Juillet 1947

Army Reports "Disk" Found In New Mexico

ROSWELL, N.M. —(AP)— The Army Air Force here Tuesday announced a flying disk had been found on a ranch near Roswell and is in Army possession.

Lt Warren Haught, public information officer of the Roswell Army Air Field, announced the found had been made "sometime last week."

"It was inspected and subsequently loaned" by Maj. Jesse A. Marcel, of the 569th Bomb Group Intelligence office at Roswell, "to higher headquarters."

The Army gave no other details.

* * *

Editor's Note: R. Dewitt Miller, one of the world's foremost authorities on psychic phenomena and author of "Forgotten Mysteries", has spent 15 years collecting stories of unexplained happenings authenticated case histories on inexplicable happenings. In the following dispatch, Miller shows that the objects in the sky date back 150 years.

———

BY R. DEWITT MILLER

LOS ANGELES —(U.P.)— There have been thousands of reliable reports during the last 150 years of strange things seen in the sky. There are at least 100 cases in which the queer objects were said to have a "disk-like" form.

Never have reports of strange sky phenomena been so widespread and so uniform as the "flying saucers."

On March 22, 1870, a flat, light-colored disk was observed by the ship "Lady of the Lake," then in mid-Atlantic between South America and Africa. The disk appeared to be of large size and seemed intelligently controlled. A report of it was made in the journal of the Royal Meteorological Society and a sketch included. The sketch is strikingly similar to sketches made by observers of the flying saucers.

Other disks were seen in North Wales Aug. 26, 1894, in India in 1839 and in Norway Nov. 3, 1886.

It seems to me the three most likely explanations—and at this point only guesses—are:

1. The Army and Navy are experimenting with a new weapon. Although they have denied it, there is much in favor of this explanation.

2. The disks actually are from Mars or somewhere outside the earth. The fact that similar objects were seen before the invention of aircraft strengthens this explanation. There has been increasing evidence of life on some other planets. If they are martians, I would like to meet one.

3. They are things out of other dimensions of time and space. Certain thinkers in abstract science long have held that some other dimensional being could conceivably enter our world.

Although many reports of the saucers are undoubtedly untrue or distorted, there is plenty of evidence that something very queer is going on.

This is not the first time strange things have occurred. But the previous ones have been "forgotten." Many weird things have crossed the skies of this earth.

'Flying Disks' Still Providing Plenty of Talk

A "flying saucer" in the hand was worth $3000 Tuesday, according to the United Press, but seen in the sky were still a dime a dozen. There were no takers for rewards of $1000 each offered in Chicago, Los Angeles and Spokane for a genuine flying saucer.

[...]

L'armée annonce qu'un "disque" a été trouvé au Nouveau Mexique

ROSWELL, NM - (AP) - L'Army Air Force a annoncé mardi qu'un disque volant a été trouvé sur un ranch près de Roswell et qu'il est en possession de l'armée.

Le Lieutenant Warren Haught, chargé des relations publiques du Roswell Army Air Field, a annoncé que la découverte avait été faite "au cours de la semaine dernière."

"Elle a été inspectée et ensuite transférée" par le Major Jesse A. Marcel, du bureau du renseignement de 569e Groupe de Bombardement à Roswell, "au quartier général supérieur."

L'armée n'a pas donné d'autres détails.

***

Note de l'éditeur: R. Dewitt Miller, l'une des sommités mondiale sur les phénomènes psychiques et auteur de "mystères oubliés", a passé 15 ans à recueillir des histoires d'événements inexpliqués authentifiés [et] de cas d'événements inexplicables. Dans la dépèche suivante, Miller montre que les objets dans le ciel datent de plus de 150 ans.

---

PAR R. DEWITT MILLER

LOS ANGELES - (UP) - Il y a eu des milliers de rapports fiables au cours des 150 dernières années de choses étranges vues dans le ciel. Il y a au moins 100 cas pour lesquels les objets étranges auraient été décrits "en forme de disque".

Jamais les rapports d'étranges phénomènes célestes n'ont été si répandus et si uniformes que les "soucoupes volantes".

