In 1947, from June to July, a rash of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the United States were widely publicized by the news media. The craze began on June 24, when media nationwide reported civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold's story of witnessing disc-shaped objects which headline writers dubbed "Flying Saucers". Such reports quickly spread throughout the United States; historians would later chronicle at least 800 "copycat" reports in subsequent weeks, while other sources estimate the reports may have numbered in the thousands.

Reports peaked on July 7. After numerous hoaxes and mistaken identifications, the disc reports largely subsided by July 10. Mainstream sources speculated that the disc reports were caused by novel technology, mistaken identifications, or mass hysteria. By contrast, fringe speculation held that the discs might have come from other planets or other dimensions; still others suggested the discs were occult or might signify the end of the world.

The 1947 craze has been extensively studied within the frameworks of both folklore studies and religious studies, where it is regarded by scholars as the "birth of a modern myth".

Overview

In late June 1947, the press in the United States began covering reports of flying discs.Bloecher p. 21 Reports increased, with a sharp rise on July 4; over the course of the next five days, there were widespread reports throughout the entirety of the United States. Reports crested on July 7, gradually diminishing over the subsequent week, amid numerous hoaxes, pranks, and mistaken identifications.

The flying saucer craze of 1947 was thoroughly and widely covered in media nationwide, with some contemporary observers interpreting the disc sightings as 'modern folklore'. On July 3, midway through the craze, the Denver Post opined: "Even before Plato, scholars were perplexed by what is real and what isn't...Finally Descartes came along with the theory that 'whatever I apprehend clearly and distinctly is true' and on the basis of such authority it seems unimportant whether people actually saw the discs or only thought they did...If people saw chimaeras back in the days when Greek mythology was being born, it should not be wondered at that people are seeing supersonic discs in this Flash Gordon era."

In 2020, Religious Studies professor David J. Halpern similarly argued "UFOs are a myth but myths are real." Another scholar opined: "The 'flying saucers' may have been a hoax, imagination, illusion, mirages, phantoms of preposterous eyesight, et al, yet they caused a phenomenon reverberations of which were heard around the world."

The 1947 craze has long been of interest to scholars of folklore studies. Halpern argues that "The power and fascination of the UFO has nothing to do with space travel or life on other planets. It's about us, our longings and terrors". Roland Barthes, a 'founding father' of cultural studies, recalled "The mystery of flying saucers was at first entirely terrestrial: we suspected that the saucers came from the Soviet netherworld, from this world as devoid of clear intentions as another planet." Folklorist Gordon Arnold similarly writes: "Many aspects of the great flying saucer wave raise questions about human behavior and America's social, cultural, and political inclinations".

Ted Bloecher argued that the 1947 craze is "the most fascinating of any to examine because of its unique position at the very beginning" of flying saucer folklore. Writes Bloecher: "There were no 'attitudes' about UFOs in June 1947. There were no preconceptions, no misconceptions, no 'policies' by either press or public, or by any official agencies". Folklorist Howard Henry Peckham similarly argued that "students of folklore have had a rare opportunity to witness the birth and development of a modern myth – the 'flying saucers'".

Background By 1947, US national security concerns led to unprecedented scrutiny of airspace near US atomic sites and increased media coverage of UFO reports in US airspace.

1940s weapons development

Atomic weapons were developed by the US Military during World War Two as a part of the Manhattan Project. Uranium enrichment was performed at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, while plutonium production took place at Hanford, Washington. Bomb design and construction took place at Los Alamos, New Mexico. As a result, air power had increased greatly in both lethality and range over the course of World War Two: At the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, 350 Japanese aircraft killed 2,500 people in a sneak attack after flying a few hundred miles, but by the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just two American bombers killed up to 250,000 people after flying a full 1,500 miles.

During the war, Japan deployed intercontinental balloon bombs that started wildfires and in one case even took out power at the Hanford plutonium production facility; a domestic censorship campaign successfully prevented Japan from learning the weapons had, in fact, reached the United States. Inspired by the Japanese balloons, the US created their own high-flying balloons in Project Mogul, an attempt to detect potential Soviet atomic tests.

Meanwhile, Germany had developed rockets, jet fighters, and designs for an intercontinental bomber. Soviet and American governments both learned of Axis technical advances and employed Axis scientists in their race for technical superiority after the war.

Increased scrutiny of US airspace

Direct US atomic attack against Soviets had been a possibility since 1945, when the nation unveiled the first intercontinental bomber, able to reach the Soviet Union from American soil."Video: Biggest Bomber, 1946/08/15." Universal Newsreel, 1946. Retrieved: 20 February 2012. By 1946, Army officials feared a Soviet surprise attack on US atomic facilities.Peebles, p. 90 Soviet bombers had developed the range to strike Hanford and still return to base, or even to strike Los Alamos or Oak Ridge in a one-way attack. Atomic sites were among the first places in the United States to operate radar, supported by spotters for visual confirmation and squadrons of fighters to defend against potential threats.

