Witnessing the Unimaginable
A 1947 Newspaper Clipping Reveals Import of Testimony, Narrative and Guts to Tell It
Dr. J. Allen Hynek experienced a transformation of opinion in his service as scientific advisor to the US Air Force Project BLUE BOOK. Between its inception in March 1952 to its termination in December 1969, Dr. Hynek went from thinking that all UFO reports were misidentifications of natural phenomena and man-made aircraft to believing that credible people were sincerely and accurately reporting the most incredible of things — what appear to be intelligently controlled machines of unknown origin. Later he would regret not having given more credence to those who made some of the earliest UFO reports, especially. The following newspaper report is verbatim with the exception of a small number of typographic errors (noted in parentheses).
Heads up, folks! The disks are flying again
Flying Saucer Reported Flashing Down Canyon At 100 Miles Per Hour - Two Others Seen
By John Brosnan
The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho), August 13, 1947
Just as Magic Valley and the nation were starting to let go of lampposts after reeling under a welter of flying saucer reports, two more Twin Falls county men revived speculation on the mystery with vivid descriptions of discs they saw.
From A. C. Urie, who operates the Auger Falls Trout Farm, six miles west of Blue Lakes Ranch to Snake River Canyon, came perhaps the most detailed account of any of the fast flying objects the nation has yet produced.
The flying saucer Urie saw was skimming along through Snake River Canyon at a height of about 75 feet at 1:00 pm Wednesday. At 9:30 am the same day, L. W. Hawkins, Twin Falls county commissioner and former county sheriff, also saw two circular objects soaring along at great speeds near Salmon Dam 40 miles south west of Twin Falls.
Here is Urie's eye-witness description of the flying discs, seen by him and his son(s), Keith, 8, and Billy,10:
“I obtained a close-up view of the flying saucer as it passed the trout farm at 1:00 pm August 13th going down Snake River Canyon at a height of about 75 feet from the canyon floor. I would estimate the speed (at about) 1,000 miles per hour.”
Urie explained that the incident occurred while the two boys were coming across the river from the north side in a boat. He had become concerned about what was delaying them, and walked toward the river to see if they were all right.
“I had a side view of a distance of about 300 feet and almost was level with the thing,” he continued. “Two of my boys, Keith and Billy were below me and they also saw it at about a right angle. They both (had) a lower and a side view, and we and we were staring at it from the north side of the facing toward the north. The boys saw it coming from about a half a mile up the canyon, and we all lost site of it in less then a mile.”
While the impression was still vivid in their minds, the three all got together and made rough sketches of what they had seen. These in turn were the basis of the artist conception of the strange affair by Vic Goertson of Twin Falls for the Times-News (illustration at the top of the page).
“The canyon floor underneath at that particular point was that it rode up and down over the hills and hollows at a speed indicating some type of control faster then the reflexes of man. It is my opinion it is guided by some type of instruments and must be powered by atomic energy, as it made very little noise-just a s-w-i-s-h when it passed by.”
Urie described the size as about 20 feet long by 10 feet high and 10 feet wide, giving it an oblong shape. It might be described as looking at an inverted pie-plate, or broad-brimmed straw hat that been compressed from two sides.
Pressed for his opinion of just what it was, he said he was convinced there was something to this “flying saucer” situation. “I know a number of people who have also seen them, and I know now that they're not just imagining seeing these things or trying to get their names in the paper.
“I do know that it scared the boys, and made me feel uneasy,” he added.
Tracing down a rumor that county commissioner Hawkins had seen an unusual object in the air on the same day as Urie's experience, the Times-News called him at his Filer home.
“Yes I did,” he replied without hesitation. “I’ll have to admit, I’ve been skeptical all along until I saw it with my own eyes. I can't say what it was, but I can say there is something in the air.”
Hawkins related that while at Salmon dam Wednesday morning, a sound resembling that of an echo of a motor caused him to look upward, and there he saw to circular objects that reflected light. They were traveling at a great speed, and higher th(a)n most airplanes, according to Hawkins.
Aside from this, he declined to add details, except to say, “there's something in the air.”
His general description however, corresponded closely to hundreds of persons who reported seeing “flying saucers” after Kenneth Arnold, Boise business man, touched a deluge by telling of coming upon nine disc-like objects while he was flying in his private plane in Washington.
Thereafter the nation became increasingly “flying saucer” conscious creating a state of mind for four teen age Twin Falls boys to cause a mild sensation when they built a model flying disc and tossed in a local yard July 10th. This was subsequently revealed as a hoax, following the investigation by the army and the FBI.
There after the saucer reports tapered off into a few scattered incidents until the question was revived by this week’s occurrences.
Speculation has ranged from mention that the discs could be army navy guided missile experiments, or they could be experiments by some foreign country, to something out of this world.
What ever they are, a lot of people have seen something.
The FBI Report
According to his account, the contrivance was about three hundred feet below the rim of the canyon and he saw it against the steep walls of the canyon on the far side. He described its color as sky blue and stated that he doubted if it could be seen against the sky. He likewise said that it was purely by chance that he saw it. It did not spin like a top.
As the machine went by the URIE place, the trees over which it almost directly passed (Mormon Poplars) did not just bend with the wind as if a plane had gone by, but in URIE's words, "spun around on top as if they were in a vacuum."
August 20, 1947
Director FBI
SAC ButteFlying Discs
Refer teletype to the Bureau dated August 15, 1947
Enclosed please find the newspaper account carried by the Twin Falls, Idaho "Times News" on August 15; together with a sheet of paper on which A.C. URIE attempted to sketch his impression of the instrument which he claims to have seen.
