The Saucers That Time Forgot: Pranks

The U.S. Air Force stated in 1949 that flying saucers “are not a joke.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 27, 1949

Donald Keyhoe became famous for saying, “The Flying Saucers Are Real.” But even when they’re not real, playing around with flying saucers can be dangerous. From our files, five documented examples from the forties and fifties, one of them fatal.

Dateline: Cottage Grove, Oregon, July 1947

As reported in our examination, Flying Saucers & the Regatta Queen Contest: Two Case Studies from 1947, the competition for the title of Cottage Grove Regatta Queen was fierce. Barbara Anderson took the lead in the race and her sponsors dropped tried to cement her win by dropping campaign advertising from a plane. The ads were in the form of hundreds of silver discs with the message to vote for Barbara. Unfortunately, chasing one of the silver saucers led to the serious injury of a 12-year-old boy.

The Eugene Guard, July 19, 1947

Dateline: Near Lake Charles, Louisiana, July 1947

19-year-old ex-Marine John Blackburn was out with some other young friends when as a prank he sent a saucer flying across a nightclub dining room. The manager, James Monsur, didn’t find it funny, and he clubbed Blackburn over the head with a .38 pistol. Tragically, the gun accidently discharged on impact, killing the prankster. Monsur was found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to prison, however, he was pardoned after serving only 10 months. This incident is the first documented fatality related to the flying saucer topic.

El Paso Herald Post and Lubbock Morning Avalanche July 18, 1947

Pardon: The Town Talk (Alexandria LA) Dec. 27, 1948

Dateline: New Orleans, Louisiana, Feb. 1952

The injury was heartbreak, but professional dancer Evelyn West was hurt by a man who’d led her on romantically. Steven Vitko bilked her into giving him $5,000, supposedly to secure a government contract to build a flying saucer.

Vitko took the money and ran, resulting in what may have been The First UFO Lawsuit?

Dateline: Oregon, Illinois, Sept. 1952

On Sept. 29, 1952, Jay Zee's "Hypnotic High-Jinks" act had him hypnotizing members of his audience to do funny things. He compelled a young man in the audience into seeing and reporting flying saucers, and Robert Cross was so agitated when he spoke to the police, they subdued him as a madman and gave him a beating.

Flying Saucers, Flying Fists and Hypnotic High-Jinks

Playing with Saucers

Perhaps the first flying saucer toy was manufactured in 1948, by Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni, who marketed a plastic throwing disc called the “Flyin-Saucer.”

The same year, F. K. Formis invented and marketed the Atomic Jet Flying Saucer.

Another “helicopter toy” with a metal propeller blade entered the market closer to 1950, the Mars Flying Saucer from Mars Novelty Company.

We don’t know if one of these was the culprit, but a flying saucer toy was involved in our final incident.

Dateline: Syracuse, New York, Dec. 1953

While Christmas shipping in Woolworth’s department store, Mrs. Florence Cohen was struck in the head by a flying saucer. It was a toy being demonstrated by a store employee. Cohen filed a lawsuit against the company, $1000 for negligence. Ultimately, she was awarded $200 instead.