The start of the Cold War in the summer of 1947 affected how media covered reports of unidentified things in the sky. In earlier eras, such reports were covered as religion, folklore, or tall tales, but the development of atomic weapons and intercontinental vehicles meant even a small number of adversarial overflights could have huge national security implications. Writing in 2020, Skeptical Inquirer author Eric Wojciechowski argued: "From all the available evidence, it appears that in 1947, the U.S. military was accepting anecdotal reports of flying saucers at face value. Perhaps they did so as a precaution to ensure no foreign threats were present. Missing something such as advanced enemy aircraft over one’s own territory could have been disastrous."

In Mid-April 1947, meteorologist Walter A. Minczewski and his staff at a Richmond Virginia station released a balloon and were tracking it when they observed a silver, ellipsoidal object just below it. The object appeared to be flat on bottom and domed on tope. The observed it via theodolite for fifteen seconds.Blocher, p.21

Events of Summer 1947

The year 1947 was marked by renewed tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. On March 13, American president Harry Truman pledged to contain the communist uprisings in Greece and Turkey. More generally, the Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations thought to be threatened by Soviet communism.

On April 16, statesman Bernard Baruch coined the term "Cold War" to describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Having lost 27 million people in the war, the Soviet Union pushed for returning Germany to a pastoral state without heavy industry. Despite Soviet objections, on June 5, Secretary of State George Marshall announced a comprehensive program of American assistance to reindustrialize European nations.Marshall, George C, The Marshal Plan Speech, June 5, 1947

The summer of 1947 featured widespread publications about atomic energy and war. On June 27, retired Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts warned the US was headed "down the old familiar road of appeasement" towards "An all-out shooting World War III". On June 30, Albert Einstein and fellow scientists warned of a possible atomic war within a decade. A three-week conference about radioactive chemicals in medicine began at the University of California in San Francisco. On July 1, Representative John Dingell criticized hosting of German atomic scientists in places like El Paso.

Initial reports

On June 24, 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed that he saw a string of nine shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier at speeds that Arnold estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour (1,932 km/h). This was the first post-World War II sighting in the United States that garnered nationwide news coverage and is credited with being the first of the modern era of UFO sightings, including numerous reported sightings over the next two to three weeks. Arnold's description of the objects also led to the press quickly coining the terms flying saucer and flying disc as popular descriptive terms for UFOs.Peebles pp. 7–12

When Arnold landed in Yakima, he described what he had seen to a number of pilot friends, who suggested that maybe he had seen guided missiles or a new airplane being secretly developed by the United States Army. After refueling, he continued on his way to an air show in Pendleton, Oregon. He was first interviewed by reporters the next day (June 25), when he went to the office of the East Oregonian in Pendleton.Lagrange, Pierre (1988), "It Seems Impossible, but There It Is", in John Spencer & Hilary Evans (eds.), Phenomenon: From Flying Saucers to UFOs – Forty Years of Facts and Research. London: Futura Publications, 1988, pp. 26–45. Any skepticism the reporters might have harbored evaporated when they interviewed Arnold at length,Lagrange, Pierre (1998), A Moment in History: An Interview with Bill Bequette, International UFO Reporter, Vol. 23, n° 4, Winter, pp. 15, 20 as historian Mike Dash records:Dash, Mike, Borderlands: The Ultimate Exploration of the Unknown; Woodstock: Overlook Press, 2000;

Arnold had the makings of a reliable witness. He was a respected businessman and experienced pilot...and seemed to be neither exaggerating what he had seen, nor adding sensational details to his report. He also gave the impression of being a careful observer...These details impressed the newspapermen who interviewed him and lent credibility to his report.

The following day, Arnold was interviewed on the radio about his sighting and his story was published in afternoon and evening editions of regional papers. By June 26, Arnold's story was being widely reported throughout the United States.

Additional reports

Arnold's report was the first of many.Peebles - chapter 2 On June 26, press reported that Byron Savage of Oklahoma City had seen a flying disc about six weeks prior. That same day, press reported that a Kansas City carpenter named W. I. Davenport recalled having seen nine discs while working on a roof the prior Wednesday.G. Arnold, Ch. 4 Also on June 26, photographer E.H. Sprinkle of Eugene, Oregon reported having attempted to take a photograph of a formation of nine bright objects in the prior weeks.

Pacific Northwest reports amid jet speculation June 27 saw reports of past sightings from a housewife in Bremerton, a home-builder in Bellingham, a motorist and his family from Wenatachee, a couple from Salem, and a woman from Yakima.