ACUFO:

ACUFO is my comprehensive catalog of cases of encounters between aircraft and UFOs, whether they are “explained” or “unexplained”.

The ACUFO catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file.

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Baker, Idaho, USA, in the end of 1947:

Case number:

ACUFO-1947-00-00-BAKER-1

Summary:

In his 1954 book "Flying Saucers on the Attack", British writer Harold T. Wilkins indicated that by the end of 1947, at 8:43 p.m., over Baker, Idaho, a pilot saw a ball of fire traveling horizontally, and he said: "It was certainly not a meteor and I was badly scared."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	End of 1947
Time:	08:43 p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1954
Reporting delay:	Hours, 7 years.

Geographical data:

Country:	USA
State/Department:	Idaho
City or place:	Baker

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Flying saucers book by Harold Wilkins.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	Flew horizontally.
Witnesses action:	Observed.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	Frightened.
Witnesses interpretation:	Not a meteor.

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 1. [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	NL
Armed / unarmed:	?
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	1
ACUFO:	Insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. hws1:] HAROLD T. WILKINS:

By the end of 1947, [other case...]

At 8:43 P.M., over Baker, Idaho, another pilot saw a ball of fire traveling horizontally. He said: "It was certainly not a meteor and I was badly scared."

Aircraft information:

Nothing is reported about the aircraft as far as I know.

Discussion:

I found nothing else about this case so far.

It is regrettable that the information currently available to me is so sparse.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[hws1] * "Flying Saucers on the Attack", book by Harold T. Wilkins, Ace Books publishers, USA, page 79, 1954.

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	June 6, 2026	Creation, [hws1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	June 6, 2026	First published.

This page was last updated on June 6, 2026.