Le 22 mars 1870, un disque plat, de couleur claire a été observée par le navire "Lady of the Lake", puis au milieu de l'Atlantique, entre l'Amérique du Sud et l'Afrique. Le disque donnait l'impression d'être de grande taille et semblait intelligemment piloté. Un rapport à son sujet a été fait dans le journal de la Royal Meteorological Society et un croquis est inclus. Le croquis est étonnamment similaire aux croquis réalisés par les observateurs des soucoupes volantes.

D'autres disques ont été observés dans le Nord du Pays de Galles le 26 août 1894, en Inde en 1839 et en Norvège le 3 novembre 1886.

Il me semble que les trois explications les plus probables - et ce ne sont que des suppositions pour l'instant - sont les suivantes :

1. L'armée et la marine expérimentent une nouvelle arme. Bien qu'elles aient démenti, il y a beaucoup [d'éléments] en faveur de cette explication.

2. Les disques proviennent en fait de Mars ou de quelque part en dehors de la Terre. Le fait que des objets semblables ont été observés avant l'invention des avions renforce cette explication. Il a de plus en plus d'indices de la présence de vie sur d'autres planètes. Si ce sont des martiens, je voudrais en rencontrer un.

3. Ce sont des choses provenant d'autres dimensions du temps et de l'espace. Certains penseurs de la science abstraite tiennent pour concevable que certaines entités d'autres dimensions puissent pénétrer dans notre monde.

Bien que de nombreux rapports sur les soucoupes sont sans doute faux ou déformés, il y a beaucoup d'indications qu'il se passe quelque chose de très étrange.

Ce n'est pas la première fois que des choses bizarres se sont produites, mais les précédents ont été "oubliés". Beaucoup de choses étranges ont traversé les cieux de cette terre.

Les "disques volants" n'ont pas fini de faire parler d'eux

Une "soucoupe volante" dans la main valait 3000 $ mardi, selon l'United Press, mais on en voyait treize à la douzaine dans le ciel. Il n'y avait pas de candidats pour reçevoir les récompenses de 1000 $ pièce offertes à Chicago, Los Angeles et Spokane pour une véritable soucoupe volante.

[...]

OFFICIAL WASHINGTON OPINION ON DISCS VARIES CONSIDERABLY

By WILLIAM F. McMENAMIN

—(UP)— Official Washington was sure today that it knew what the flying saucers were NOT — but it hadn't the faintest idea what they were.

The army air forces said they had the matter under investigation.  Preliminary study has revealed that the flying discs are not:
1. Secret bacteriological weapons designed by some foreign power
2. New-type army rockets
3. Space ships

Privately, some air forces officiers say the saucers are not—and let it go at that. But officially, the AAF said it is “keeping an open mind” because the disks have been reported by so many normally responsible persons.

"No such phenomena can be explained by any experiments being conducted by the AAF," the official report said. "The statements of witnesses are being correlated in an effort to identify the reported objects."

Rear. Adm. Paul F. Lee, director of the naval research laboratory, said tersely: "We concur in the Army announcement."

The skeptics got a rude awakening when a guided missiles expert attached to the naval research laboratory claimed to have seen one of the saucers.  Dr. C. J. Zohn said he and two fellow-scientists spotted it June 29 near White Sands, N. M.  But when he reported the find to the army, he said, he got nothing but knowing smiles.

"We noticed a glare in the sky," he said. "We looked up and saw a silvery disc whirling along. We watched the thing for nearly 60 seconds and then it simply disappeared. It didn't go behind a mountain range. At one time it was clearly visible, and then it just wasn't there.

CAB Is Waiting

A Civil Aeronautics Board spokesman said that agency hesitated to get into the investigation, the mysterious discs interfered but might have to take a hand if [sic] with commercial airliners. A United Air lines pilot reported chasing one of the saucers but without success.

Army officials said their inquiry to date shows that many saucers reports have turned out to be exaggerated mistakes or downright hoaxes. Many such reports, they said, were accompanied by a plug for some commercial product. The army experts added that none of those claiming to have seen the saucers were able to describe them accurately.

