Lesser-Known UFO And Alien Encounters From The Start Of The Modern UFO Era

It is widely accepted that, despite many, many sightings in the decades and centuries prior, the start of the Modern UFO Era began in 1947, even more specifically with such well-known encounters as the Keith Arnold sightings and the alleged UFO crash at Roswell. The fact is, though, there were many detailed UFO and alien encounters throughout that momentous year, both before and after the events of the summer.

We have examined some of these other encounters before, such incidents at the Snake River UFO incident, for example, or the alien contact case from Kazakhstan. However, there are many more accounts on record throughout 1947, suggesting that whatever was taking place, it was global and very real. And as we shall see, many of these accounts, in terms of descriptions of the craft’s appearance and actions, are almost identical. At a time when the vast majority of the public had little interest or knowledge of “UFOs”, that such similar and sudden reports began should surely alert us to the fact that something truly out of the ordinary was taking place.

While we can’t examine each and every one of those accounts here, we will cherry-pick some of the most detailed and intriguing from around the world in 1947. And as we go through some of these thought-provoking encounters we will notice several details that are often repeated, perhaps not least that a great many of the sightings involved disc-shaped craft, and many of these encounters occurred during the daylight hours.

The United Airlines Flight 105 Incident

Perhaps the best place to start when looking at some of these lesser-known UFO and alien encounters of the start of the Modern UFO era is with an incident that unfolded only days before the Roswell Crash. At just after 9:10 pm on 4^th July over Emmett, Idaho, according to a statement by James McDonald at the US Congressional Hearings on UFOs in 1968, Captain Smith was piloting Flight 105 to Seattle for United Airlines when he and the crew witnessed “two formations of wingless discs” less than 10 minutes after leaving the runway at Boise.

The objects were first witnessed by Co-pilot Stevens who proceeded to turn on his landing lights believing the objects to be other aircraft. He alerted Smith to what he was seeing, and the two men watched the five strange objects for several moments. The more they watched them, the more they realized they were seeing something a little different than conventional aircraft, not least as they could see no wings or tail on any of them. Smith asked one of the stewardesses to join them briefly in the cockpit and she too confirmed what the two men had been watching for several minutes.

At this point, the pilots contacted ground control to report the strange objects and to see if radar confirmed what they believed they were looking at. Just as they did so, whether coincidence or not, the objects suddenly sped forward and disappeared into the distance.

In his later report, Smith was certain that they had not witnessed some kind of atmospheric phenomena, and that what they witnessed were solid objects. He would elaborate that these strange vehicles were shaped like a disc and were “flat on the bottom and rounded on top” and had a “roughness” to their exterior. He also stated that while he wasn’t certain of the distance of the objects from them, he had the impression that they were each considerably larger than a conventional aircraft.

Before the pilots could contemplate just what they had seen at the time, however, another set of almost identical objects appeared, only there were only four in this second group. This second set was also slightly higher than the first, at an approximate altitude of 10,000 feet. Rather than remaining in sight, this second group quickly sped past them and headed off into the distance.

A total of 10 to 12 minutes had passed between the pilots first noticing the objects and the second group disappearing.

Bizarre Encounter With 7-Feet Aliens In Brazil

Another alien encounter unfolded only weeks after the Roswell crash, on 23^rd July in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The account comes to us from the May 1961 APRO Bulletin and the research files of Joao Martins.

According to the article, topographer, Jose Higgins heard a sudden whistling sound and turned around to see a disc-shaped craft descending out of the sky. He watched in shock as the object landed around 150 feet away from him. He estimated that the object was around 150 feet wide and had an exterior of gray-white metal and several “crossed by tubes in several directions” from which it appeared that the whistling sound was coming from.

He began to walk closer, noting that the craft rested upon three small, metallic legs that protruded from its underside. Then, he noticed a black glass window, and what’s more, he could see that there were two humanoid figures that were looking directly at him. While he was watching this window, he saw a door suddenly upon on the underside of the craft, out of which three figures emerged, each wearing “inflated transparent suits” and with a metal box strapped to their backs.