Concerning URIE's sketches, it may be noted that he believed the outer edge which he attempted to create in his drawing to have been about a foot through. URIE likewise believed that the turbine or exhaust flame which he and his sons claim to have seen was about a foot through and extended at least to the back end of the device. The flame did not appear to taper off nor to widen out toward the back.
BILLY and KEITH URIE stated that they could see a knot on the side of the device from which the flames were shooting, and that they could see daylight between the exhaust flame and the side of the device. The flames did not leave any smoke or odor.
The URIE boys thought that the "side view" sketch should show that the device was more sharply angled from bottom to top, while URIE himself thought that it was more streamlined and curved. URIE said that the instrument came to a pointed or rounded top.
In his notations, URIE mistakenly said that he had seen it on Thursday. During interview, he stated that it actually had been on Wednesday, August 13, 1947 when he and his sons saw the contrivance about 1:00 P.M.
URIE explained that he had sent his boys to the river to get some rope from his boat. When he thought they were overdue, he went outside his tool shed to look for them. He noticed them about 300 feet away looking in the sky and he glanced up to see what he called the "flying discs". He said he could only see it for a moment before it disappeared behind a hill which obscured his view.
URIE further stated that the contrivance was about seventy-five feet in the air. URIE resides in the depths of the Snake River Canyon, which is about four hundred feet deep and twelve hundred feet across at that place. According to his account, the contrivance was about three hundred feet below the rim of the canyon and he saw it against the steep walls of the canyon on the far side. He described its color as sky blue and stated that he doubted if it could be seen against the sky. He likewise said that it was purely by chance that he saw it. It did not spin like a top.
As the machine went by the URIE place, the trees over which it almost directly passed (Mormon Poplars) did not just bend with the wind as if a plane had gone by, but in URIE's words, "spun around on top as if they were in a vacuum."
KEITH URIE, eight years of age, said he first saw the machine coming down the canyon, heading from east to west and following the contours of the round. BILLY, age ten, saw it almost immediately. Both watched it fly out of sight behind a tree in a matter of moments. They said they then ran to their Father and learned that he too had seen the machine.
URIE seemed completely sincere about the incident. He said his wife and daughter were in the house at the time and had not seen the machine. He questioned his brother, who also lives in the canyon, but his brother had been eating at the time and had seen nothing. URIE and his two boys maintained that they had never before seen one of the discs. URIE, when interviewed, appeared to be a sober, middle-aged man.
JOHN BROSNAN, the "Times News" reporter who originally furnished Special Agents with information about the incident, likewise stated that URIE appeared completely sincere about the machine.
No further attempt was made to locate L.W. Hawkins, inasmuch as J.H. Brown, who was with HAWKINS at the time, was interviewed. BROWN's name was withheld form the newspaper because HAWKINS and BROWN were fishing at Salmon dam while BROWN was supposed to have been working in Twin Falls.
BROWN said simply that he and HAWKINS could hear a roar. They looked up and could see two instruments flying at a great height, which BROWN mentioned might have been between four thousand and six thousand feet. However, he said he had no idea how large the devices were and consequently, they may have been several miles away. He said that he and HAWKINS were satisfied they had seen something and they were very doubtful that they had seen two planes.
Observations from Patrick Gross, Ufologist:
The Air Force was obviously ready to admit the silliest explanation to dismiss a UFO sighting. Come to think that it is with such an obviously dimissive approach that Project Sign nevertheless conluded in their "estimate of the situation" thatm yes, flying saucers are for real, and yes, they are extraterrestrial. So much for the notion of naïve and gullible Air Force UFO enthusiasts: they were outrageously anti-saucers, but had to conclude that saucers exist nevertheless.
Astronomer J. Allen Hynek has later rejected his own explanation. He explained that he had never heard of "atmospheric eddies" moving at 1000 mph. Needless to say that the witness description has nothing to do with atmospherics; they reported a "nuts and bolts" craft. He explained that in these early days of the investigations on the UFO phenomenon, the general idea at the Air Force and elsewhere was that flying saucers cannot exist, therefore they do not exist. Any explanation, however silly, was prefereable to a lack of explanation, or worse, to the conclusion that flying saucer existed and were, as the newspaper said in this case, "not of this world."
Hynek, in his 1977 book, imagined how his evaluation should have been if it weren't for the abovementioned denial: "We must believe these witnesses, in particular because of the numerous reports of similar nature in the recent past. This is indeed an aircraft, produced by an intelligence way ahead of us. It is vital to start a full blown investigation immediately ...". He adds that he knew very well what would have happened if he had offered such a statement to the Air Force: he would have been dismissed, regarded as "one more saucerist crakpot."
This sad state of affair at least shows that Dr Hynek was indeed more than skeptical as to the existence of flying saucers at the start. When he finally went public and admitted that saucers do exist and that the Air Force should have let it be known, it was not because he was a saucerist crackpot.
As for the case itself, there can be only two alternative conclusions: either the main witness and his two sons lied convincingly enough, or they saw a flying saucer of extraterrestrial origin.
Mr. Gross’ online report also includes original analysis from USAF Project SIGN, Project BLUE BOOK, and the FBI. In light of what’s been found by science since the original report, we should add that there likely are more possibilities of what the object could be. One of these possibilities is that of an intelligently staged “dramatic event” designed to shock, impress, and change the belief systems of three individual human beings.