Myrtle Creek Airport, Oregon, USA, on August 6, 1947:
ACUFO-1947-08-06-MYRTLECREEK-1
After receiving information about a sighting, which they estimated to be a matter of security, following investigation was conducted by an FBI Agent of Portland's FBI Office, at Canyonville and Myrtle Creek, Oregon on August 12, 1947.
The resulting FBI memo of August 23, 1947, describes what Ray Virgil Hatfield, Route 1, Box 195, Roseburg, Oregon, Operator of the Tri City Airport, Myrtle Creek, Oregon, told the agent:
Hatfield said that on August 6, 1947, at approximately 6:15 p.m., while instructing a student in a takeoff at the Myrtle Creek airport, he noticed an object east of Myrtle Creek which appeared to be from 5,000 to 8,000 feet in the air. The sky was completely clear and visibility was excellent.
Hatfield stated that the object glistened and appeared to be of aluminum sheeting. Upon noticing it, he had immediately taken over the controls of the plane which at that time was at 400 feet, and proceeded East in an attempt to further observe the object. He said that the object appeared to be climbing and traveling East at a high rate of speed which he estimated on a computer in his plane as 1,000 miles per hour. He believed the object to be spherical in shape and recalled noticing a darker objet to the right the first time he saw it.
After searching the area for approximately 10 minutes, Hatfield and his student returned to the airport and made another landing and takeoff. In practically the same position at 400 feet altitude, both Hatfield and his student saw the object in approximately the same position as seen before. He estimated the sphere to be 30 feet in diameter and stated that when they first observed it, it appeared to be so near he could fly right to it.
The object sighted the second time disappeared in the same manner the first had.
The FBI agent noted that Hatfield had served as Lieutenant JG in the U.S. Naval Air Corps for about 3 years, flying constantly on the Atlantic submarine patrol, that he is a reputable citizen in Douglas County and is reported to be a qualified pilot.
The FBI agent then turned to the student pilot, Mr. Noble Ellison, of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. The latter verified the information as furnished by Hahtfield, and stated that the first object sighted had been called to his attention when Hatfield took over the controls of the plane at about 400 feet following his takeoff, but that they had both sighted the object on the second take off at the same time.
Ellison described the object as a "silver ball or balloon" which he believed to be 8 miles East of Myrtle Creek, traveling East, and climbing very fast until it disappeared in approximately 45 seconds. Ellison estimated the sphere as being 50 feet in diameter and stated his opinion that the second object appeared to climb straight up.
He also said he did not observe any evidence of motion such as vapor or trails, etc., and could hear no noise over the noise of his own plane.
The FBI memo said that investigation in the vicinity of Myrtle Creek, Oregon, failed to reveal any other person sighting the reporrted object, and that "no further investigation2 was conducted.
This memo was publicly accessible circa 1977 through the Freedom of Information Act, and in 1977, ufologist Dr. Bruce Maccabee read it in the US Government archive; he recorded the case briefly in a table of 1947 sightings from the FBI file; a table he published in the MUFO UFO Journal No. 121 of December 1977. Maccabee noted that the case does not appear in the Air Force "Project Blue Book" list of 1947 sightings. Indeed it does not appear in this list, and I found no clue that the US Air Force did anything about this sighting.
Maccabee gave a more detailed summary in his 2000 book "UFO-FBI Connection", though the witnesses names were not provided, liekely being blacked-out in the FBI memo copy he saw.
In 2008, and again in 2020, the FBI published a book with their UFO related documents; but only a teletype alerting on the sighting and the plan to interview a witness appeared in this publication; the memo with the witnesses account did not.