He could see that their heads were much larger than the rest of their body, and each had an equally large pair of round eyes. He estimated that each of them was around seven feet tall, looked absolutely identical to each other, and he could hear them speaking in a language that was completely unknown to him. One thing that he also noticed was how they appeared to purposely stay in the shade and out of the sun.

Then, one of the creatures pointed a metallic tube in his direction and motioned for him to enter the ship through a doorway. Higgins, however, using gestures, politely declined their offer and backed away from the scene. When he thought he was a safe distance away from the ship he turned around and could see the three creatures “carefully examining their surroundings”. After around 30 minutes they then returned inside the craft which then lifted into the air and disappeared.

The Saranac Lake Sighting

Several weeks later in early August 1947, at 10 pm at Saranac Lake in New York, the witness – then a 4-year-old boy – was at a family cabin on summer vacation. On this particular evening, the witness, due to his young age, was in bed, listening to the adults talking below. Eventually, needing to use the bathroom – which was outside a short distance from the cabin – the young boy had to venture downstairs so his father could escort him there. Once the boy was inside, his father returned to the doorway of the cabin so as to avoid the bites from the mosquitos.

It was while he was in the outside toilet that the young boy began to hear a strange “whirring” sound coming from outside. It appeared to be something that would come close to the shed and then move away again. Deciding he had to return to the cabin as quickly as he could, he took a breath and burst out of the shed, running completely across the garden without stopping. Once inside, he blurted out to his father what he had witnessed.

They suddenly followed the young boy back outside and were amazed to see a disc-shaped object approaching the cabin. The closer it came, the clearer the whirring sound became. It eventually passed directly over the top of them and disappeared in the direction of Mount Baker. Later that same evening, with the adults of the house being aware, the young boy snuck to the cabin door once more. Bizarrely, he witnessed another disc-like craft – exactly the same as the first – pass over the cabin and head in the same direction.

Strange Soccer Ball-Shaped Object Over War-Ruined Yokohama

If we go to the start of 1947, in Yokohama in Japan at around 10 am on 15^th January, an intriguing sighting of a UFO unfolded, an account of which can be found in Jerome Clark’s Extraordinary Encounters. It is an account that is relayed by an anonymous man whose father was an American serviceman still stationed in the country following the end of the Second World War. The anonymous boy was 10 years old at the time he was told of the encounter by a friend of his.

The houses where they lived were in an American compound and were two-story abodes with flat roofs, which were designed to use as a “top deck” or roof garden. On this occasion, the young boy’s friend was on the roof of his house experimenting with a telescope his father had recently brought home. It was as they were looking through this telescope that the boy’s father noticed a strange, dark shape in the sky. He raised his binoculars to his eyes and viewed the object again through those before turning his attention back to the telescope. He brought the object into focus and noticed it was the shape of a “soccer ball” and appeared to have a metallic exterior. He further noted that the underside of the object was clearly darker than the top side and that it remained completely silent.

They watched it for some time, noting how it traveled through the sky for a short time before stopping and hovering as if performing some kind of survey or search mission. The boy’s father estimated that the object was around a mile from their location and was at an approximate altitude of 5000 to 7000 feet. Whether it is of consequence or not, Yokohama was still a city that was in ruins at the time, with almost all of the buildings and structures destroyed due to bombing campaigns during the war. Each of the witnesses contemplated if the occupants of this strange craft were inspecting the carnage left behind from the conflict.

This is an interesting suggestion given that it has been put forward by many UFO researchers that it was the atomic bomb strikes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that brought the war to a sudden if brutal end is what attracted them to our planet in the first place. If there was any truth in that then it would make sense that they should inspect the damage left behind in other cities of the country.

After watching the strange craft for several minutes, it finally began to head off into the distance in the direction of the harbor, although it still remained in sight for some time before it disappeared completely. Neither of the witnesses was sure what the object was, but they both agreed that it wasn’t an airplane, helicopter, or any other conventional aerial vehicle.