A check with AAF fields throughout the nation disclosed that nor a single saucer has yet been picked up on an army radar set.

Dr. L. R. Hafsted, executive secretary of the joint research and development board, said he couldn’t figure out why people wasted so much time talking about the saucers.  He could describe them, he said, in one word—“poppycock!”

A WASHINGTON L'OPINION OFFICIELLE SUR LES DISQUES VARIE BEAUCOUP

Par William F. McMenamin

—(UP)— Le Washington officiel était sûr aujourd'hui de savoir ce que les soucoupes volantes ne sont PAS — mais il n'avait pas la moindre idée de ce qu'elles sont.

L'Army Air Force a déclaré qu'elle était en train d'enquêter. Une étude préliminaire a révélé que les disques volants ne sont pas des :
1. Armes bactériologiques secrètes conçues par une puissance étrangère
2. Missiles de l'armée d'un type nouveau
3. Vaisseaux spatiaux

En privé, certains officiers des forces aériennes disent que les soucoupes ne sont pas des — et en restent là. Mais officiellement, l'AAF a déclaré qu'elle "garde un esprit ouvert" parce que les disques ont été signalés par tant de personnes normalement compétentes.

"Aucun de ces phénomènes ne peut être expliqué par des expériences menées par l'AAF", affirme le rapport officiel. "Les déclarations des témoins sont corrélées dans un effort d'identification des objets décrits."

Le contre-amiral Paul F. Lee, directeur du laboratoire de recherche navale, a déclaré laconiquement : "Nous sommes d'accord avec l'annonce de l'armée."

Les sceptiques ont eu un réveil brutal quand un expert en missiles guidés attaché au Naval Research Laboratory a affirmé avoir vu l'une des soucoupes. Le Dr. C. J. Zohn a dit que lui et deux de ses collègues scientifiques l'ont repérée le 29 juin près de White Sands, N. M. mais quand il a signalé la découverte à l'armée, a-t-il dit, il n'a rien obtenu d'autre que des sourires entendus.

"Nous avons remarqué une lueur dans le ciel", a-t-il dit. "Nous avons regardé et j'ai vu un disque argenté tourbillonnant. Nous avons regardé la chose près de 60 secondes, puis il a tout simplement disparu. Il n'est pas allé derrière une chaîne de montagnes. A un moment il était clairement visible, et puis il ne l'était plus.

Le CAB en attente [jeu de mot : cab=taxi]

Un porte-parole du Civil Aeronautics Board (direction de l'aéronautique civile) a déclaré que l'agence a hésité à s'impliquer dans l'enquête, les disques mystérieux ayant interféré mais pourraient avoir [pas compris] avec des avions commerciaux. Un pilote d'United Airlines a déclaré avoir poursuivi une de ces soucoupes mais sans succès.

Les responsables de l'armée ont déclaré que leur enquête à ce jour montre que de nombreux rapports de soucoupes se sont avérés être des erreurs, des exagérations ou carrément des canulars. Beaucoup de ces rapports, disent-ils, étaient accompagnés par une publicité pour un produit commercial. Les experts de l'armée ont ajouté qu'aucune des personnes prétendant avoir vu des soucoupes n'ont pu les décrire avec précision.

Une vérification auprès des terrains de l'AAF dans tout le pays a révélé qu'aucune soucoupe n'a encore été repérée par un radar de l'armée.

Le Dr L. R. Hafsted, secrétaire exécutif de la recherche interdépartementale et du conseil de développement, a dit qu'il ne pouvait pas comprendre pourquoi les gens perdaient beaucoup de temps à parler des soucoupes. Il pouvait les décrire, dit-il, en un mot : "balivernes!"

Officials Shake Their Heads, But Saucer Stories Persist

By WILLIAM F. McMENAMIN

Washington, (UP) — Official Washington was sure today that it knew what the flying saucers were NOT — but it hadn't the faintest idea what the were.

The army air forces said they had the matter under investigation. Preliminary study has revealed that the flying discs are not:
1. Secret bacteriological weapons designed by some foreign power,
2. New-type army rockets,
3. Space ships.

