuable not too repeat.

Alan was well known for his puckish sense of humor... One tangible artifact to have survived his Florida period is associated with Alan's service on the Radiation Study Section of the National Institutes of Health. He donated to that body an alligator coprolite that he had collected in the Florida swamps, which he had mounted on an impressive plaque for presentation annually to the member chosen by his colleagues to have propagated during his study section tenure the greatest quantity of the material of which the coprolite was composed.

( We had to look it up. Coprolite means fossilized excrement.)

Flying Saucers over Oak Ridge National Laboratory

First, we need to introduce the location.
"Established during World War II by the Manhattan District, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) occupied the X-10 site on the fifty-six-thousand-acre reservation between Clinch River and Black Oak Ridge purchased by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1942. Initially called Clinton Laboratories after the nearest town, it began as a top-secret installation to produce plutonium for the first nuclear weapons." For further details, see The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.


In The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, ex-head of Project Blue Book said, "...UFO's were habitually reported from areas around 'technically interesting' places like our atomic energy installations, harbors, and critical manufacturing areas." He cited a notable UFO case from Oak Ridge, where an object was sighted by ground observers, confirmed by radar, and pursued by an Air Force plane:  

On June 21, 1952, at 10:58P.M., a Ground Observer Corps spotter reported that a slow-moving craft was nearing the AEC's Oak Ridge Laboratory, an area so secret that it is prohibited to aircraft. The spotter called the light into his filter center and the filter center relayed the message to the ground control intercept radar. They had a target. But before they could do more than confirm the GOC spotter's report, the target faded from the radarscope. An F-47 aircraft on combat air patrol in the area was vectored in visually, spotted a light, and closed on it. They "fought" from 10,000 to 27,000 feet, and several times the object made what seemed to be ramming attacks. The light was described as white, 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and blinking until it put on power. The pilot could see no silhouette around the light.

Ruppelt's story was just one of many from the facility. It's an old question: Are there more UFOs reported around sensitive government facilities because the objects are attracted to them, or is it just that the heightened security produces more false alarms? Fran Ridge's site has a page, NICAP: The Oak Ridge Sightings, featuring several similar events of this kind from around 1950, other Radar-Visual cases where planes were sent out to pursue UFOs reported over ORNL. 

1976: Alan Conger's UFO Disclosure

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review's Fall 1976 issue featured a look back at the organizations history: "this special issue of the Review contains a skeleton history of the Laboratory's first 25 years, interspersed with reminiscences, anecdotes, funny pictures, and a few expansions on particular aspects of importance to the Laboratory." There was only one reminiscence about a UFO.

Alan Conger Remembers... 

     Old-timers in the Biology Division may remember the overhang roof facing the highway outside my second floor lab in 9207 -our lunch patio where we dined on balmy days under the morning glories. At the height of the UFO scares (ca. 1951 ?), coming across some balloons and a helium tank left over from our first lab Open House, I filled six or so balloons with helium, tied them together with string, and attached a 6-ft strip of aluminum foil beneath as a radar target. With Kim Atwood's help, I got it out of the lab and launched from our roof patio, admiring its stately ascent as it drifted down Bear Creek Valley, rapidly transforming from a recognizable bundle of balloons and foil into an unidentifiable flying object. We then ran down the hall, calling out to Jack Von Borstel, Bill Arnold, Shelly Wolff, and others, "See the UFO!"
     It caused great excitement and much speculation about what it was, its size, velocity, and height; and soon, even more excitement when it was detected by the nearby radar station on Pilot Mountain, and the fighter-interceptor squadron then stationed at Knoxville was scrambled to intercept the intruder. With planes buzzing around, and our scientist friends seriously considering the object, the situation had rapidly become so very imposing that neither Kim nor I had the guts to confess to our hoax. We kept quiet and hoped the Air Force or AEC would be unable to identify us.
     A few years ago, my son, reading a book on UFOs, came across this incident as one of the case histories of UFO sightings from Air Force records. He recognized it as a hoax, and surmised that some unknown Oak Ridge scientists probably perpetrated it.
-Alan D. Conger, Professor of Radiobiology, School of Medicine, Temple University 

Conger's accomplice was Dr. Kimball C. Atwood III, senior biologist at the ORNL. Most UFO balloon hoaxes are perpetrated by mischievous kids, not Ph.D.s working at US government facilities.
 Up close, the UFO must have looked something like this.