A Very Active Start To 1947

There were other similar sightings of aerial anomalies in the opening weeks of 1947. The evening after the Yokohama incident, at around 10:30 pm on 16^th January over the North Sea around 50 miles from the coast of the Netherlands, a Royal Air Force pilot was asked to intercept an unidentified object at an altitude of around 22,000 feet. The object was heading toward the English coast in the Norfolk area. What was particularly interesting about this incident is that earlier in the day, another object had been picked up by military radar.

The following afternoon, again over the North Sea, two Chain Home Low stations picked up an unidentified object moving with great speed at an altitude of around 10,000 feet. Military jets were put on standby, but the object remained outside of their range and ultimately faded away. However, several hours later at just before 8 pm, another object was picked up over the North Sea, this time off the coast of Grimsby. It remained visible for around half an hour before disappearing.

Although the date isn’t certain, at some time in January off the coast of East Anglia, England, yet another unidentified object was picked up on military radar. The anomalous object was moving around 400 miles per hour before disappearing.

Several weeks later, at noon on 3^rd February in Frankfurt, Germany, three bizarre objects were spotted moving strangely in the sky by an American servicewoman. They remained in sight for around 30 minutes before disappearing.

At around 9 am on 6^th February in Augusta, Australia ^[1] Mr. Ron Ellis along with two workmates at the Commonwealth Railways workshop witnessed five bizarrely-shaped objects overhead. The witnesses would claim that these strange aerial crafts were egg-shaped, and white or very light pink in color. Although it was only an estimate, Ellis claimed – given his experiences with the air force – that the objects were the size of a locomotive and were certainly big enough to cast shadows beneath them. Ellis further estimated that the objects were around 6000 feet above the ground, however, they were traveling so fast that they were out of sight within several seconds.

Just over three weeks later, across the Atlantic over Lake Mead, Nevada, several similar disc-shaped objects were witnessed flying in formation. On the same day, just outside of Lima in Peru, an anonymous witness was driving when they noticed a shiny, sand-colored object hovering a short distance above the ground. Even more alarming, three strange figures emerged from the craft which the witness recalled as “looking like mummies”. They further recalled that it appeared their legs were “fused together”.

In early March in Los Angeles, California, another disc was sighted in the afternoon sky by multiple people. Around the same time, at around 9 pm one evening in Alamosa, Colorado, two male high school students witnessed an almost identical object moving strangely overhead. Yet another sighting of a disc-shaped object in the daytime occurred several days later in Buffalo, New York. At around 10 am on 9^th March in Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom, over 100 people witnessed a strange object hovering overhead for several minutes, while 11 disc-shaped objects were seen traveling through the sky over San Fernando Valley in California several weeks later.

On the morning of 30^th March, at around 11 am in Ocala, Florida, Mrs. Harp, her mother, and her 7-year-old daughter, Sandra, were driving when they noticed several shiny discs moving across the sky. Although they were not in sight for long enough to count how many objects there were, they did recall that they were silver in color and appeared to disappear out of sight as opposed to in the distance.

Increasing Reports Of Bizarre Aerial Objects

As the spring of 1947 unfolded, more and more reports of strange aerial objects were reported. In early April, for example, in Port Alberni in British Columbia in Canada, multiple metallic disc-shaped objects were witnessed by two people for several minutes. At the same time, the discs were in view, and several of the farm animals began to exhibit anxiety and distress.

Across the Atlantic, around the same time in Col De Serre near Falgoux in France, Maxime Orliange was driving in a car when they noticed a strange lens-shaped object with a domed top moving across the sky above him. They noticed a blue light that appeared to be coming from the dome section and the object appeared to be ascending. The witness estimated it was just under 1500 feet away from them and that it was approximately 100 feet across.

Another sighting occurred in early April in Richmond, Virginia at around 11 am, when a meteorologist spotted a bright, silver disc at approximately 15,000 feet moving across the sky. Around the same time in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at around 8:30 pm on the evening, a field engineer reported seeing a “frosty white round, flat object” moving across the sky at great speed.