Privately, some air forces officers say the saucers are not—and let it go at that. But officially, the AAF said it is “keeping an open mind” because the disks have been reported by so many normally responsible persons.

"No such phenomena can be explained by any experiments being conducted by the AAF," the official report said. "The statements of witnesses are being correlated in an effort to identify the reported objects."

Rear. Adm. Paul F. Lee, director of the naval research laboratory, said tersely: "We concur in the Army announcement."

The skeptics got a rude awakening when a guided missiles expert attached to the naval research laboratory claimed to have seen one of the saucers.  Dr. C. J. Zohn said he and two fellow-scientists spotted it June 29 near White Sands, N. M.  But when he reported the find to the army, he said, he got nothing but knowing smiles.

Offer $3,000 Reward for Flying Saucers
By United Press

A "flying saucer" in the hand was worth $3,000 today, but those seen in the sky were still a dime a dozen. There were no takers for rewards of $1,000 each offered in Chicago, Los Angeles and Spokane for a genuine flying saucer.

One of the latest reported "saucers" was from Lillington, N. C., where two college students, Albert Dugan and Charles Cross, said they saw a "bright light" in the sky about 10 miles from Raleigh at 11:55 p.m. yesterday. Dugan said they first thought it was a star, but when it started moving, they stopped their automobile and watched.

"It moved in a circular orbit and appeared to be elliptical in shape with blue light radiating from it, mostly around the edges." Dugan said. "We drove toward it, but it vanished. We watched it for about three minutes. It appeared to be under the clouds." The weather bureau said the cloud bank was about 5,500 feet high.

Not from Russia

Meanwhile, the mystery of the saucers took on an international flavor.

The discs, already reported over most of the 48 states and parts of Canada, were reported over Mexico City. Several persons telephoned the Mexican National Defense Ministry to report the discs flying in "a westerly direction." A ministry spokesman said he didn't believe them.

Russian Vice Consul Eugene Tunantzev in Los Angeles scoffed at suggestions that the saucers might be from Russia.

"Russia respects the sovereignty of all governments and by no stretch of the imagination would it use another country for a proving ground," the vice consul said. "Russia has plenty of territory of its own for any scientific experimentation."

High-ranking U. S. Army officers agreed with Tunantzev. They discounted theories that the flying discs might be secret weapons for use in bacteriological warfare. They said it was significant that none of the discs had yet registered on Army radar.

Australia Interested
In Sydney, Australia, F. S. Cotton, psychology professor, told 450 students to go stare at the sky and see if they could spot any flying saucers. Within ten minues, 22 students returned, reporting that they had seen the saucers and drew diagrams of the objects and their paths.

"What you have seen were red corpuscles moving across the retinas of your eyes," Cotton said. "You can now draw your own conclusions from reports from overseas."

* * *

About 500 softball fans filled the Buchner park grandstands last night and through both games they looked upward. Not fly balls—flying saucers.

City Waits for Night as Disk Fever Rises

CAP Promises Planes for Sky Hunt; Reports of 'Saucer' Spotters Heard Over State

Pictures on Picture Page

Nightfall over Milwaukee was awaited Tuesday for countless reasons, but none was more compelling than the hope of discovering some new clue to the "mystery of the flying disks".

In common with volunteer scientists and flying experts all over the country, Milwaukee observers were limbering up their necks for another night of intense scrutiny of the heavens. Reports poured in from numerous points in the state and nation that the strange saucers had been sighted and interest in the phenomena steadily mounted.

Harry W. Schaefer, a lieutenant colonel in the civil air patrol was in the forefront of investigators. Following reports from two pilots that they had sighted "disks" in Wisconsin, Schaefer announced that the CAP would conduct a series of mass flights, beginning next Monday and continuing about a week. Some 150 planes are expected to participate, he said.

Kenneth Jones, a flight instructor at the Elkhorn Air Service, Elkhorn, Wis, and Capt. R. J. Southey, Burlington, were the pilots who reported seeing the fabulous platters in flight. Jones said he was flying about 400 feet when he saw "something white" traveling at terrific speed about 15 miles north of Elkhorn.

