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.

. . .

Cover-Up, 1955: UFO Shot Down with Advanced Technology

A crash retrieval of a UFO by the US military. Rumors of advanced technology and small bodies in the wreckage - all followed by official denials. This is the story of something so secret, the US military shot down a craft and then ordered soldiers to jump out of planes to protect it.

There may be no aliens in this flying saucer story, but it's a true example of a cover-up by the military, and seeing it exposed may provide insight as to how the US government hides bigger secrets.

Hot Air

In mid-September 1955, there were several stories about flying saucers and how they were really only scientific research balloons launched by the Air Force.

Belleville Telescope, KS, Sept.15, 1955

AP Wirephoto, Sept. 15, 1955

Pacific Stars and Stripes, Sept. 14, 1955

A Crash Retrieval Story

An unintentionally public operation occurred on September 12, 1955 near Fowler, Indiana. Something strange was seen to fall from the skies, and it was captured by the military. The guards said the balloon was shot down by an "electrical impulse gun," and that the mysterious cargo included valuable scientific equipment, and even live animal test subjects.

San Bernardino Sun, Sept. 13, 1955

Greensburg Daily News, IN, Sept. 12 1955

Parts of the story were true. The USA's under Aeromedical Field Laboratory (AMFL) at Holloman AFB was conducting balloon flights of test animals such as mice and guinea pigs. Interestingly, the mice were flying in saucer-shaped capsules.

From "History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics," 1958, 

author: Air Force Missile Development Center:

"Eight flights originated at Sault Sainte Marie with biological specimens ranging from radish seeds to monkeys... Another six Holloman flights in the fall of 1954 and the first part of 1955 set the stage for the last northern series to date... the series of eleven launchings from South Saint Paul and International Falls, Minnesota, which took place 18 July through 20 September 1955. Winzen Research again directed flight operations under contract, although on several occasions uninvited tracking assistance was received from jet fighters of the Air Defense Command which went aloft as a result of balloon inspired flying saucer reports."

This project tested the effects of high altitude flight on mammals in preparation for manned flight into the outer atmosphere. However, the balloon downed in Indiana was not from one of the AMFL experimental flights.

Cover-Up in Fowler

The press attention was unwelcome and the Air Force was as confused in their reaction and replies as they were in flying saucer matters. A true denial of animal experimentation:

San Bernardino Sun, Sept. 13, 1955

A true denial of the use of advanced technology, "electrical impulse gun," appeared in the September 13, 1955, The Kokomo Tribune from Indiana:

WAYWARD BALLOON -- M/Sgt. LeRoy Estes holds the main section of the Air Force weather balloon which floated to earth near Logansport Sunday. The balloon was sent up at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colo, last week and was brought to earth three days after schedule. (Tribune Photo) 

High-Flying Balloon Falls In Field Near Logansport

The main carriage of the mysterious "Fowler Balloon" floated to earth about four miles southeast of Logansport, creating a near-riot as sightseers rushed to get a glimpse of it. The Air Force revealed late Monday. The balloon, a weather research device, carrying more than $1 million of scientific equipment was released last Tuesday by the 1110th Air Support Group at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colo., according to M/Sgt. LeRoy Estes, public information officer at Bunker Hill Air Force Base. M/Sgt. Estes said the balloon had been sent aloft to gather data on weather conditions. It was to have been brought down Thursday,  but remained out of range of its electronic controls, the Air Force announced.

Part of the balloon came down near Fowler Sunday after two case filled with C-ll9s had tracked it to the area. The main section, however, remained aloft for an additional 52 miles finally, falling to earth at the site near Logansport.' It landed only a short distance from the spot where an Air Force jet trainer crashed several weeks ago. 
Early accounts of the balloon said the object had been downed by "electrical impulse guns" from the plane. M/Sgt. Estes said, however, that radio controls from the ground and from the planes brought the balloon down. He said the "Gun story" was "Buck Rogers stuff."

The balloon was spotted Sunday afternoon about 700 feet over downtown Logansport by State Trooper John Leavitt. Leavitt followed it to the area where it landed. He said there were a couple thousand spectators already at the scene when he arrived. The device itself is a large plastic balloon, over two stories high. Attached to it was a nylon parachute which opened when radio controls dropped sand ballast from two boxes on either end of a bar suspended from the balloon. Hanging from the bar was a case filled with various weather recording devices. Both the parachute and the balloon were torn in numerous places as souvenir hunters closed in on the field in which it lay. Announcement of the balloon's landing was delayed until Monday pending clearance from Air Force officials in Washington.