At around 3 pm on the afternoon of 11^th April in Bradshaw, West Virginia, an anonymous woman witnessed a silver disc flying overhead at great speed. The object remained visible for approximately two minutes. The following day, on 12^th April in Rome, Italy, a gentleman named Bruno Cornocchiola, along with his three children witnessed a bizarre entity wearing a bizarrely colored cloak standing near woodland.

Around two weeks later, at around 9:30 pm on 26^th April in Rothois, Picardie in France, several objects were witnessed by multiple people. The objects were described as sphere-like in appearance and remained visible for around 10 minutes.

Three days later, back in the United States in Tucson, Arizona, at around 1:20 pm, Mrs. Olavick and Mrs. Down witnessed nine bright, white discs moving overhead, appearing to disappear and reappear from a strange, lone cloud. The objects remained in a tight fortune and remained visible for just over five minutes. ^[2] In fact, Olavick and Down’s report is quite possibly one of the most detailed.

According to their report, at the time of the sightings, Olavick was in her kitchen and Down was outside on the patio. Suddenly Olavick could hear her friend calling her name excitedly. When Olavick went outside to see what was causing her friend to suddenly need her attention, she was amazed to see the collection of strange objects in the afternoon sky. At first, the object appeared to be spherical, but as they moved the women could see that it had a flattened underside and a rounded top, very much like a disc shape.

After a minute or so, Olavick noticed another object within the strange cloud, one that was around four or five times larger than the discs. It was at this point that the smaller discs ordered themselves into a V-formation. After several minutes, all of the discs suddenly shot off at high speed into the distance. Bizarrely, at the same time, the cloud, and the larger object appeared to simply disappear. And even stranger, Olavick claimed she couldn’t actually recall the cloud disappearing, it was simply there one minute and then gone the next.

Sightings And Encounters All Around The Globe

Yet another disc was witnessed during the day in early May in Vancouver, Canada, with an identical object was reported over Reseda in California a short time later. At around 5:30 am in the opening days of May, in Antelope, Saskatchewan in Canada, a huge cigar-shaped object was witnessed overhead. Witnesses claimed it was a bright blue color and was around 300 feet across and remained visible for around a minute. Another sighting of a disc-shaped object was made over the Pacific Ocean, once more in the middle of the day.

A particularly intriguing account from early May 1947 came from Spitzbergen Island in Norway. According to the account, a team of British scientists had ventured to the area in order to retrieve and allegedly crashed, unidentified object – an object that was to be of extraterrestrial origin. Even more intriguing, at least according to the reports, is that no less than 17 bodies within the wreckage. It was further claimed that the military actively suppressed any further reports of the incident.

A short time later in East Anglia, England, the daughter of a Royal Air Force pilot witnessed a bizarre entity enter through the open kitchen window while she was sitting at the kitchen table. She described it as being almost fairy-like with “shimmering wings” and wearing a dress made from a strange material. It remained in the room for several minutes before disappearing back outside the window.

As May unfolded, more and more reports of strange disc-like objects were reported around the world. On the 1^st May, for example, in Memphis Tennessee, two disc-like objects were witnessed racing across the sky in the middle of the afternoon. Four days later on 5^th May over the Bridger Mountains in Montana, an almost identical sighting unfolded.

On the same day, at around 3 pm in Seattle, Washington ^[3] three witnesses reported seeing a silver object move across the sky at great speed. More than that, the object appeared to be nose-diving, as if it was going to crash into the hillside. However, before it reached the hill, it simply disappeared leaving a “long pillar of gas hanging in the sky” where it had been only a second earlier.

An almost identical object was witnessed in Serbia on 7^th May, as was another three days later in Newark, New Jersey, with another sighting coming only hours later over Chester in England. At around 9 pm on 17^th May in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a field engineer witnessed a “frosty white round and flat object” moving across the sky at approximately three times the speed of a jet.

Around a week later, near Beaufort, South Carolina, physician, Dr. Battey, was fishing at around 11 am when he noticed a formation of four disc-shaped objects cutting through the sky at a terrific pace.  ^[4] As he watched them, he noted that the discs appeared to spin as they moved and were at an approximate altitude of 20,000 feet. Battey described these objects as being “silvery and highly polished” and was seemingly completely silent. In total, the discs were only in sight for around 20 seconds before they disappeared into the distance.