Saw "Silver Things"

Southey reported that he had landed at the Elkhorn airport and heard all about the experience of Jones. With Glen Hackworthy, Milwaukee, he then took off and climbed to about 3,000 feet in search of the saucers. He soon observed a "silver thing" moving at great speed.

"In the hope of getting a picture," said Southey, "I turned the controls over to Hackworthy and got my camera ready. The object disappeared, however. Six or seven seconds later it reappeared about 10 miles away.

From Milton, Wis, came the report Monday that three Milton college students had seen three discs flying in a V-formation. The students were Paul Schroeder, Milton, and John Potts and Harris Buros, Viroqua. They had just finished a tennis game in the late afternoon when Potts sighted the objects.

"Buros Potts and I thought he was joking when he saw discs shouted," Schroeder said. "However, the discs looked for a full two minutes before they were locked behind some tall buildings. They were circular and were rotating slowly. They left a kind of vapor trail behind them.

"Buros and I thought Potts was kidding when he shouted that he saw the disks," Shroeder said. "However I watched the disks for two full minutes before they were blocked out behind some tall building. They were circular in shape and were rotating slowly. They left a sort of vapor trail behind them.

"To me they looked like aluminum. At that time they were about 10 miles away and about 4,000 feet in the air. They appeared to be the size of a flattened out basketball. It all sounds like imagination, but just the same those things were in the air and we saw them. "

Lee Noble, a pilot who lives at 1036-A N. 17th st., said Tuesday that his plane was probably mistaken for a "flying disk" Sunday night. This was his story:

Offers explanation

"My wife and I were flying home from Minocqua Sunday evening in our two passenger Luscombe, which has a silver body and dull yellow wings. We stopped at Fond du Lac, after flying over Oshkosh at about 6:45, and then flew over Milwaukee at 8:25.

"It's my hunch that Mrs. L. A. Davis of Oshkosh mistook our plane with one of those mysterious saucers the public is so excited about. Mrs. Davis probably couldn't see the wings, on account of their color, but only saw the silver body. The time of our flight coincides with the time she reported seeing the saucer.

"Coming in over Milwaukee, we had our lights on and that time also coincides with the time in the report by Mrs. Anthony Hoffman. We veered to the south, just as Mrs. Hoffman said ​​the disk did. "

Lee said he had not spotted none of the ethereal platters himself and had talked to no other pilot who had such luck. He commented:

"I think that people are seeing a lot more planes in the air, and these planes are flying a lot later than they used to. That's all there is to it."

A government official in the control tower at Billy Mitchell field - he insisted on remaining anonymous - said nobody on the staff had reported seeing any of the disks. He added, however :

Saw It Moving Rapidly

"Last Saturday we got reports from Granville saying that a squadron of platters had flown over the town in a U formation. The strange thing about that report was that Saturday was badly overcast and it's a mystery how the formation could have been sighted."

Prof. E.B. McGilvary, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, reported in Madison Monday that he had observed an object that may have been one of the "flying saucers" several days before they were reported from the Northwest.

Professor McGilvary described the object as round, illuminated and about two-thirds as large as the full moon normally appears. He said it was moving more rapidly than most astronomical bodies move, but not so fast as a meteor.

Harry Hoffman, of 2326 N. 60th st., called The Journal to report that last fall he saw what appeared to be a disk of the kind now so generally reported.

"It turned out to be a puff ball, or seed carrier of some weed," Hoffman said.

'A Lot of Hokum'

Williams Bay, Wis. - The staff of the Yerkes Observatory here places no credence in reports about the flying discs.

"More psychological than physical," was the terse comment of Thornton L. Page, who said Tuesday that the observatory staff considered the current reports "a lot of hokum."

"It is possible that luminous clouds, here in the north, are the basis for some of the reports,"  Page said. "Meteors are not a likely explanation, because the appear as points, not platters."

