Captured Flying Saucers: The North Hollywood Disc, July 10, 1947

July 10, 1947, The News-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan reported an Associated Press wire story:

North Hollywood, Calif., July 10 - A saucer-shaped mechanical contraption, resembling a chicken-brooder top with a few gadgets added, was found in a geranium bed at the home of construction engineer Russell Long last night and the first official reaction was from Fire Battalion Chief

Wallace E. Newcombe, who looked at it skeptically, and said:
"It doesn't look to me like it could fly."
Long called the Van Nuys fire department and excitedly pointed to the metal saucer, 30 inches in diameter, which he said had been belching smoke from two exhaust pipes and emitting a blue-white glare.

The Southeast Missourian, July 10, 1947

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had a look at the device:

FBI file begins at page 60 of this PDF.

This news stories shows that Russell Long's discovery of a counterfeit disc was just one of many in the first few weeks of 1947's flying saucer fever.

San Bernardino Sun, July 11, 1947

"Among the many "hoax' saucers was this fraud found in a North Hollywood yard. It was made of galvanized iron, a radio tube, a piece of pipe."  Saturday Evening Post, May 7, 1949 

Fire Battalion Chief Wallace E. Newcombe, "It doesn't look to me like it could fly."

PROJECT 1947 - Saturday Evening Post - May 7, 1949 
"What You Can Believe About Flying Saucers" 

The object was determined to be of Earthly origin, but the identity of the hoaxer was not determined, so in that regard, the case remains unsolved.

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.

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.

Captured Flying Saucers: Saucer Engineers: Aug. 25, 1950 Reading, PA

August 25, 1950, Reading, Pennsylvania:
Police responded to excited reports of a captured flying saucer, one that looked like a military project gone astray. On the small unmanned disc were stenciled the words:  

Non-Explosive
Military Secret - USA
Air Force
S-4763

When the police arrived, they indeed found the disc the witnesses described, but also two individuals who were able to solve the mystery.

FALSE ALARM . . . Two Reading, Pa., boys, John Feick, 15, left, and Paul Fisher, 14, right, thought the "flying saucer" they built was quite a trick. Motorcycle Patrolman Floyd Auchenbach didn't share their admiration. The patrolman investigated reports that people had seen "a real flying saucer." He found this gadget, which the boys said they had constructed for fun and to fool people. It won't fly. 
The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky August 26, 1950

Feick and Fisher had further ambitions.

There had been other counterfeit flying saucers found before, and some were even counterfeit military projects. Billy Rose's column in the Riverhead, NY, County Review from June 15, 1950, reported on the claims by Radio commentator Henry J. Taylor. Not only were flying saucers real, they were secret USA military projects. 

The County Review, June 15, 1950

Chances are good that John Feick and Paul Fisher heard about Taylor's story and it influenced the creation of their disc. Despite their announcement of a sequel, no report was found of a later disturbance by a rocket launch in Reading, however. 

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.

Captured Flying Saucers: US Navy Investigates Crashed Disc, Alice, TX, July 4, 1950

X for eXperimental

STTF correspondent Roger Glassel of Sweden has provided us with the story of a crashed flying saucer, discovered in Alice, Texas, July 4th, 1950. At the time, flying saucers were thought by most people to be secret military projects, and several credible authorities were supporting the hypothesis. World War I flying ace, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, agreed that flying saucers could be real, but "belong to the U.S.A."

Portsmouth Times. May 18, 1950.