But at a distance, the sun's reflection from metal foil would have been the most visible feature. The foil also provided something for the radar to find, serving as an improvised radar wind target of RAWIN. On radar, the foil strip registered as a solid object, and it was due to this the hoax worked well enough for the Air Force to scramble planes to catch the UFO.

Radar operator, circa 1950.

Dr. Congers did not remember the precise date of the incident, so it's difficult to match Air Force records. There is a possible match in Project Blue Book's files in this one from December of 1950:  18 Dec. 1950, Oak Ridge, Tenn. 

This episode and its exposure seems to have been the extent of Professor Conger's involvement in the UFO controversy.

In an interesting trivial footnote to the story, Conger's hoaxing accomplice, Kim Atwood, had a son who has written articles on medical quackery for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's Skeptical Inquirer magazine.

"Kimball C. Atwood IV, M.D. is an anesthesiologist at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts. He is Assistant Clinical Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine and Contributing Editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine." 

CSI is the den for UFO debunkers like Robert Sheaffer, James Oberg, Joe Nickell, and the late Phil Klass.

Thanks to Roger Glassel for locating the magazine article with Dr. Conger's confession.

Captured Flying Saucers: Twin Falls, Idaho, July 11, 1947

Mrs. Fred Easterbrook

July 11, 1947
A crashed flying saucer with glistening sides of silver and gold was discovered by Mrs. Fred Easterbrook in the yard of her next-door neighbor T.H. Thompson in Twin Falls, Idaho. Two narrow strips of turf on the Thompson lawn were torn up, apparently from when the disc had crashed into the earth. Mrs. Easterbrook reported it to the the police, and both the military and FBI participated in investigating the incident. In a day's time, it was determined that the saucer was a counterfeit.

Twin Falls, Idaho, July 11, --AP-- Four teen age boys skimmed a "flying saucer" into this town today and before the turmoil died down tonight with their admission it was "all a joke," the FBI, army intelligence and local police spent a dizzy day trying to figure out their gadget. Lewiston, Idaho Daily Tribune - 12 July, 1947 Army, FBI, Police in Circles

The Lewiston Daily Sun July12, 1947

From the PROJECT 1947 web site.

Government Cover-Up?

An editorial from the July 15 Idaho Times-News showed how the military's insistence for secrecy was fueling rumors of a government conspiracy or cover-up.

The Idaho Times News July 15, 1947

The object was determined to be of earthly origin, and the identity of the hoaxers was determined, so this is one of the few cases definitively closed as solved.

As with so many of the most interesting UFO cases featured here at The Saucers That Time Forgot, Project Blue Book has no file on this incident


For further reading on the case, see the reprints of more original news articles:
Twin Falls, Idaho, 1947 and...

Saturday Night Uforia, Flying Disc Reported Found in Idaho; Now in Army Hands

UFO Cattle Abduction, Twin Falls, Idaho, Sept. 7, 1956

One of the earliest reports of alien abduction from Twin Falls, Idaho, Sept. 7, 1956, more notable that the abductee was a 400-pound steer. UFOs and cattle,  a puzzling connection.

Sometimes a non-vital stories went out on wire services and local papers saved them as filler items, the editors not noticing later updates. This is an example, printed September 10, 1956.

 Nampa Idaho Free Press Sept. 10, 1956.

The Pride of Idaho

         San Bernardino Sun,  September, 15, 1956

The Rest of the Story

However, a Twin Falls editor had already cracked the case and published the story the day before.
Or, so he claimed.