The Summer Of ’47 – The True Build Up To The Modern UFO Era

By June 1947, UFO sightings were being reported on an almost daily basis, and these sightings were taking place right around the world. For example, in early June, in Dolores Remedios, Cuba, according to the files of Dr. Sergio Cervera, was hanging washing outside on her washing line when she noticed a glowing object that was “shaped like two bowls put together” descend out of the sky and land a short distance away from here. The next thing she realized, a humanoid figure, approximately six feet tall and wearing a “shiny white outfit”, came out of the object. Not long after, the witness fainted out of pure shock. Interestingly, many witnesses heard rumors of a “UFO crash” in the area around the same time, and even recalled the presence of both the Cuban and United States military in the region.

Around the same time, according to an article titled, It Happened To Me in the Fortean Times, at around 11 am one June morning in Adelaide, Australia, a 4-year-old girl was in the yard outside her house when she suddenly became aware of a strange figure stood near the driveway of the house directly across the street. She later recalled the figure was around six feet tall and was dressed completely in black. The figure, she would claim, was “pear-shaped” with long thin legs but with no arms, at least that she could see. Even more bizarre, the figure appeared to have no face, only what appeared to be a “motorbike headlight” where a face should have been (which could perhaps suggest a helmet of some kind).

The young girl then stood and took a step toward the strange figure, which responded by taking a step toward her. To begin with, the young girl remained perfectly calm. However, as the creature began to pick up its pace, she began to become suddenly nervous, then scared. With that, she turned and ran as fast as she could toward the house. By the time she returned with her mother several moments later, the strange creature had completely vanished.

The Volume 11, Number 2 edition of Quest UFO Magazine, a report by Sheridan Lane tells of another sighting with humanoid figures in Norfolk, England. According to the report, a young boy was playing in a field near to his home when he saw a silver, torpedo-shaped object in a clearing in the woods. Even stranger, there were several humanoid figures, each around four feet tall and wearing tight-fitting, dark green overalls. He watched them for several moments as they appeared to be searching around underneath the object.

Another strange encounter from around the same time unfolded in Langley, British Columbia in Canada when a 16-year-old boy was sitting near a creek close to their home with his younger brother. Suddenly, the silence around them was disturbed by a curious humming sound. When they looked above them to where the sound was coming from they could see a “silvery metallic object” with a domed top heading toward the ground where it ultimately landed. The witnesses remained where they were and looked at the scene unfolding in front of them.

Then, a door opened in the side of the craft, and “five grotesque creatures” came out of it. Each wore a tight silvery suit and had the appearance of insects. When the teenager stood up, one of the creatures heading in his direction. The next thing he realized, the creature reached forward and put his hand on his shoulders. It seemed he then went on to read his mind. He recalled that a telepathic message appeared in his mind telling him that they were about to leave and that they should not look up until they had done so. They each did as instructed, hearing a “deafening noise” a moment later. Bizarrely, in the hours that followed, an unnaturally intense thirst took hold of each of them.

According to a report by Antonio Ribera in Volume 2 of the International UFO Library Magazine, one afternoon in early June in Jumilia Murcia, Spain, a 12-year-old girl witnessed a white oval-shaped object in the sky while looking out of the window of the house. It appeared to land in a nearby vineyard and the young girl almost immediately put the incident out of their mind. That was until she saw two strange men approaching her home from the direction that the object had landed. She recalled that the men were not very tall and wore the same tight-fitting-style clothing. When they reached the window, they asked the young girl for a glass of water, which she gave them.

That might have been the end of the encounter, but later on that evening, while all of the family were asleep, the two strange men appeared again. They woke the young girl and asked her to come with them, which she did. She followed them through the olive trees to a metallic disc-shaped object. Although it wasn’t particularly harrowing, the witness recalled an in-depth medical examination taking place, during which time she suspected that something was implanted in her.