After 3 leaked-out, then officially confirmed, UFO videos by US Navy pilots in the 2000's caused an uproar, US lawmakers started to be interested in the topic again, and one consequence of what was initially a bi-partisan lobbying action for the declassification of all Government UFO information, the FBI memo, uncensored, surfaced among other information both modern and old, without any comment, on the "Department of War" website. Thus the FBI original memo can be read below in this case file, 8 decades after it was written.
| Date: | August 6, 1947 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 18:15 |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | August 11, 1947 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 4 days. |
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Oregon |
| City or place: | Myrtle Creek Airport |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 2 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 2 |
| Reporting channel: | Witnesses interview by the FBI. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Day. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Flew straight up. |
| Witnesses action: | Observed, searched. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 2.
[ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: ? [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Unarmed. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 3 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 3 |
| ACUFO: | Possible extraterrestrial craft. |
[Ref. fbi1:] FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI):
|
TELETYPE
FBI PORTLAND 8-11-47 1-17 PM PST KAM
DIRECTION URGENT
FLYING DISCS, SECURITY MATTER DASH X, ONE [-], FORMER NAVY PILOT AND PRESENTLY [-] MYRTLE CREEK, OREGON, REPORTS SEEING A MYSTERIOUS OBJECT ON TWO OCCASIONS THE EVENING OF AUGUST SIXTH WHILE FLYING AT ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND FEET ABOVE MYRTLE CREEK. HATFIELD TO BE INTERVIEWED.
BOBBITT
END
5-18 PM OK FBI WASH DC CAR
[Ref. fbi2:] FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI):
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DATE: 8-23-47
TO: BUREAU
FROM: SAC, PORTLAND
SUBJECT: FLYIGN DISCS
SECURITY MATTERS - X
The following investigation was conducted at Canyonville and Myrtle Creek, Oregon on August 12, 1947.
RAY VIRGIL HATFIELD, Route 1, Box 195, Roseburg, Oregon, Operator of the Tri City Airport, Myrtle Creek, Oregon, advised that on 8-6-47 at approximately 6:15 PM while instructing a student in a take off at the airport, he noticed an object east of Myrtle Creek which appeared to be from 5,000 to 8,000 feet in the air. The sky was completely clear and visibility was excellent. He stated that the object glistened and appeared to be of aluminium sheeting. Upon noticing it he had immediately taken over the controls of the plane which at that time was at 400 feet, and proceeded East in an attempt to further observe the object. He advised that the object appeared to be climbing and traveling East at a high rate of speed which he estimated on a computer in his plane as 1,000 miles per hour. He believed the object to be shperical in shape and recalled noticing a darker objet to the right the first time he saw it. After searching the area for approximately 10 minutes HARFIELD and his student NOBLE ELLISON returned to the airport and made another landing and take off. In practically the same position at 400 feet altitude, both ELLISON and HATFIELD saw the object in approximately the same position as seen before. He estimated the sphere to be 30 feet in diameter and stated when they first observed it it appeared to be so near he could fly right to it. However, the object sighted the second time disappeared in the same manner the first had.
It is noted that HATFIELD served as Lieutenant JG in the U.S. Naval Air Corps for about 3 years, flying constantly on the Atlantic submarine patrol. He is a reputable citizen in Douglas County and is reported to be a qualified pilot.
Mr. NOBLE ELLISON, Myrtle Creek, Oregon, verified the above information as furnished by HATFIELD, stating that the first object sighted had been called to his attention when HATFIELD took over the controls of the plane at about 400 feet following his take off, but that they had both sighted the object on the second take off at the same time. ELLISON described the object as a "silver ball or balloon" which he believed to be 8 miles east of Myrtle Creek, traveling East, and climbing very fast until it disppeared in approximately 45 seconds. ELLISON estimated the sphere as being 50 feet in diameter and stated his opinion that the second object appeared to climb straight up.
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He advised that he did not observe any evidence of motion such as vapor or trails, etc., and could hear no noise over the noise of his own ship.
Investigation in the vicinity of Myrtle Creek, Oregon, has failed to reveal any other person sighting the object reported by HATFIELD and ELLISON. No further investigation is being conducted.
