Saucer News & Saucer Smear Archives - The Historic UFO magazines by Jim Moseley

 

James W. Moseley (1931-2012) got his start in ufology while working on a proposed flying saucer book. During 1953-54, he travelled throughout the USA tracking down UFO witnesses, also interviewing authors of early saucer literature and as well as prominent figures in clubs and research organizations. The book didn’t come together as planned, but with the connections and friendships Moseley had cultivated, he launched a magazine dedicated to flying saucers instead.

Jerome Clark wrote in his entry for Jim Moseley in The UFO Encyclopedia Vol II: The Phenomenon from the Beginning, 1992:

With August Roberts and Dominic Lucchesi, Moseley founded Saucer News in July 1954, at first calling the magazine Nexus but changing it to the more self-explanatory title the next year. Saucer News was noted for its freewheeling, iconoclastic, personal style. In its pages Moseley praised friends, lashed out at enemies, exposed frauds and hoaxes (even perpetrating one himself, the notorious “Straith letter” [sent to] contactee George Adamski) and reported gleefully on the doings of ufology’s sane and not-so-sane. Saucer News was never less than entertaining, sometimes infuriating, but more often very funny. In 1968 the magazine was sold to flying saucer publisher Gray Barker. The last issue appeared four years later.

Jim Moseley and Gray Barker

Issues of Saucer News are somewhat rare, but thanks to a former subscriber, there’s a large collection now available. The University of Wyoming hosts the papers of Frank Scully, which were recently shared online through their American Heritage Center. The collection includes scans of correspondence, "newsletters, magazine articles, comics, lecture ads, and more." Lots of good stuff, including a near complete run of Saucer News from 1954 to 1964. 

Update: The AFU now hosts a complete collection of Saucer News from 1954 to 1970.

The individual issues:

Nexus 

Saucer News

Saucer News Non-Scheduled Newsletter

The (preliminary) directory below is largely based on Jim Moseley’s own listing of back issues. Besides the feature articles listed, each issue of Saucer News generally contained a summary of UFO sightings and related news, a gossip and rumor roundup, photos, cartoons, and listings of saucer clubs and conventions. Also, book reviews, as well as letters from readers, often prominent figures in the saucer community.  

The online digital collection hosted by the Archives For the Unexplained (AFU), curated by Isaac Koi. (Note: The links open PDFs, some files contain issues out of sequence.)

Saucer News Archive

Saucer News (Nexus) 1-10, 1954-1955

AFU links to individual issues: Saucer News: Nexus 

#l (July 1954) – First issue contains articles by James Moseley and saucer pioneers August C. Roberts and Dominick Lucchesi.

#2 (Aug. 1954) - Contains interesting accounts of a little-known saucer film taken in Africa, and of the activities of the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York.

#3 (Sept. 1954) - Contains one of the most important articles we have ever published, concerning a lady in Miami who claims to have seen official government photographs of a crashed flying saucer from outer space.

#4 (Oct. 1954) - Contains “The Flying Saucer Mystery – solved” by James W. Moseley and “On the Fringe of the Supernatural” by Dominick Lucchesi.

#5 (Nov. 1954) - “Analysis of the Lubbock [Lights] Incident” by James W. Moseley and “Flying Saucers Fact and Fiction” by John P. Bessor.

#6 (Dec. 1954) - Contains “The Green Fireballs of the Southwest” by “Dr. D.” (Leon Davidson), “Invasion from Space” by Richard Cohen, “The Phantom Caravan by John P. Bessor, and “Jersey City’s Mystery Lights by August C. Roberts.

#7 (Jan. 1955) - Contains editorial on William Dudley Pelley and fascism, a report on “Two Meetings held by Civilian Saucer Intelligence,” and a George Adamski exposé, “Some New Facts About ‘Flying Saucers Have Landed’” by James W. Moseley.

#8 (Feb. 1955) - Contains a fascinating account of the strange events which have occurred in recent years in the vicinity of Mount Shasta, California.

#9 (March 1955) - Contains an interesting article by Frank Scully, author of "Behind the Flying Saucers." (The Aztec crash-retrieval hoax.)

#10 (April 1955) - Contains an important article by the late Dr. Morris K. Jessup, author of several saucer books, whose mysterious death is still a subject of controversy.