There was a military secret on the verge of being exposed. In The Moby Dick Project: Reconnaissance Balloons Over Russia, (1991) Curtis Peebles described the events following the parachute recovery. 

Two trucks from Chanute AFB showed up to haul away the packages. The comments sparked newspaper reports and inquiries. Winzen Research, a balloon manufacturer, suggested "electrical impulse guns" were radio control devices. Officials at Lowry denied animals were carried on the balloon flights and Chanute AFB said the balloon project was classified "and we can't talk about it." Such attention was dangerous, as it generated speculation and further leaks. To spike the rumors, the Air Force invited the press to watch the launch of a WS-119L balloon from Lowry AFB on September 14. They saw the 176-foot-tall balloon being inflated, then launched...  By being forthright about the balloons, the Air Force was able to conceal the true purpose of the program. To prevent any more "speaking out of turn," a commander's call was held to discuss "certain newspaper articles."

The press coverage of the decoy performance balloon launch at Lowry AFB:

Bennington Evening Banner VT, Sept. 16, 1955

The Real Secrets

The balloon recovered in Fowler Indiana was part of the development of the US Air Force's balloon program to study the upper atmosphere was called Moby Dick.

Department of Defense Statement on Meteorological Balloons, January 8, 1956 AIR FORCE METEOROLOGICAL SURVEY EXPANDED IN NORTHERN HEMISPHERE An Air Force meteorological survey, commonly known as "Moby Dick" here in the United States, is being expanded to include other areas in the Northern Hemisphere. This research program has been in progress for the past two years to obtain meteorological research data above 30,000 feet. 

However, this was just a smokescreen for a CIA-military intelligence program. B.D. Gildenberg explained in The Cold War’s Classified Skyhook Program: A Participant’s Revelations:

"Project Moby Dick’s stated purpose was to study stratosphere wind trajectories, as defined via three-day Skyhook flights... Moby Dick was in fact a cover-up for top-secret project WS-119L. Beside the alphanumeric title, secret projects have secret names that vary for different phases. This program was called Project Gopher at our Alamogordo AFB launch site. It later accumulated titles including Grayback, Moby Dick Hi, Genetrix, and Grandson. Even the WS prefix was a cover-up, since it was not a weapon system. The actual project goal was balloon reconnaissance of the Soviet Union."

At left is a schematic drawing of the 1956 operational version of the USAF/General Mills WS-119L GOPHER/GENETRIX reconnaissance balloon payload. Right, close-up of the base of the 1.5 meter tall, 220 kg camera package. From Joel Carpenter's UFX article on Project GOPHER.

The camera package was in the gondola, and when the balloon reached a secure recovery area, the reconnaissance payload released by radio command to drop by parachute for retrieval. The airman's description of the radio-activated release spawned the "electrical impulse guns" rumor.

The domestic testing for Genetrix showed the technology worked, but the launches over Soviet territory were far less successful. The Soviets detected the ballon overflights, and the majority of the flights were shot down, malfunctioned or the cameras couldn't be recovered. The job of aerial reconnaissance was handed over to spy planes and satellites, but the spy balloon program remained classified until the 1980s. Like its successors, the balloon program was hidden in plain sight. Its existence was widely known, only its true purpose and operational details remained secret.

. . .

Further Reading and Additional Sources

The Moby Dick Project: Reconnaissance Balloons Over Russia (1991) by Curtis Peebles. 

"Observation Balloons and Weather Satellites," Donald E. Welzenbach

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000253109.pdf

Reconnaissance Balloons (WS-119L / WS-461L)

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/ws-119l.html

GOPHER / Moby Dick / GENETRIX
https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/gopher.htm

For more on the Aeromedical Field Laboratory (AMFL) projects, see "History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics," 1958, author: Air Force Missile Development Center.

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a323170.pdf

There's some interesting reading in the AMFL report. From Part V, a discussion of the "Daisy Track," a rail track system used to approximate rocket acceleration.

"... in November 1957 the laboratory held the last, the most elaborate, and certainly the most interesting of all its yearly meetings with outside representatives on automotive crash problems. Entitled Third Annual Automotive Crash and Field Demonstration Conference, it brought over a hundred persons to Holloman for a three-day session and featured... the first use of one of the laboratory's recently acquired bears as a test subject, on a twenty-g Daisy Track deceleration run.")