The Northrop X-4, as shown in Flying Magazine, March 1949

There were some real classified military aircraft projects underway in the 1940s and, and they carried an "X" prefix, designating experimental. The link below is to an article from FAS on the history of the projects: "The X-Plane Program has evolved from being the first rocket-powered airplane to break the sound barrier (the X-1 on 14 October 1947) and included over 30 different major research designs..." X-Planes Experimental Aircraft

The X-147-A

In Alice, Texas, on July 4th, 1950, a crashed flying saucer was discovered. The San Antonio Express reported in their  July 5, 1950 issue:

"Discoverer of the saucer was Leroy Holloman of an Alice roofing and sheet metal company. Driving along a highway bordering a plowed field, he spotted the saucer. Within an hour Alice's sleepy Fourth of July burst into a galaxy of wild rumors. Here s what the crowd saw: An aluminum object, almost round, about four feet across each way, six or eight inches thick in the middle, with antenna and 'running lights' on both sides, and a small opening in the back. Stenciled on the left side were the words 'warning. X-147-A. Don’t touch.' And no one, at first, would touch it. But excited townspeople knelt down and looked through the little hole. They could see machinery inside. Among those who came running were Police Chief Stokes Micenheimer and Managing Editor Curtis Vinson of the Alice Daily Echo."

The text on the object was in English and it looked like Army stenciling. This led to speculation that the saucer was a secret military project, perhaps gone astray. Micenheimer and Vinson contacted government authorities, and the FBI was among those they notified.

The FBI's files contain three memos on the event starting on page 35 of this PDF.

They also called in the Marines

Alice Daily Echo, July 5,1950.

Another unusual aspect of this case is that instead of the Air Force, the incident was investigated by the US Navy. Micenheimer and Vinson also contacted the Navy, from the nearby Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. Here's the story form All Hands, the US Navy magazine, "published monthly in Washington, DC, by the Bureau of Naval Personnel for the information and interest of the Naval Service as a whole."

All Hands, Sept. 1950

All Hands, Oct. 1950

This story from Naval Aviation News identifies the specific aircraft elements used to construct the counterfeit saucer's body:

Naval Aviation News, September, 1950

Photos from  the Navy's examination of the captured disc:

View of the saucer's underside, showing distinct traces of terrestrial construction.

An "alien autopsy." The saucer's propulsion unit was removed for analysis.

The Navy decided to put the crashed saucer into service:

Alice Daily Echo, July 7, 1950.

There have been many UFO hoaxes over the years, but very few of them are centered on spoofing a military secret project. The experimental "X-147-A" designation was a nice touch, but doesn't indicate any knowledge beyond what an average aircraft buff would have had at the time. The hoaxer had welding skill and access to aircraft parts, so it seems very likely he was a mechanic at the airport in Alice, Texas. 

Many discoveries of crashed flying saucers generate lasting mysteries, but due to the timely reporting and investigation, the true origin of this one was solved within a few hours. The object was determined to be of Earthly origin, but the identity of the hoaxer was not determined, so in that regard, the case remains unsolved

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. 

A special thanks to Roger Glassel for the case details and documents.

Captured Flying Saucers, July 1947: Alien Writing and Technology

July 7, 1947 news story on the crashed disc recovered by Reverend Joseph Brasky: 

Fort Madison Evening Democrat, July 7, 1947

The Rev. Joseph Brasky, a Catholic priest of Grafton, Wisconsin reported that a metal disc 18 inches in diameter with "gadgets and wires" around the hole in the center crashed into his yard with a mild explosion.  He announced that he was holding it for the FBI, but after close examination found the lettering "...steel, high carbon 100 per cent steel," and decided that it was a circular saw blade.

FBI file has news a clipping with photo, in page 23 of this PDF.

https://vault.fbi.gov/UFO/UFO%20Part%202%20of%2016/view

Rev. Brasky's case was not unique. In July of 1947, newspapers often had more saucer stories than they could use, and sometimes edited bits of them together, dumping anything on the topic into one article. This articles combines hoaxes, President Truman's outlook on saucers, E.J. Culligan's reward for the saucer solution, along with theories he'd received.

Albuquerque Journal, July 11, 1947, 

Wait, what was that about inscribed with "Japanese characters?"

Saucer With Alien Writing

Joseph Kemper of  York, PA.