JM:MB
62-1531
[Ref. bme1:] BRUCE MACCABEE:
| Date | Place | Local Time | Brief Description |
| 8/6/47 | Myrtle Creek, Oregon | 1815 | former Navy pilot and student saw round aluminium-like object from their aircraft on two occasions about 10 minutes apart*** |
Bruce Maccabee noted that most of the cases in his sightings table are in the Project Blue Book listing ('Table of Contents") in the National Archive, but this case was not.
He noted that this does not necessarily mean that a case does not exist within the microfilm record at the National Archives; as cases could be contained within the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) section of the microfilm record; which has no "table of contents".
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
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On that same August 7th day a R. Hatfield of Roseburg, Oregon, was mystified by something, a "mysterious object," he said, that put in two appearances over Myrtle Creek Airport. Being manager of the facility, he commandeered an aircraft and took up pursuit after the thing hove into view the second time. Climbing to 50,000 feet Hatfield sighted the object and tried to close in but his quarry "woke up" and left in such a hurry there was no chance to get near. 91.
The source "91" is detailed as "Roseburg, Oregon, 7 August 47.".
[Ref. bme2:] BRUCE MACCABEE:
This ufologist indicates that a teletype of the FBI starting with "Urgent August 11, 1947 - flying discs - security matters", from Portland, Oregon, reported that a former Navy pilot saw a mysterious flying object on two occasions in the evening of August 6, 1947.
The pilot was near the Tri-City Airport at Myrtle Creek, Oregon, at an altitude of about 400 feet, in clear sky with the sun low in the west, when he first saw a glistening spherical object with no vapor trails at an estimated altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet.
It appeared to be metallic and traveling eastward while climbing at a speed of about 1,000 mph.
After it disappeared, the pilot landed, then took off again as part of the instruction for his passenger, a flight student. Once again, he saw the object, which again took off at high speed. He estimated the size at about thirty feet. To the flight student, the object appeared to be a fifty-foot sphere.
He said that the second object they saw departed straight upward at high speed and disappeared in about forty-five seconds.
[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1947, August 6
USA, Myrtle Creek (Oregon)
At 18:15, a former naval aviation pilot and a student pilot saw an aluminum-gray, round UFO on two occasions, 10 minutes apart, while they were aboard their aircraft. They were extensively questioned by the FBI. (FBI document – Bruce Maccabee, trans. Jean Sider)
[Ref. fbi3:] FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI):
In their 2008 and 2022 books on UFOs in the FBI files, the FBI published this transcript of the [fbi1] teletype, the name of the witnesses being blacked out:
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[Ref. fre1:] FRANCIS RIDGE - THE NICAP WEBSITE:
August 6, 1947; Myrtle Creek, Oregon
Approx. 6:15 pm. A pilot (whose name has been deleted from FBI files) was instructing a student in a take off. Just as the student was about to take off, the pilot noticed an object in the sky about 5,000 - 8,000 feet in the air. The sky was known to be completely clear and visibility for the pilot was excellent. He stated that the object "glistened" and appeared to be of "aluminium sheeting". As he noticed the strange object he immediately took over the controls, which at that time was at about 400 feet, and proceeded East in an attempt to continue to observe the object. The pilot advised that the object was climbing and travelling East at a high speed which he estimated as 1,000 miles per hour. He believed the object to be of a spherical shape and recalled a darker object to the right of it when he first saw it. No vapor trails or noise was observed from the object. After around 10 minutes of observing the object, the pilot made another landing and take off and in practically the same position at 400 feet both the pilot and the student observed the object just as they had seen it before. The pilot estimated the sphere to be about 30 feet in diameter and stated that the first time they saw the object, it was so close they could fly right into it. These sightings made were verified by the student, but the student estimated the sphere to be 50 feet in diameter. (FBI files, Lara Elliott)
[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
Category 11 Case Directory
SIGHTINGS FROM AIRCRAFT
Preliminary Rating: 5
AVCAT is a special project being conducted by NICAP, with the help and cooperation of the original compiler of AIRCAT, Dr. Richard Haines, and other sources, to create a comprehensive listing of sightings from aircraft with detailed documentation from these sources, including Projects SIGN, GRUDGE & BLUE BOOK.