Helena Independent Record Sept. 9, 1956.

As with so many of the most interesting UFO cases featured here at The Saucers That Time Forgot, Project Blue Book has no file on this incident. However the files do include a clipping:

Bonus Feature

The poem, "Three Cows and a UFO" by Roger Glassel, accompanied by a controversial video clip for illustration purpose only.

Captured Flying Saucers: July 7, 1947, The Disk that Slipped by the FBI

The FBI is shut out

There was a FBI memo allegedly about flying saucers recovered with a handwritten notation by director J. Edgar Hoover:

"...we must insist upon full access 

to discs recovered. For instance 

in the La. case the Army grabbed it & 

wouldn't let us have it for cursory 

examination." 

(signed "H" for Hoover.)

The FBI file with the Hoover "La." memo is on page 45 of this PDF:

https://vault.fbi.gov/UFO/UFO%20Part%201%20of%2016/view#document/p45

Some UFO proponents like James Fox have insisted the memo is connected to the recovery of a crashed alien space craft. A few have misinterpreted Hoover's handwriting of La. as SW for South West, thinking that his memo was about Roswell, NM. Others have speculated that it was LA for Los Angeles, CA. However, the facts is that La. was short for Louisiana, as in the case of the July 7, 1947 crashed disk case in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Not Roswell

Top and bottom of the sloppy saucer from the south.

There have been many crashed flying saucers recovered over the years, but this is one of the very few instances where the object's flight and actual crash were witnessed 

From the files of Project Blue Book:

"Mr. (F. G. Harston), Shreveport, Louisiana, stated in an interview on 7 July 1947 that at 1805, 7 July 1947, he heard the disc whirling through the air and had looked up in time to see it when it was approximately 200 feet in the air and coming over a sign board adjacent to the used car lot where he was standing. ( Harston) stated that smoke and fire were coming from The disc and that it was traveling at a high rate of speed and that it fell into the street and his immediate vicinity. ( Harston) further stated that he retrieved the disc from the street and immediately notified Army officials at Barksdale Field."

Project Blue Book's file on this case: 7 July 1947, Shreveport, Louisiana. Here's a picture of F. G. Harston, lucky survivor of the close encounter. 

LIFE: "A Rash Of Flying Disks Breaks Out Over The U.S." in LIFE July 21, 1947

Case Closed

Investigation showed that this disk was yet another made here on Earth:

"A flying disk' fell in the street in a Southern city.  It was composed of aluminum strips, fluorescent-lamp starters, condensers, rivets, screws and copper wire.  A little investigation resulted in a confession from the culprit, the superintendent of an electric-fan factory, who said he concocted the device and threw it from the roof of the factory, hoping to scare his boss, who was getting into his car."

What You Can Believe About Flying Saucers - Conclusion by Sidney Shalett, Saturday Evening Post May 7, 1949

The object was determined to be of Earthly origin, and the identity of the hoaxer was determined, so this in one of the rare cases closed as definitively solved.

Flying Saucer Crash: Crystal Springs, MS, May 12, 1950

The Telephone Call

The Clarion Ledger, Saturday morning paper for May 13, 1950,  from Jackson, Mississippi, carried the headline: 

Flying Saucer Crashes Near Crystal Springs

Mangled Bodies Seen In Debris,

Witness Says Object Marked 'U.S. Gov't.'

The story stated that Bobby Mohon called the Jackson paper late Friday night from Crystal Springs with the story of how a flying saucer had struck a power company transformer on the night of May 12, causing an electrical outage in the city. He reported mangled bodies laying near the wreckage which had markings indicating it was an unusual military aircraft. In 1950, the term "UFO" had not yet come into usage,  and "flying saucer" was the terminology for  unidentified flying objects of any shape. 

Mohon's saucer was actually described as cylindrical, and "definitely not an airplane." The Clarion Ledger scooped the nation with the saucer news, and credited the witness as co-author of the story, along with reporter Tommy E. Herrington.