#11 (May 1955) - Contains an article by Desmond Leslie, co-author with George Adamski of "Flying Saucers Have Landed." Also contains the results of experiments in extrasensory perception conducted by the Saucer News Staff. Also in this issue are articles by Dr. Morris K. Jessup and Frank Scully.

Saucer News 1955-1957

#13 (Aug.-Sept. 1955) - Contains outstanding “UFOs, Atlantis, & The Antiquity of Civilized man” by Dr. M.K. Jessup, “A Parable” by Desmond Leslie, “A Report on the UFO's and Levitation” by John P. Bessor.

#14 (Oct.-Nov. 1955) – Contains “The Sky Cross” by Frank Reid, “Concerning ‘Space, Gravity, and the Flying Saucer’" by Desmond Leslie, “Are There Other Inhabited Planets?” by Justin Case, and “The Green Fireballs of the Southwest” by “Dr. D.” (Leon Davidson).

#15 (Dec.-Jan. 1955-1956) – Contains “What on Earth Were They?” by Harold T. Wilkins, “The ‘Little People' Case for the UFO” by M.K. Jessup), and “Summary, Notes and comments on Project Blue Book Special Report #14” by Justin Case and James W. Moseley.

#16 (Feb.-March 1956) – Contains “The Al Bender Story” by James W. Moseley, “Conquest of Gravity is Aim of Top U.S. Scientists” (Condensed from the N.Y. Herald-Tribune) comments by Justin Case, “The Air Force and the Saucers - Part One” by “'Dr. D.” (Leon Davidson).

#17 (April-May, 19.56) - Contains an interesting account of pre-World War II sightings by saucer researcher Frank Reid.

#18 (June-July, 19.56) - A most important issue, containing James Moseley's "Earth Theory" solution to the flying saucer mystery.

#19 (Aug.-Sept. 1956) - Contains an interesting article entitled "UFO’ s and Unnatural Clouds," by Frank Reid.

#20 (Oct.-Nov. 1956) - Contains another documented account of pre-World War II sightings, by Frank Reid, and an article by the noted French saucer author Aime Michel.

#21 (Dec.-Jan. 1956-57) - Contains an article entitled "How to Separate Facts from Fiction," by Justin Case, a noted mechanical engineer and saucer researcher.

#22 (Feb.-March 1957) - Contains an important report on attempts to build flying saucers here on earth, and also a report on the early problems of NICAP, written by Dr. M.K. Jessup.

#23 (April-May 1957) - Contains an article entitled "Flying Saucer Research on Trial," by saucer researcher Tom Comella.

#24 (June-July 1957) - Contains interesting articles by Justin Case and “The Air Force and the Saucers” (Part II) by Dr. Leon Davidson, an atomic physicist who is also a noted saucer researcher.

#25 (Aug.-Sept. 1957) - Contains an exposé of Contactee George Hunt Williamson, written by Y. N. ibn Aharon, an expert on ancient history.

#26 (Oct.-Nov. 1957) - Contains interesting articles by Justin Case and Richard Hall, Major Donald Keyhoe's assistant at NICAP.

#27 (Oct. 1957) - The Special Adamski Exposé Issue contains a collection of several articles showing the fallacies in George Adamski's first two books, "Flying Saucers Have Landed" and "Inside the Spaceships." This is one of the most important issues we have ever published.

#28 (Dec.- Jan. 1957-58) - Contains the first in a series of articles by Y. N. ibn Aharon entitled "Extraterrestrialism as an Historical Doctrine." This series purports to prove that the God of the Old Testament, was in reality a being from another planet.

Saucer News 1958-1959

#29 (Feb.-March 1958) - Contains news coverage of the Levelland, Texas, UFO reports and other possibly related cases (including the Reinhold O. Schmidt hoax). “The Air Force and the Saucers” (Part III) by Leon Davidson.

#30 (April-May 1958) - Contains two of the most important articles we have ever published, The first, by Ulbricht Von Rittner, gives the inside story of research on saucer-shaped craft in Germany during World War II; the second, by James Moseley, gives a complete account of the mysterious disappearance in 1953 of saucer researchers Karl Hunrath and Jack Wilkinson.

#3l (June-July 1958) - Contains an outstanding article "Saucers and the International Geophysical Year," by John Corman, an article called "Rationalism in Ufology" by Richard Hall, and another of Y. N. ibn Aharon's series on Extraterrestrialism.