Sightings With Remarkably Similar Details

According to an account from the research files of David Pace, in the early hours of 8^th June, around 20 miles to the south of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea, fishermen were going about their business on the waters when they noticed a strange object coming up from beneath the waves. At first, they thought it was a black submarine. However, they soon realized that it was much too big to be a submarine. Then, when a bizarre, bright light suddenly lit up from under the water, they realized they were witnessing something altogether more extraordinary.

The fishermen looked on in amazement as they saw several “little men” moving across what they presumed to be the “deck” of the object. They noted how these “little men” wore some kind of belt around their waist. After several minutes, these strange creatures went back inside the object. It then began to glow even brighter before disappearing beneath the water.

Three days later, at around 11 pm on 11^th June in Douglas, Arizona, a spherical-shaped object was witnessed moving across the sky at a rapid pace. It appeared to land somewhere nearby and remained on the ground for several seconds before suddenly shooting directly upwards and disappearing into the night sky.

The following day, at just after 6 pm in Weiser, Idaho, Mrs. Erickson witnessed two strange round objects, each of which glistened brightly in the early evening sun, moving overhead at a high speed. They disappeared quickly but a vapor trail from the objects remained in the sky for almost an hour.

At 11:30 pm on 13^th June in Fleur, France, a glowing orange cigar-shaped object, approximately 20 feet across, was witnessed descending out of the sky during a rainstorm and landed on the ground nearby. It remained on the ground for several minutes before suddenly shooting directly up into the air and disappearing.

In Lansing, Michigan, at around 9:30 pm on 15^th June, two people witnessed “three fiery balls” jumping in and out of the clouds for around 10 minutes before they suddenly disappeared. On the same night in Declo, Idaho, at a little after 10 pm, a similar object was reported as “zig-zagging” through the sky. During the sightings, a light beam was witnessed, shining directly down to the ground. Another similar object was witnessed the following night in Buffalo, New York.

Yet another landing encounter occurred at around 10:30 am on 17^th June in Bisbee, Arizona, an electrical worker, John Petsche witnessed a disc-shaped object land nearby to where he was working. On the same evening, six objects were witnessed by two people moving over Dubuque in Iowa.

At around 6 pm on the same evening in Bremerton, Washington, multiple residents witnessed “three platter-shaped discs” spotted over the town for several hours. Then, after remaining motionless in the sky for all that time they suddenly shot off into the distance and disappeared.

The Humanoid Encounter Of Percy Galloway

Perhaps one of the most intriguing encounters of the summer of 1947 unfolded near Lubbock, Texas in Wilson County. On the night in question, 5-year-old Percy Galloway noticed something strange moving overheard. To begin with he thought he was watching a comet but when it changed direction and started heading toward him, he realized he was watching something out of the ordinary.

The object descended toward the ground, eventually coming to a stop and hovering just above the surface at an approximate distance of around 200 feet from him. He would later describe this object as being around 70 feet across and circular with a black exterior. He noticed that a fog had appeared around the disc and that he could hear very slight sounds that sounded similar to musical tones.

As he watched, a sudden light came from the craft that was so bright Galloway had to look away before shielding his eyes with his hands. When he refocused once more, he could see a tall, humanoid figure standing in what appeared to be an open doorway on the side of the object. He wore all-white clothes with a gold-colored belt and had hair that was almost silver. Galloway recalled that, although he didn’t understand why, he knew that this figure was not a threat, and so when he asked him to walk toward him, he did so unreservedly. As this curious man spoke to Percy, he realized that he was not moving his lips. He was about to ask how this could be when the apparent extraterrestrial offered that he was speaking to him “by means of telemetric” which appears to be similar to telepathy, as just before Percy would speak, the figure would answer him as if he had read his thoughts.

He would follow the figure onto the craft and soon found himself in a “cave-like hall”. The room was lit with a strange, soft light, but Percy could not see where the light was actually coming from. It was almost as if it was coming out of the walls themselves. As Percy continued to follow the figure, he found himself in another room where multiple other figures were busy working with devices and instruments that he didn’t recognize.