The story was rushed to press and was on sale Saturday morning before all the facts were in. The investigation by Crystal Springs authorities was reported later the same day by other area news papers.

Crystal Springs, Mississippi (about 30 Miles from Jackson)

The Daily Herald, May 13, 1950 

No Evidence Of "Flying Saucer" In Crystal Springs

 Crystal Springs, Miss., May It (UP) A power shortage and an unconfirmed report that a cylindrical object had crashed into a transformer gave Crystal Springs a "flying saucer" scare this morning. The Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger reported that an object that could "only be identified as a flying saucer" crashed into a transformer on Highway 51 south of Crystal Springs. At least one radio station broadcast the report. 

Residents who recalled last night's power shortage, when many lights burned only dimly, crowded to the scene but found no sign of any crash. The Clarion-Ledger story quoted Bobby Mohon, otherwise unidentified, as saying that the cylindrical object that hit the transformer "definitely was not an airplane" and that "what appeared to be mangled bodies were also seen near the wreckage."

NOTHING FOUND Town Marshal C.B. Feguson and E. W. McGraw, manager of the Mississippi Power and Light Company here, said they made an immediate inspection of the scene of the reported crash when advised of the report last night but found nothing. They said there was no damage to the transformer nor any scars on the ground nor any signs of wreckage or bodies. 

McGraw said a 13,000 volt line parted at a loose connection near the power station a mile to a mile and one-half from the reported scene of the crash. The parting line produced an arc that made a brief bright flash of light. McGraw said, but did not affect the town's power supply other than to make some lights burn dimly for about 35 minutes. He and Ferguson agreed no sign could be found of any cylindrical object at the transformer on Highway 51. 

CREATED EXCITEMENT "The report created quite a stir there this morning." Ferguson said. "Folks who read the newspaper or heard the radio report swamped us with calls. And a lot of people rushed out on Highway 51 but when they found nothing everything quieted down." The Civil Aeronautics Administration at New Orleans said it had no reports of any aircraft being in trouble in the Crystal Springs area. Ferguson said he did not know Bobby Mohon, though there are several Mohon families in this vicinity.

The Daily Herald, May 13, 1950

Investigation Reveals Flying Saucer Hoax

The flying saucer not the only thing that was missing. There was also no trace of Bobby Mohon, the witness who had reported it.

Bobby Mohon (1949)

JACKSON, Miss. (UP) Marshal C. B. Ferguson of Crystal Springs, Miss., said Saturday if he can find "Bobby Mohon" he's going to put him in jail for giving out information about flying saucers. The information, said Ferguson, was an out and out hoax...

UP wire story, May 13, 1950

The real puzzler in this case is not why a hoaxer would report such a story, the question is why a reporter would accept it, or why an editor would print as a featured headline without verifying the facts. The Clarion Ledger published a red-faced apology.

The Clarion Ledger, May 14, 1950

The "overly-zealous reporter was not fired.

.

Tommy Herrington, reporting on another story, Clarion Ledger,  May 17,  1950

We're lucky, really, that the hoaxer included details that allowed the story to be so quickly disproven by the authorities and subsequent journalists. If it had been a typical tale of a UFO encounter in a area, the resulting headlines might have made it into saucer history as an authentic case. 

65 Years Later: The Real Bobby Mohon

Robert Mohon in 2015, on WAPT

The Jackson, MS, television channel WAPT interviewed Bobby Mohon in 2015 on the 65th anniversary of the story. Mohon said a friend from a rival baseball team in Crystal Springs admitted he'd called reporters with the UFO crash story and used Mohon's name as a prank.

"I had nothing to do with it. I didn't find out about it for two days,” Mohon said. “I was at Mississippi State trying out for a baseball scholarship. When I got out there, there was news people from New Orleans, Jackson, all over the place asking questions. I didn't even know what they were talking about."

As with so many of the most interesting UFO cases featured here at The Saucers That Time Forgot, Project Blue Book has no file on this incident.