#32 (Aug.-Sept. 1958) - Contains “Study of a Pre-1947 Sighting” by Dr. Leon Davidson and part 3 of the series by Y. N. ibn Aharon. Also, “The Rise and Fall of NICAP” by Moseley and Richard Cohen.

#33 (Oct.-Nov. 1958) - Contains an outstanding article by Major Lawrence J. Tacker of the U.S. Air Force, plus “The Case of the Crashed UFO,” written by noted saucer researcher Bob Barry.

#34 (Dec.-Jan. 1958-59) - Contains an exposé “Otis T. Carr and the Free Energy Principle,” written by NICAP member Robert Durant, plus another of Y. N. ibn Aharon's series on Extraterrestrialism., and a report on the first The Howard Menger Space Convention.

#35 (Feb.-March 1959) - Contains outstanding articles by Tom Comella, “ECM +CIA= UFO, or How to Cause a Radar Sighting by Dr. Leon Davidson, plus an exposé of George Hunt Williamson written by noted saucer researcher Michael Mann, together with James Moseley.

#36 (June 1959) - This most important issue contains a detailed exposé of Gray Barker, written by the noted amateur astronomer Lonzo Dove.

#37 (Sept. 1959) - Contains an article by Bob Barry called "The Case of the Mysterious Airplane Crash," “Who Is Fooling Donald Keyhoe?” by Justin Case, plus articles by Michael Mann and Y. N. ibn Aharon.

#38 (Dec. 1959) - Contains a scathing rebuttal to Saucer News from Major Donald Keyhoe of NICAP, and an article by Frank Reid entitled "The Aerial Phenomena of Earthquakes."

Saucer News 1960-1962

#39 (March 1960) - Contains interesting articles by Michael Mann and Justin Case, plus an article by Y. N. ibn Aharon entitled "How to Build a Saucer.”

#40 (June 1960) - Contains an important article by noted saucer researcher Lee Munsick, plus a review of one of George Hunt Williamson's books, by Y. N. ibn Aharon.

#41 (Sept. 1960) - This outstanding issue contains a long report on the 1960 Giant Rock saucer convention by James Moseley, with many photographs.

#42 (Dec. 1960) - Contains an important article by Y. N. ibn Aharon and an article by Justin Case entitled "Proof by Ignorance."

#43 (March 1961) - Contains an important scientific UFO article by David Wightman, editor of the outstanding British saucer magazine "Uranus." Also, “An Open Letter to Saucer Researchers” (Part One) by Dr. Leon Davidson.

#44 (June 1961) - Contains an interesting article on extrasensory perception by Justin Case, plus an article by our Associate Editor Melvyn Stiriss.

#45 (Sept. 1961) - Contains a very interesting account of an unexplained plane crash by saucer researcher Max Miller, editor of "Saucers." There is also an article on Extraterrestrialism by Y. N. ibn Aharon.

#46 (Dec. 1961) - Contains the first half of an unusually interesting article by the famous naturalist and saucer researcher Ivan Sanderson.

#47 (March 1962) - Contains the conclusion of the above-mentioned article by Ivan Sanderson, and a well-documented article by Lonzo Dove entitled "Humanoids and the Mars Saucer Cycle."

#48 June 1962) - Contains “Why the Bender Book Has Been Delayed” by Gray Barker and “An Open Letter to Saucer Researchers” (Part Two) by Dr. Leon Davidson.

#49 (Sept. 1962) - Contains a long and very important article by James Moseley concerning his exclusive interview with the head of the Air Force UFO project at Wright-Patterson Field, in Dayton, Ohio.

#50 (Dec. 1962) - Contains the first half of an interesting article by Tom Comella, called "A New Inquiry Into the Flying Saucer Mystery.” Also included is a long exclusive report on the recent saucer "flap" in South America.

Saucer News 1963-1964

#51 (March 1963) - Contains the conclusion of the above-mentioned article by Tom Comella, plus a wealth of recent saucer sightings from around the world.

#52 (June 1963) – Contains “The Olden Moore Story” by C. W. Fitch, “The Mystery of the Disappearing Planes” by Sandy Moseley, and “The End or an Era” by Gray Barker, on the merging of "The Saucerian Bulletin” with Saucer News and his role as associate editor.

#53 (Sept. 1963) – Contains “Florida's Coral Castle” by James W. Moseley, “George Hunt Williamson Re-Visited” by John J. Robinson.

