Pennsylvania’s UFO Crash of 1949

 

The 1949 Pennsylvania Crashed Disc, part of our series on Captured Flying Saucers

A flying saucer was seen crashing by multiple witnesses in Laporte, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1949. Somehow it was kept out of the papers until the disc was turned over to the Army. What’s so strange is that the saucer was left where it crashed for over two months. 

Laporte is a borough and township in Pennsylvania the county seat of Sullivan County in the USA.

Moths before the sighting, Major George D. Stephens was transferred to the Army’s Susquehanna Sub-Depot of Letterkenny Ordnance Depot in late spring 1949. Chances are, he never expected to be in charge of a UFO investigation.

The News-Chronicle, Shippennsburg, PA, June 7, 1949

On August 5, 1949, an unidentified flying object crashed in Laporte at about 10 P.M., in a park near the county courthouse. The county supervisor, M. R. Stepp lived nearby and was a witness himself. Stepp was responsible for relaying much of the witnesses’ testimony, but it’s unclear how much he experienced for himself. About 50 people claimed to have heard multiple explosions connected with the crash and saw the object in flames on the ground, and a smaller number of people claimed to have seen the saucer burning in flight beforehand. The disc lay on the scorched grass where it landed in the park, and the next day about 500 people came around to see it.

The saucer was about 4 feet in diameter, weighed about 25 pounds. It appeared to be manmade, perhaps a military device. An alpha numeric project number was stenciled on its surface, something like XK-5360. According to Stepp, he UFO had  been decked out with a jet tube, condensers, relays, transformers and some other equipment, until curious children step stripped it down for souvenirs. The saucer sat there as a conversation piece for over two months until Samuel W. Nichols was there on business from nearby Williamsport and heard about the crash. He spread the word and set things in motion, and that's how Major Stephens and the US military became involved. The next week, the story hit the press in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Oct. 15, 1949.

Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Oct. 15, 1949

 

The saucer story was reported nationally by the United Press. The next day, even though the investigation was not complete, Major Stephens was quoted by the Associated Press as saying the saucer was a hoax. “It was somebody’s joke.”

The Evening Star, Washington, DC, October 16, 1949, Page A-36

Sheriff C. Raymond Kschinka of Sullivan County revealed how the saucer had gone unreported to the U.S. military for two months, and why he had let the saucer lie in the park. “It was something for people to look at.”

The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1949

The Official Investigation

The Project Blue Book file on the investigation is only five pages long. On  Oct, 14 the disc was brought to the Susquehanna Army Sub-Depot where Major George Stephens had it examined. Project Grudge had a file card and a 4-page report and photograph by the Army's Col. Frederick R. Pitts and Col. R. W. Daniels from Oct. and Nov. 1949. Unfortunately, it’s mostly illegible due to the poor quality reproduction. 

Negative image of the photo from the PBB saucer file.

Project Grudge: 5 Aug 1949, La Porte, Penna The file card's short summary:

“Obj. rptd descended at low alt (50’) with evidence of minor explosions & light. Obj. recovered and made of thin sheet iron or steel. Donut shaped. The entire obj. weighing 20 pounds, was painted a dull black.” Evaluation: “Hoax”

There’s little doubt the Air Force got this one right. But…

What about the multiple witnesses who reported seeing the flaming saucer in flight? 

. . .

  

The Crashed Saucers of 1947

For STTF readers who enjoy captured saucer cases, we have a recommendation. An excellent article in English appeared in the Italian magazine, CIELO INSOLITO #6, March 2018, “Here they are! Early crashes of flying saucers: a short visual history” by Maurizio Verga. It’s a superb collection of newspaper photographs of captured UFOs from 1947, with a focus mainly on hoaxed saucers, but also includes a section on the publicity stunts that exploited the saucer fever of the time.

Here they are! Early crashes of flying saucers: a short visual history by Maurizio Verga (PDF)

 

 

Astronomer Arthur L. Draper on The UFO Mystery

Arthur L. Draper (R) and two Buhl Planetarium visitors

Arthur L. Draper was an astronomer and the the director of the Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1940 until the time of his death in 1967. In that role, he was often asked to comment about UFOs, and was quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 2, 1947. His professional opinion was that people were misidentifying things in the sky due to the contagion of excitement over flying saucers. 

"From our experience, we have found that one person can claim to have seen a phenomenon and countless other people will immediately 'see' it also. It is the power of suggestion."

Nevertheless, Draper  encouraged people to keep looking, and to be interested in what could be discovered in the night sky. In 1950, Draper put together a program put for the planetarium, "The Mystery of the Flying Saucers," and a short article appeared in The Pittsburgh Press accompanied by a stunning UFO illustration by Nat Youngblood.

The Pittsburgh Press July 2, 1950

Thanks to Luis Taylor the UFO researcher behind Information Dispersal, who sent of scans of the planetarium's flyer for Arthur Draper's presentation, "The Mystery of the Flying Saucers."

Draper's program was a big success and ran weekly from July to September of 1950.