Eventually, they came to another room which Percy was told was the control center of the craft. Before he knew what was happening, all the walls around d him became completely transparent and he could see space outside. His guide pointed to a blue dot in the distance, informing him that was Earth and that they were currently traveling close to the speed of light. What’s more, they were about to increase their speed, meaning that Percy would have to go to the protective area of the craft. Once inside, he found himself unable to move but he was fully aware of events taking place around him.

Moments later, they had seemingly arrived at their destination – an apparent mothership. This mothership was seemingly at the edge of the solar system. After the vehicle had landed on this huge mothership Percy followed the humanoid figure off the craft where two equally human-looking people greeted them. As Percy looked around, he could see many other human-looking people.

He was eventually led to a large room where he was given food that appeared similar to chips and a blue liquid to drink. He was then asked to put a set of headphones on and was told that he would understand what he was seeing when he did so. He was, though, also told that when he returned to Earth, he would not recall, at least subconsciously, what he had seen.

The next thing he realized, he was looking down at the ground and was encased in a strange beam of blue light. In this light, he floated down to Earth, and then the light was gone.

There are a number of details that are of interest in this account as they are often found in many other accounts of people who claim to have been inside an alien vehicle. The cave-like walls, for example, is a detail that is often repeated in other close encounter cases, with a general mention of stone making up the inner structure of these apparently advanced vehicles. Also of interest is the detail of soft light that appeared seemingly without a source.

Sightings On The Same Day As The Kenneth Arnold Sighting

During the afternoon of 24^th June in Pendleton, Oregon ^[5], according to the research files of Albert Rosales, a man was driving along a rural road and a sudden humming noise captured his attention. As he scanned his surrounding in an attempt to locate the source of the sound, he noticed a disc-shaped object hovering a short distance from the ground in a nearby field. Even stranger, he could see two short humanoid figures, each wearing tight-fitting green one-piece suits and helmets standing underneath the curious craft. Then, right before his eyes, the two figures simply vanished and a moment later the object rose into the air and disappeared into the distance with alarming speed.

A short time later in Richland, Washington, Mr. Bernier reported seeing three “flat objects” moving at great speed across the sky. Around the same time as that sighting, near Mount Adams, also in Washington, prospector, Fred Johnson, reported seeing six disc-shaped objects flying over the mountains. ^[6] He estimated the objects were around 30 feet across and have a “slight tale” on one side. He put forward that they must have been made from a shiny exterior as the sun reflected brightly off them when they turned. Even stranger, as the objects got closer and moved overhead, Johnson’s compass began to spin around faster and faster. Only when they were out of sight did it return to normal.

A short time later, at around 3 pm, also in the state of Washington Diamond Gap, Robert Hubach spotted a bizarre object while on a lookout tower carrying out his duties for the Washington State Forestry Service. ^[7] To begin with, Hubach’s attention had been turned skyward by the sound of a plane. However, as he watched the aircraft he noticed “flashes in the distance” that were higher up in the sky. These flashes appeared to be moving in a straight line (and were most likely the sun’s reflection off a shiny service). Hubach believe, at least at the time, that he was witnessing the testing of a secret military aircraft.

Although it was much further east than the state of Washington, a sighting just outside of Joliet in Illinois at just before 2 pm on the same day is still very much worth our attention here. ^[8] According to the report, 60-year-old engineer with the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railroad Company, Charles Kastl, witnessed nine discs moving across the sky with great speed as he made his way to work. He stated the objects appeared “flat and circular” and that they were “going faster than anything” he had ever seen. He also offered that it appeared to him that the first disc had some kind of control over the actions and speed of the others. For example, when it sped up, the rest did, or when it performed a “flip” in the air, the rest followed suit.

The Weeks Between The Arnold Sighting And The Roswell Crash

As the final week of June played out, leading to the famous Roswell crash, UFO sightings continued to be reported around the world, but in particular, across the United States. On the afternoon of 27^th June, in Woodland, Washington, multiple residents of the area witnessed two sets of objects “rocking back and forth” as they moved through the air. ^[9] Despite the speed with which they moved, they remained completely silent.