#54 (Dec. 1963) Contains “The Electromagnetic Effects of Flying Saucers” (Part One) by John J. Robinson, “Spacemen in our Midst” by Gray Barker, “How Animals Tell Time Without Clocks" by Gene Steinberg, and “Further Information About Jonathan Swift and the Moons of Mars” by Robert J. Durant and James W. Moseley.

#55 (March 1964) – Contains “Space Ships Over Times Square” by Ed Sparks, Part 2 of John J. Robinson’s article on UFO Electromagnetic Effects, and “The X-4 Electro-Craft” by Howard Menger.

#56 (June 1964) - Contains “Flying Saucers and the Father's Plan” by Laura Mundo and “The Flying Saucers” by Rolf Telano.

Saucer News 1965-1970

Saucer News issues from 1965-1970 are available individually in the collection hosted by the AFU.

SN Non-Scheduled Newsletter

There's now a stand-alone collection of the Saucer News Non-Scheduled Newsletter from 1955 - 1968. Moseley hyped the newsletter as often containing “material that we consider ‘too hot to handle’ in the regularly-scheduled issues of our magazine.”

Saucer News Non-Scheduled Newsletter

. . .

Moseley continued Saucer News until 1968 when he sold the magazine to Gray Barker, then it faded away in a few years. In the 1970s, Moseley revived it as a non-scheduled newsletter, eventually named Saucer Smear, published up until his death in 2012. Isaac Koi recently announced that the complete Saucer Smear collection has been added by to the files hosted at the AFU site. Click the picture below to begin your studies.

Saucer Smear

Every Saucer News issue has several points of interest to even the casual student of UFO history. In the news section, it’s interesting to see the amount of attention given to cases and see what was said about them at the time. Some obscure and forgotten cases often were the subject of lingering examinations, while some stories that became classics were initially treated as routine. UFO history mavens will enjoy cross-referencing cases and prominent figures in ufology with the period coverage in Saucer News to see how it was discussed and regarded in its day.

The links again to the AFU collections for individual issues:

Nexus 

Saucer News

Saucer News Non-Scheduled Newsletter

Saucer Smear 

. . .

For more information on Jim Moseley and the Saucer News era, 

see the collection of articles at JimMoseley.com

Flying Saucers Foiled Again

Three days before the saucer news broke from Roswell, New Mexico, a flying disc crashed on a farm in Ohio. In the following weeks (and years) other objects were found, some of them photographed and printed in newspapers.

July 7, 1947, Associated Press

Our Captured Flying Saucer Scrapbook begins with an item from The Circleville Herald, July 5, 1947: 

'Flying Disc' Believed Found On Pickaway Farm 

One of the "flying discs" which have been puzzling aviators all over the United States was believed Saturday to have been found on a Pickaway county farm. Sherman Campbell, who lives on the Westfall road in Wayne township, near the Pickaway-Ross county line, reported the finding of a star-shaped silver foil covered object which he believes is one of the mysterious "flying saucers."

While working in the field he spotted a strange object. He described his find as 50 inches high, 48 inches wide and weighing about two pounds. He said the silver foil was stretched over a wooden frame. The star-shaped object had six points. He said there was a balloon attached which had deflated and there was no way of knowing how big it was.

Discovery of the object was the first reported in the country. A Coast Guardsman on the west coast reported photographing one from a distance, but no one has seen one of the "flying discs" close. 

Another photo:

The Wisconsin State Journal, July 7, 1947

Yet another “flying saucer” was found in Oxford, Ohio, on Monday July 7, 1947, as reported in The Palladium-Item (Richmond, IN), July 9, 1947.

Saucers were everywhere. Amazingly, another strange object fell close to Circleville, Ohio. 

“The second such find was reported to Sheriff Charles Radcliff Tuesday afternoon by David C. Heffner, who said he discovered it on a line fence on his farm on the old Tarlton road four and one half miles east of Circleville. ... The gadgets found by Mr. Campbell and Mr. Heffner were … constructed of a light wood frame. Only a remnant of the thin rubber balloon remained attached to the Campbell find, but the other contraption discovered on the Heffner farm includes most of the remains of the balloon which must have measured more than 15 feet in diameter when it was inflated."

The Circleville Herald, July 5, 1947

The Roswell Debris

The now-famous headline, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region," appeared in the Roswell Daily Record, July 8, 1947. However they stated, “no details of the saucer's construction or its appearance had been revealed.” Newspapers the next day began revealing the disappointing details.

