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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Hanford, Washington, USA, in 1947:

Case number:

ACUFO-1947-00-00-HANFORD-1

Summary:

In a 1999 catalogue of aircraft - UFO encounters in 1947, US ufologist Jan Aldrich indicated he found in UFO Report, page 29, 1977 that in 1947, by night, at Hanford, Washington, USA, a US Air Force B-17 pilot was pulsating cavorting lights that maneuvered around his aircraft for 20 minutes and then flew off.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	1947
Time:	Night.
Duration:	20 minutes.
First known report date:	1977
Reporting delay:	3 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	USA
State/Department:	Washington
City or place:	Hanford atomic plant.

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Sensation magazine.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
UFO action:	Maneuver around plane, fly away.
Witnesses action:	?
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Sensors:	[X] Visual: 1 or more. [ ] 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:	3
ACUFO:	Unknown credibility.

Sources:

[Ref. jah1:] JAN ALDRICH:

N - 1947 ---- Night, USA, Hanford, Washington

B-17 USAF pilot, pulsating cavorting lights maneuvered around aircraft for 20 minutes then flew off. (PJ47 Report, p125 (UFO Report 1977, p. 39)

"N" means this is a new case not in November 1997 ACUFOE Catalogue.

[Ref. dwn1:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

French ufologist Dominique Weinstein compiled a catalog of the cases of UFOs observed from aircraft. This case appears in the February 2001 (6th edition) of this catalog as:

DATE	47.00.00
TIME	night
COUNTRY	USA
PLACE	Hanford, Washington
	M
TYPE OF PLANE AND WITNESSES	One USAAF B-17 pilot
UFO DESCRIPTION	one round shiny disc-shaped object
Radar
G
X
E
SOURCES	03

The source "03" is referenced at the end of the catalog as:

Project 1947 Reports, newsclippings and documents (cases from Jan Aldrich and Barry Greenwood)

[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1947

USA, Hanford, Washington

The pilot of a B-17 saw several pulsating lights at night darting around the aircraft for a duration of 20 minutes. (Project ACUFOE, catalogue 1999, Dominique Weinstein)

Aircraft information:

The US Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” was a heavy bomber fitted with five 7.62 machine guns for its defense against enemy fighter planes.

Discussion:

The Hanford nuclear plant is located 30 miles in the Northwest of the Pasco Naval Air Station.

The Hanford nuclear plant was built as early as 1943 at a cost of $5,100,000 and it started plutonium separation on January 20, 1945. The critical state in the 2nd pile was achieved in December 1944, and a critical state in the 3rd pile in 1945.

A B-17 never flew with only a pilot as crew, so, in 20 minutes, several witnesses should have observed the UFO.

The B-17 is strongly defended by several machine guns; but this allegedly happens well after WWI and there is no certainty that ammunition was on-board or gunners were on-board.

The earliest source indicated in this case, "UFO Report 1977, p. 39", is likely the sensation magazine SAGA UFO Report.

The magazine published interviews with serious ufologists, but also UFO sighting cases written by more or less anonymous authors, often lacking details such as witnesses names, exact dates, as if they were made up entirely.

There were previous, better documented, UFO sightings by pilots in flight at the Hanford nuclear plant:

But I think the credibility of this 1947 encounter is not strong.

Evaluation:

Unknown credibility.

Sources references:

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

[ufr1] ? UFO Report, page 39, 1977.
[jah1] * "ACUFOE in 1947", catalogue by Jan Aldrich, on his Project 1947 website, USA, October 1999, at https://www.project1947.com/47cats/acupdt.htm
[dwn1] * "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena - Eighty years of pilot sightings - Catalog of Military, Airliner, Private Pilots' Sightings from 1916 to 2000", catalog compiled by Dominique F. Weinstein, NARCAP International Technical Advisor, France, 6th edition, February 2001.
[gvo1] * "Chronologie OVNI", electronic catalogue compiled by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, circa 2002.

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 11, 2026	Creation, [jah1], [dwn1], [gvo1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	June 11, 2026	First published.

This page was last updated on June 11, 2026.