The following day, at just before 4 pm on 28^th June in Rockfield, Wisconsin, Marian Beuscher and her brother reported seeing a similar set of strange aerial vehicles, each saucer-shaped and moving at high speed. At around the same time, around 30 miles from Lake Mead in Nevada, military pilot, Lieutenant Armstrong witnessed a formation of 5 or 6 circular objects while piloting an F-51 fighter. They were flying at the same altitude as he – around 6,000 feet – and were moving close to 300 miles per hour.

Later that evening, at around 9:30 pm over Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, four officers – Captain Kayko, Captain Cantrell, Captain Redman, and Lieutenant Dowey – witnessed a bright light moving over the base in a fast, sharp zig-zagging fashion. Then, it made a sudden 90-degree turn and shot off into the distance.

The following afternoon on 29^th June, in Camp Little Arizona, Luis Bazurto and Armando Macias were sitting in their front yard when they witnessed six disc-shaped craft speed across the sky and disappear into the distance.

On the same day, at around 1 pm in Jacksonville, Oregon, Peter Vogel, along with several friends and other family members witnessed nine oval-shaped objects moving across the sky in a V-formation. ^[10] According to some of the witness statements, when they first noticed the objects they appeared “as white as snow geese”. However, the closer they came the more they appeared a blue-white color, “like a fluorescent-bulb light”. Their exterior appeared very much solid, although also “translucent, like a light, pebbled, frosted bulb”.

Further noted was that there were no vapor emissions coming from the objects, nor was there any other sign of an engine or means of propulsion, and they remained completely silent all the time they were in view. The group continued to watch them, and after several moments, they began to ascend into a cloud above. All of the group agreed the cloud had not been there previously and were forced to contemplate whether it had been produced by the objects themselves. Although Vogel reported the sighting to the Medford Airport control tower, they were unable to see the objects, either visually or on their radar.

At just before 4 pm on the same day, in Des Moines, Iowa, a bus driver named Dale Bays witnessed a group of round objects traveling in single file across the late afternoon sky. Bays estimated the objects were around 250 feet across and traveling at an altitude of around 1200 feet and moving approximately 300 miles per hour. Several minutes after this group of objects disappeared into the distance another set appeared and moved along exactly the same route.

Later that day just outside of Las Cruces in New Mexico, a rocket scientist at the USN Naval Research Lab, Dr. Carl Zohn, was driving in a car with his wife when they noticed a shiny disc in the air to their right. ^[11] They recalled that it moved across the sky with great speed, although there were no wings, engines, or any other signs of propulsion. They also determined that it must have been made from a shiny material as it reflected the sunlight brilliantly. It eventually disappeared into the distance.

Why Did UFO Sightings Suddenly Ramp Up In 1947?

As we can see, then, 1947 saw many more UFO encounters than the well-known accounts such as the Kenneth Arnold sightings and the Roswell crash. And what’s more, these sightings share so many details between them that it is clear that the same intelligence is behind the vast majority of them. What is also intriguing is that a great many of these sightings took place during the daytime.

Did this arrival in abundance of silver, disc-shaped aerial vehicles really signify a change in terms of UFOs and their presence on Earth? After all, there are plenty of other UFO sightings that are on record that predate 1947 and the start of the Modern UFO era. Perhaps, the airship sightings of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century aside, 1947 was the first year to see a true wave of sightings. We might suspect, then, that something must have triggered this sudden surge of UFO encounters across the planet.

Might it be, as many UFO researchers have suggested, that the dropping of the atom bombs over Japan that marked the end of the Second World War – itself the bloodiest conflict of (relatively) recent history – was the trigger that caused this sudden wave of sightings, a wave that would be repeated over the decades throughout history? And if so, is this alien race one that would have otherwise remained unaware of Earth and humanity, or did this act of warfare simply make their interest in us more urgent and prolonged than it otherwise would have been?

The video below looks at some of the most intriguing UFO encounters in history.