The Durant Daily Democrat, July 10, 1947

The Minneapolis Star, Minneapolis, July 9, 1947

The Roswell Daily Record, July 9, 1947, reported that Mac Brazel had been hounded by the press over his discovery, "Harassed Rancher who Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About It." The paper summarized Brazel’s description of what’d he’d found and shown Maj. Jesse A. Marcel from Roswell Army Air Field:

“Brazel related that on June 14 he and 8-year-old son, Vernon were about 7 or 8 miles from the ranch house of the J.B. Foster ranch, which he operates, when they came upon a large area of bright wreckage made up on rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks. … There was no sign of any metal in the area which might have been used for an engine and no sign of any propellers of any kind, although at least one paper fin had been glued onto some of the tinfoil.”

The debris was matched to other discoveries and military projects still in flight. The Kansas City Times, July 9, 1947, reported on a Rawin target recovered on an Adrian, Missouri farm.

The Kansas City Times, July 9, 1947

The Corpus Cristi Caller, July 10, 1947, reported:

Like New Mexico Saucer – The “rawin” – radar wind – reflector attached to the Navy weather balloon above, is the same type of apparatus which a New Mexico rancher picked up earlier this week, believing he had found one of the much-publicized flying discs which have been plaguing 44 states of the nation. Miss Mary belle Kuegle, Wave aerologist first class, holds the device which normally rises to a height of 50,000 feet before the balloon bursts and the rawin falls to the earth, aided by a parachute. (Official U.S. Navy photograph.)

The Corpus Cristi Caller, July 10, 1947

What is a Rawin? From Captain Joseph A. Pechman’s article in Air Corps, from The Coast Artillery Journal, May/June 1946:

“Radar made possible the determination of upper winds under most conditions of clouds or poor visibility. Wind data are obtained by an SCR-584 [radar unit] tracking the flight of a free balloon to which is attached a metal, foil-covered paper reflector capable of reflecting the radar signals back to the radar. Direction and speeds of the winds for various altitudes are evaluated on the basis of the horizontal projection of the flight of the balloon. This procedure is called ‘RAWIN’, a term combining the two words, ‘radar’ and ‘wind’.” 

Launching and tracking a rawin target.

Civilians were not only mistaking Rawin targets for flying saucers on the ground, but also in the sky. The United Press story in the Press and Sun Bulletin (Binghamton, NY), July 10, 1947, the US Navy disclosed that their  balloon launches had led to saucer reports. 

Disc? Tsk, Says Navy

Saucy Soaring Saucers Sinking

Practical jokers continued to have a high time with flying saucers today as the navy advised the more serious-minded "eyewitnesses" that what they saw in the sky was only weather observation devices. It cost the navy $25 to assure itself. Lt. Rell Zelle Moore, naval air station aerology officer, launched a "ray winds" weather device is a $25 "operations saucer" at Atlanta, Ga. As the helium-filled balloon carrying a tin-foil screen soared over Stone Mountains, calls poured into Atlanta newspapers reporting "flying discs." The 4-by-10 foot screen looked like a round aluminum disc at a high altitude. "People are only just beginning to see these things aloft," said Lt. Comndr. Thomas H. Rentz. 

The Gastionia Gazette (NC), July 10, 1947 feature more from the Naval officer: 

HAS OPINION ON FLYING SAUCERS

Naval Officer Believes Flying Discs Are Tinfoil Screen Used In Weather Balloons To Reflect Radar Rays And Detect Wind's Velocity

ATLANTA, July 10 -- UP -- Lieut. Commander Thomas H. Rentz of the Atlanta Naval Air Station said today he believed the "flying saucers" reported over the country were tinfoil screens used in weather balloons. 

The Roswell tinfoil episode was forgotten, but the International News Service (INS) article from April 10, 1949, published under such titles as “Secrecy Shrouds ‘Saucers’ Probe,” mentioned Roswell in passing:

“… the USAF has sorted out the vast number of fantastic and imaginative reports received... Another incident resulted in ‘exile’ for an Air Force public relations officer in the West. This enthusiastic gentleman, without prior reference to Washington, announced to local newsmen that he had found a ‘flying saucer’.” 