Pilot Takes Over Controls When Object Spotted
August 6, 1947
Myrtle Creek, Oregon
6:15 pm local
Duration 10 mins
aircraft not described
United States
Civilian
2 observers
No EMI
No radar contact
Lara Elliott:
August 6, 1947; Myrtle Creek, Oregon
Approx. 6:15 pm. A pilot (whose name has been deleted from FBI files) was instructing a student in a take off. Just as the student was about to take off, the pilot noticed an object in the sky about 5,000 - 8,000 feet in the air. The sky was known to be completely clear and visibility for the pilot was excellent. He stated that the object "glistened" and appeared to be of "aluminium sheeting". As he noticed the strange object he immediately took over the controls, which at that time was at about 400 feet, and proceeded East in an attempt to continue to observe the object. The pilot advised that the object was climbing and travelling East at a high speed which he estimated as 1,000 miles per hour. He believed the object to be of a spherical shape and recalled a darker object to the right of it when he first saw it. No vapor trails or noise was observed from the object. After around 10 minutes of observing the object, the pilot made another landing and take off and in practically the same position at 400 feet both the pilot and the student observed the object just as they had seen it before. The pilot estimated the sphere to be about 30 feet in diameter and stated that the first time they saw the object, it was so close they could fly right into it. These sightings made were verified by the student, but the student estimated the sphere to be 50 feet in diameter.
Detailed reports and documents
docs/470806myrtle_creek-docs.pdf (FBI doc) (Lara Elliott) [Contains a copy of [fbi1]]
[Ref. ror1:] "THE ROSEBURG RECEIVER":
A 1947 Myrtle Creek "flying disc" report is included in a declassified federal UAP release, documenting an FBI memo about a reported sighting near the Tri City Airport.
Joseph Ziegler
08 May 2026
4 min
MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. - A 1947 "flying disc" report from Myrtle Creek is included in a newly released federal archive of unidentified anomalous phenomena records.
The document, an FBI office memorandum dated Aug. 23, 1947, describes a reported sighting involving Ray Virgil Hatfield, a Roseburg resident and operator of the Tri City Airport in Myrtle Creek, and his student, Noble Ellison.
The record is part of Release 01 of the federal UAP archive, which was marked "cleared for release" on May 8, 2026. The Department of War says the archive is part of an effort to find, review, identify, declassify, and publicly release unresolved UAP-related records and historical documents held by the federal government.
In its release announcement, the Department of War said the files are part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, or PURSUE. The department said the interagency effort includes the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Energy, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, NASA, the FBI, and other intelligence agencies. Officials said additional files are expected to be released on a rolling basis.
According to the FBI memo, investigators conducted follow-up work in Canyonville and Myrtle Creek on Aug. 12, 1947. Hatfield told investigators the sighting happened six days earlier, on Aug. 6, at about 6:15 p.m., while he was instructing a student during takeoff at the airport.
Hatfield reported seeing an object east of Myrtle Creek that appeared to be between 5,000 and 8,000 feet in the air. The sky was completely clear, and visibility was described as excellent.
The memo says Hatfield described the object as glistening and appearing to be made of aluminum sheeting. After noticing it, he took over the controls of the plane, which was flying at about 400 feet, and proceeded east in an attempt to observe it more closely.
Hatfield told investigators the object appeared to be climbing and traveling east at a high rate of speed. He estimated, using a computer in his plane, that it was moving at about 1,000 miles per hour. He believed the object was spherical in shape and said he noticed a darker object to the right the first time he saw it.
According to the memo, Hatfield reported seeing no vapor trail and hearing no noise from the object.
After searching the area for about 10 minutes, Hatfield and Ellison returned to the airport and made another landing and takeoff. In roughly the same position and at about the same altitude, both men reported seeing the object again.
