Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas, USA, on Beginning of July:
ACUFO-1947-07-00-EAGLEMOUNTAINLAKE-1
This is a "negative" case (a case that got a trivial explanation immediately at the time of its publication), it occurred in the United States a few days after the famous Kenneth Arnold sighting report, the first to gain a wide press coverage throughout the country.
The Reporter-News newspaper, of Abilene, Texas, reported on page 1 for July 7, 1947, that their newsroom took a phone call the night before from a man posing as Jim Johnson, a pilot, who told them that he had spotted three "flying saucers" in the vicinity of Eagle Mountain Lake near Fort Worth. He said that on the "leading edge" of one of the silver objects, there was a man with "a floating beard and a cooked pipe."
The newspaper was immediately skeptical, sensing a prank, and soon during the call, the man burst out in laughter: it was a joke. He explained that because of the bad relations with Russia, he thought to describe a "saucer pilot" who would look like a Russian, hence de beard and the pipe.
| Date: | Beginning of July, 1947 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | July, 7, 1947 |
| Reporting delay: |
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Texas |
| City or place: | Eagle Mountain Lake |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Reporting channel: | By phone to the press. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | ? |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | |
| Witnesses action: | Flies with bearded man on wing. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Negative case, joke. |
| Sensors: |
[ ] Visual:
[ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | ? |
| Armed / unarmed: | ? |
| Reliability 1-3: | 1 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 2 |
| ACUFO: | ? |
[Ref. arn1:] "ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS" NEWSPAPER:
|
By Clyde B. RAGSDALE
Reporter-News Staff
A man who styled himself as Jim Johnson telephoned the Reporter-News late Sunday with the startling information that he had spotted three "flying saucers" in the vicinity of Eagle Mountain Lake, near Fort Worth. On the "leading edge" of one of the silvery objects, he reported, was a man with "a flowing beard and a cooked pipe."
The city news was wary.
"A man?" he was asked.
"Yeah," the other end of the wire replied.
"Smoking a pipe?"
"Yeah."
"H-m-mm," said the City Desk, sensing a phony.
"I was flying southwest," the voice on the wire explained, "when - swish - three of the flying saucers zoomed past. I saw a man on the leading edge of one of them."
The city news desk was still skeptical. Here was an entirely new development. A man had never before been reported seen on or near a "flying saucer."
There were more insistent questions. Who is calling? What is the address? An instructor at the airport here? Oh, a student...
Finally, with a burst of laughter, the man on the wire broke down.
"Oh, well," the voice said, "It would have been a good joke."
The City Desk laughed, too. In fact, more in relief that from any other cause.
"I thought," said the voice, still chuckling, "that with conditions with Russia as they are today, I would make the man look like a Russian. It would have been a good hoax."
Well, and so it would. But old newsmen have a way of "smelling out" the authentic and that which is not.
But, admittedly, it was a good gag.
Happy landings, Jim Johnson, whoever you are. And may no "flying saucers" get caught in your prop.
(Not reported, unimportant.)
|
I found no mention of this story in the ufology literature; either it went unnoticed by all ufologists, or those who read it estimated it was of no interest.
Of course, this was just one of the silly pranks that followed the Arnold sighting report coverage. But what can be learned from it is that at least this very early post-Arnold CE3 prank was totally naive. The "Russian pilot" sitting on the saucer while smoking a pipe shows no care for any "realism". Most of the early pranks were like that; more "sophisticated" stories of course emerged later on.
Contrarily to beliefs of some people, the extraterrestrial, "Martians" explanation for flying saucers was in the public minds immediately after Arnold's sighting. However, many people rather thought the saucers same from Russia. This is an example of that interpretation.
Negative case, joke.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | November 9, 2018 | Creation, [arn1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | November 9, 2018 | First published in the URECAT CE3 catalogue. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | ZZZ | First published in this catalogue. |