[...]
Only one person of those interviewed, however, took the "I'll believe it when I see it" stand on the matter. When asked her views as to [a] possible explanation of the flying puzzles, Mrs. G. C. Parsons, owner of Olivia's Beauty Salon on St. Petersburg Beach, said:

"Of course I could put forth some idea about invaders from Mars, since just about any explanation would be as logical, but I still think it's strictly a matter of somebody's imagination.

"Anyone stares at the sun for a short period of time will see a positive afterimage when he looks elsewhere in the sky".

Mrs. Parsons theory was supported by the findings of a Jacksonville journalist who encouraged six people to "see" flying saucers after pointing to the sky at nothing at all.
[...]

[...]
Une seule des personnes interrogées, cependant, a pris la position "je le croirai quand je le verrai" sur la question. Lorsqu'on lui a demandé son point de vue quant à une possible explication des énigmes volantes, Mme G. C. Parsons, propriétaire du salon de beauté Olivia sur la plage de St. Petersbourg, a déclaré :

"Bien sûr, je pourrais mettre en avant une idée à propos d'envahisseurs martiens, puisque presque n'importe quelle explication serait aussi logique, mais je pense toujours que c'est strictement une question d'imagination de quelqu'un.

"Quiconque regarde le soleil pendant une courte période de temps verra une image rémanente positive quand il regardera ailleurs dans le ciel".

La théorie de Mme Parsons a été corroborée par les conclusions d'un journaliste de Jacksonville qui a encouragé six personnes à "voir" des soucoupes volantes en pointant [le doigt] vers rien du tout dans le ciel.
[...]

Discs Seen As Invaders From Mars
Advocate Reporter Explains New Celestial Mystery

[...]

kolyma a écrit:Ces américains, ils ne rateront jamais une occasion d'essayer de faire une piastre (dollar). Pub de 1947.

Voyez les soucoupes volantes depuis votre cour arrière.

captainflam a écrit:J'ai reverifié, et tu as raison
: erreur dûe à écrire 17,95 au lieu de 17.95

La " ," étant la méthode US pour écrire 17.95$, l'ordi a placé direct 1795$$$$$???????

Les frenchies battent encore les USA....

Avantage Tsonga, McEnroe perd.....

L.J. Silver a écrit:

captainflam a écrit:J'ai reverifié, et tu as raison
: erreur dûe à écrire 17,95 au lieu de 17.95

La " ," étant la méthode US pour écrire 17.95$, l'ordi a placé direct 1795$$$$$???????

Les frenchies battent encore les USA....

Avantage Tsonga, McEnroe perd.....

Il faut quand même se méfier de certaines interprétations hâtives des chiffres donnés par les calculateurs d'inflation...

En avril 1933, Roosevelt avait réquisitionné par décret l'or des particuliers américains, avant de le réévaluer ( ou dévaluer le dollar, ce qui est la même chose).
Le prix de l'or était ainsi passé de 20,7 $ l'once à 35 $ l'once.

En 1947, l'or valait toujours 35 $ l'once, mais entre banquiers, puisque le marché de l'or n'existait plus, du moins aux Etats Unis.

En 1947, pour 17,5 $ ( très voisin de vos 17,95 $) vous aviez théoriquement l'équivalent d'une demi-once d'or.
Si vous n'étiez pas citoyen américain, vous auriez pu trouver un moyen d'échanger vos 17,95$ pour une demi-once d'or.

Et aujourd'hui, que vaut une demi-once d'or ?

la réponse est : environ 600 $ de 2013 !! on est loin des $187 annoncés par le calculateur d'inflation...

Au lieu de choisir l'or comme référence, on pourrait mener un calcul similaire à partir des prix d'autres matières premières, par exemple, le cuivre, le zinc, le plomb....

Toutes des marchandises qui ne rapportent pas d'intérêt au contraire des bons placements financiers du banquier.

Certes, avec des résultats différents, mais toujours avec la même conclusion, à savoir une valeur bien supérieure à $187 !!!

Ce qui veut dire que la perte du pouvoir d'achat du dollar est en réalité bien supérieure aux chiffres donnés par le calculateur.

Je passe sous silence les autres conséquences...notamment sur les rendements des placements financiers...