Hatfield estimated the sphere was about 30 feet in diameter and said that when they first observed it, it appeared close enough that he could fly right to it. The memo says the object disappeared during the second sighting in the same manner as it had the first time.
The FBI memo also noted Hatfield’s aviation background, saying he had served about three and a half years as a lieutenant junior grade in the U.S. Naval Air Corps, flying on Atlantic submarine patrol. The memo described him as a reputable citizen in Douglas County and a qualified pilot.
Ellison, who was from Myrtle Creek, verified Hatfield’s account, according to the memo. He told investigators the object had first been brought to his attention when Hatfield took over the controls of the plane shortly after takeoff.
Ellison described the object seen during the second takeoff as a "silver ball or balloon," which he believed was about eight miles east of Myrtle Creek. He said it was traveling east and climbing very fast before disappearing after approximately 45 seconds. Ellison estimated the sphere was about 50 feet in diameter and said he believed the second object appeared to climb straight up.
The Myrtle Creek report is not the only Oregon reference in the larger federal file. Other Oregon sightings are also mentioned in the long PDF, including a report from Newport. Those records show that Oregon was among the states where flying disc reports were being collected and reviewed by federal officials in 1947.
The Myrtle Creek record does not explain what Hatfield and Ellison saw. Instead, it documents how federal investigators recorded and followed up on "flying disc" reports during the summer of 1947, when similar reports were drawing public and government attention across the country.
For Myrtle Creek and Douglas County, the memo provides a notable local connection to one of the earliest waves of federal UFO-related investigations. It places the community inside a larger archive of historical UAP records now being released for public review.
[Reproduction of the FBI document, as in [fbi2]]
Source links:
Federal UAP archive:
https://www.war.gov/ufo/
Roseburg-area PDF record:
https://www.war.gov/medialink/ufo/release_1/65_hs1-834228961_62-hq-83894_section_2.pdf
Department of War release announcement:
https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4480582/department-of-war-releases-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-files-in-historic-t/
[Ref. nem1:] "NEWS MEMBERSHIP" WEBSITE:
WASHINGTON − The Pentagon released "never-before-seen" files on unidentified flying objects, and armchair investigators are furiously combing through them for evidence of "smoking gun" information that some believe the government may have been withholding in the 80-plus years it's been investigating reports of such sightings.
[...]
Pilot reports glistening object ‘so near he could fly right into it’
A former Naval pilot who was teaching a student how to fly in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, in 1947 reported seeing a flying disc travel 1,000 miles per hour, according to an FBI memo on the incident.
Ray Virgil Hatfield, a former lieutenant junior grade in the Naval Air Corps, said the spherical object glistened like aluminum and was more than 5,000 feet in the air.
But Hatfield said at one point the disc 30- to 50-feet in diameter was "so near he could fly right into it," according to the FBI memo.
There is no aircraft information in the available documents on the sighting; however, the aircraft was obviously a civilian aircraft, probably a light two-seaters plane such as a Piper Cub.
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Ray Virgil Hatfield was born March 22, 1929, and died on February 6, 2007. According to the FBBI, he served about 3 years in the Atlantic submarine patrol aviation of the U.S. Naval Air Corps during WWII, ranking Lieutenant, junior grade.
I found no independent historical record of Noble Ellison, obviously a civilian piloting student per FBI memo [fbi2].
The sighting is really puzzling to me: there are a few superficial reason to think it may have been nothing more than two weather balloons released in succession.
But I find it hard to believe that the two witnesses would not have considered that possibility. The former Navy aviator, in charge of operations at that airfield, could not have been unaware of what a weather balloon is.
And I cannot for a moment believe that the speed computed at 1000 mph was compatible with that of balloons, whatever uncertainties that estimate may have involved.
Possible extraterrestrial craft.
* = 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 | June 3, 2026 | Creation, [fbi1], [fbi2], [bme1], [lgs1]. [bme2], [gvo1], [fbi3], [fre1], [fbi3], [nip1], [ror1], [nem1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 3, 2026 | First published. |