July 12, 1947: The Gazette and Daily from York, Pennsylvania

YORK'S OWN HOME-MADE "FLYING DISC" Some people THOUGHT they saw "flying saucers" but Joseph Kemper, Dover RD 3, FOUND one in a corn field north of the city and brought it to York police headquarters. The aluminum disc, the size of a large radio record, has several tubes, condensers, resistors and other radio paraphanalia soldered on and some rubber tubing attached. The disc has some alleged Oriental characters painted over it in red. Says Chief Nelson L. Shultz: "If that will fly, so will a cow." Could be some practical joker was adding local color to a national fad, huh?

It's not known if this Earth-made counterfeit saucer was intended to look like a weapon from a foreign power or an alien device from outer space.

The objects were determined in both incidents to be of Earthly origin, but the identity of the hoaxers were not determined, so in that regard, these cases remain unsolved.

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

Captured Flying Saucers: Black River Falls, Wisconsin July 10, 1947

There was a rash of flying saucers reports in the weeks following Kenneth Arnold's pivotal sighting in June 24, 1947. What many historians forget is that there was also a large number of reports of crashed flying saucers. What caused this frenzy of reports real and imagined, and the inevitable hoaxes? It may have been the cash rewards offered for $1,000 for proof that the flying saucers are real.

Black River Falls, Wisconsin July 10, 1947. Sigurd Hanson found a small unmanned flying saucer in a field near the fairgrounds, where it had apparently crashed. The earth was scarred from the landing, and object itself was clearly a technological device, streamlined for flight and the body of the saucer showed scorching form the engine exhaust. The Wisconsin Civil Air Patrol was called in to investigate.

Kenosha Evening News, July 11 1947.

There was a lot of excitement due to the physical evidence recovered, and this was indeed a saucer not scraps of tinfoil. As the story developed, further details emerged.

Sigurd Hanson

"Hanson hopes that the saucer will merit one of those $1000 rewards that he has been reading about in the newspapers lately, although he hasn't given it much thought."

The La Crosse Tribune, July 11, 1947

The story was so big, there were stories on the news coverage of the story itself. Saucers were selling papers, and photographers were eager to get a photograph of a real flying saucer.

July 11, 1947

July 12, 1947

Exploitation and Exhibition 

The investigation by the Civil Air Patrol revealed the saucer had been constructed on Earth, but they weren't certain it was the same kind of object that was being reported in the skies across the nation, and their interest in the disc diminished. The object was returned to the Black River Falls' Chamber of Commerce who saw an opportunity to capitalize on the publicity by charging viewers for admission to see the saucer.

"The Hansons, wondering if the saucer will merit the $1000 offered, are considering contacting officials at the World Inventors Congress in session at Hollywood, Calif. The inventors have offered the reward to the first disk finder."

? July 13, 1947 and Dubuque Telegraph Herald, July 13 1947.

The Saucer Crashes

The FBI's file has a document that discloses their analysis of the UFO's physical properties.

The disc might be made of a substance such as cardboard covered by a silver
airplane dope material. The contraption has a small wooden tail like a
rudder in the back and inside of the disc is what appears to be an RCA
photo-electric cell or tube. Also inside the disc is a little electric
motor with a shaft running to the center of the disc. At one end of the
shaft is a very small propeller. In ____ opinion that contraption might
possibly have been made by some juvenile. ____ stated that he desired
to return the contraption to Milwaukee and eventually turn it over to
the Army Air Forces, but that the finder, ____ apparently wanted to get
some publicity on his find and wanted it returned to him.

FBI Office Memorandum, Subject Flying Discs Sabotage, August 12, 1947 

Unlike so many of the most interesting UFO cases featured here at The Saucers That Time Forgot, Project Blue Book does have a file on this incident. Conclusion: Hoax.

From the files of Project Blue Book

Confessed

In a newspaper story in 2004, Bob Huntley confessed how he, with the help of three friends, Bud Bowler and cousins John and Dan McDonald, built and staged the saucer crash.
"BRF's flying saucer mystery revealed as a hoax" by Autumn Grooms of the La Crosse Tribune Nov 18, 2004

They weren't the only kids up to saucer mischief, but we'll cover those in future installments.

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.