Saturday Evening Post, April 30, 1949, featured the first of two parts of a skeptical article by Sidney Shallet, “What You Can Believe About Flying Saucers.” It included a section on rawin targets as UFOs:

In addition to the 25 per cent or more bona fide cases of mistaken identification that can be blamed on astronomical phenomena, a large percentage can be accounted for by weather-observation and radar-target balloons.  . . . The most common sources of innocent deception in the balloon field are the so-called RAWIN (radar-wind) target balloons.  The balloons generally are white, and at 40,000 to 60,000 feet where they usually operate, they are invisible to persons on the ground.  Dangling below each balloon, however, is a six-cornered "target" of aluminum foil, strung out on kitelike sticks.  Radar operators on the ground track these aluminum targets for weather information. The targets oscillate and gyrate in the wind, and sunlight glinting from these shiny, wind-tossed objects can create a perfect illusion of a flying saucer.  Movies of airborne RAWINs were taken for me, and in some shots the oscillating aluminum targets appeared perfectly round. 

Further Sightings in the Fifties 

Around the USA, saucer reports kept being reported and sometimes, physical evidence was found. Here’s our two last entries that made the papers. 

The Captured Saucer of Concord, Pennsylvania

On March 28, 1950, an unnamed farmer spotted a UFO descending and land in his field. He reported the object, and it was subsequently carried to the Concord School where it was on display for the 300 students there and the general public. The Chester Times, March 29, 1950, reported the mysterious object was: 

“Four feet across at its maximum width, it was constructed of white and silver paper, on a thin wooden frame. Only identifying features on the strange-looking star shaped object with the numerals 1040. Obviously severed heavy strings were attached to a metallic ring on the object, indicating that a balloon had been hooked up to the ‘What-is-it.’ The balloon apparently broke loose when the strings gave away and it continued its flight. The farmer who first sighted the object reported this morning that spinning in the late afternoon sunlight, it gave every appearance of being a huge disk as rays were reflected from the white and silver body of the object.” 

Local Weather Bureau, Army officials, and scientists were consulted, but they could not initially identify the object’s origin. 

Chester Times, March 29, 1950

The next day continued the drama, “Concord’s ‘Flying Disc’ Subject of Much Speculation”

Chester Times, March 30, 1950

A subsequent story in the Chester Times, April 8, 1950, reported that the “kite-like affair” had been identified, “investigation disclosed [it] to be a corner reflector radar target.” 

The Horton Disc of 1953 

A UFO was seen in the skies of Atlanta, Georgia on July 6, 1953. The next morning, near the Fulton County Airport, Ralph Horton recovered an unusual flying object that had crashed on his lawn. From The Atlanta Constitution, July 8, 1953: 

“Experts Tuesday were as baffled as ever about the multi-colored, cone-shaped ''thing" that dozens of Atlantans saw moving across the twilight sky around supper-time Mondav. The experts didn't think the ‘thing’ was the kite-shaped, balloon-bearing apparatus Ralph Horton found Tuesday morning in his front yard near the County Airport. U. S. Weather Bureau officials said Horton's find apparently is a ‘ra-wind,’ an instrument used to plot wind currents in the upper air. Such an instrument, they explained, would have been released by the Air Force at 4 p.m. and would not have remained aloft as long as 7:15 p.m. when Atlantans all over the city reported they saw the ‘thing.’”

The Atlanta Constitution, July 8, 1953

By this time, such discoveries were common. Once the Weather Bureau identified it as a rawin target, no investigation by Project Blue Book – or anyone was conducted. Until… 

Working on a proposed flying saucer book, James Moseley made a cross-country trip in 1953-54 tracking down UFO witnesses. In Georgia, he found the Ralph Horton article in the files of the Atlanta Constitution. Moseley with Karl Pflock described what he did next in his 2002 book, Shockingly Close to the Truth!: Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist: 

“Of course, I lost no time getting out to see Horton, who obligingly hauled the saucer out of the woods behind his house, where he tossed it after the excitement had died down. ... I photographed Horton with the saucer which he then offered to me. I took it with thanks. Unfortunately, it got lost in the shuffle over the years.” 

Ralph Horton and his discovery. Photo by Jim Moseley 

Crashes of other military or meteorological balloon packages have resulted in other “crash-retrieval” cases, from the famous to the forgotten. While no single answer has been found for the flying saucer mystery, sightings and discovery of rawin targets added to the confusion, becoming part of UFO legends and history.

. . .