Saucer Scares, 1954: Real Things Seen in the Skies

There is no doubt that many balloons of all sorts contributed to reports of flying saucers. General Mills was launching scientific experiments since 1947, but weather balloons had been aloft in the skies since the 1890s. There were also balloons being flown by the US government of of a more secret sort. Before spy planes and satellites took over the job, balloons were used by military intelligence to collect data on our enemies, and even as a means to distribute propaganda leaflets.

Some of these balloon flights, covert or otherwise were reported by witnesses as unidentified flying objects.

The Times News (Idaho) ran a story on April 20, 1950:

Wyoming Ranch Hand Discovers- "Saucer" Unreal

Other papers used headlines for the same story such as: "Western Flying Disc Turns Out To Be A Balloon" and "Cowpuncher Finds 'Flying Saucer' Just Navy Balloon"

DOUGLAS. Wyo.. April 30 (UP)— A Wyoming cowpuncher thought he had latched onto a real flying saucer but learned the object was merely a balloon for measuring cosmic rays. Ranch Hand Everett Fletcher sighted the object In the sky 32 miles north of here and followed it to the ground. "It scared me," he said. "I thought it was an honest-Injun saucer.” Stamped on a nameplate was 'This scientific apparatus is the joint property of the US. Navy and the University of Minnesota.” A telephone call to Minneapolis  identified the ball as a  navy instrument apparently used for measuring cosmic rays."Don't open it," a navy officer warned. "Don't fool with the thing. Ship it here Immediately." The air force and other defense agencies have said repeatedly their investigations have found no evidence on the existence of so-called “flying saucers.” 

Saucer Scares: 1954

Holland Evening Sentinel, May 26, 1954 

Jefferson City, MO Daily Capital News June 2, 1954

,

 Mckinney Daily Courier Gazette June 3, 1954

The Army's Flying Saucers

The Yuma Sun July 3, 1954 carried a feature, "Test Weather Station Bureau Operates Around the Clock." As an aside, it mentioned that the Army  balloon launches were sometimes mistaken for flying saucers.

BALLOON OR FLYING SAUCER? — Many re­ports of flying saucers across the country have actually been these Army weather balloons, shown in closeup here with Pvt. Robert F. Kennedy (left) and Lt. John Schwartz. The two weathermen are inflating; the white six-foot rub­ber balloon which may go as high as 20 miles above the earth.  

READY TO FLY — All the  recording data goes up into the stratosphere in the little radio boxheld here by Pvt. John Schwartz (right). Pvt. Robert F. Kennedy and Sgt. Gerald Levy pre­pare to launch the balloon. (Meteorology photos: all U.S. Army photos by Pfc. Paul Caponigro).

Note: No, this was a different Robert F. Kennedy, not the politician, but the Army photographer Paul Caponigro became famous, when he turned to other subjects after leaving the service, and has made a success of it. https://pointlight.com.au/artists/paul-caponigro

THAR SHE BLOWS — Taking off on its 20-mile-high flight, the rubber weather balloon, filled with hydrogen, is released in the Research and Development area at Yuma Test Station. A radio transmitter hanging from the balloon keeps the ground crew informed of its where­abouts at all times.

Reports of Strange Craft from Outer Space 

Lowell Massachusetts had a population of 95,000 in 1954, and about 275 of their citizens made phone calls to the newspaper one August night to report an unidentified flying object.

Lowell, MA Lowell Sun, Aug 19, 1954

A voice of authority always helps to calm things down. Harry A. Bullis, General Mills' chairman of the board, was quoted to explain the strange things seen in the skies.

Bakersfield Californian Oct. 5, 1954

Cedar Rapids Gazette Oct. 17, 1954

As aerospace technology advanced,  the dependence on balloons for scientific experiments  diminished. Likewise, satellites and planes eventually eliminated the need for so many spy balloons. 

Busted

What happened to those who had so dutifully worked to construct these magnificent balloons? Some must have been assigned to other duties, but undoubtedly some were out of a job.

. . .

For further reading on balloons as UFOs, and the associated controversy, see: 

Exotic Balloons and the UFO Phenomenon – An Intertwined Puzzle by Joel Carpenter.