Spokane, Washington, USA, on July 8, 1947:
ACUFO-1947-07-08-SPOKANE-1
In an article about the "flying discs" seen at the time, the newspaper The Spokane Daily Chronicle, in the State of Washington, for July 10, 1947, reported that a young Dishman war veteran and student pilot said he had spotted a flying disk from his airplane and had shot away at it with a camera.
The student pilot was James Davidson, a Spokane naval supply depot employee, and he said he sighted the object while flying at about 500 feet altitude in the Mt. Spokane district "one afternoon this week".
He is quoted saying:
"It was not flying fast. It appeared to be about the size of a wagon wheel. The side of the disk which was exposed to the sun was shiny. It looked like it had a hole in the center."
Davidson also said he took three pictures of the disk with a small camera, but the negatives, however, "did not reproduce well".
He said that he did not "believe in the flying disks at first," but he do now.
| Date: | July 6, 7 or 8, 1947 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Afternoon. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | July 10, 1947 |
| Reporting delay: | 2 to 4 days. |
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Washington |
| City or place: | Mount Spokane |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Reporting channel: | The Press. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Sunny afternoon. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes. |
| UFO action: | Flew, not fast. |
| Witnesses action: | Observed, attempts photo. |
| Photographs: | Yes, failed. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Flying disc. |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1.
[ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [X] Photo: Attempted in vain. [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | Unarmed. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 2 |
| ACUFO: | Insufficient information. |
[Ref. sdc1:] NEWSPAPER "THE SPOKANE DAILY CHRONICLE":
|
The latest of the flying disk stories came today from a St. Maries, Idaho, man who said he observed hundreds of "round objects" in the air three months ago and even exploded two of them with a .22 rifle.
Omer C. Walker said he watched the objects with his wife and son in early April and thought at first they were new army weapons.
"Then when the sky became full of the objects, I took my rifle and fired at some of them," he said.
His explanation: A group of neighbor children, a half mile away, were blowing soap bubbles from a clay pipe.
"The equipment for those bubbles can be purchased in any novelty store. The bubbles are very tough and will carry a great distance," he said. "In the air, they appear to be traveling very fast and could easily create a flying disk illusion."
Meanwhile, a Chewelah rancher, Buell Throop, formerly of Spokane, said he observed a flying saucer north of Chewelah yesterday.
He said the object was traveling south at about 4000 feet but vanished in 30 seconds before he could reach a neighbor's house to call attention to it.
A young Dishman war veteran and student pilot said he had spotted a flying disk from his airplane and had shot away at it with a camera.
The student pilot, James Davidson, a Spokane naval supply depot employee, said he sighted the object while flying at about 500 feet altitude in the Mt. Spokane district one afternoon this week.
"It was not flying fast," he said. "It appeared to be about the size of a wagon wheel. The side of the disk which was exposed to the sun was shiny. It looked like it had a hole in the center."
Davidson said he took three pictures of the disk with a small camera. The negatives, however, did not reproduce well.
"I didn't believe in the flying disks at first," he said. "but I do now."
Three flying disks were reported to have spun over the Sperry flour mill at 6:15 p. m. yesterday, and one appeared to land near the river bank.
Cliff Markham, N1019 Crestline, member of a crew of the Layrite Concrete Products plant, Trent and Erie, said he and other members of the crew sighted the objects. He said they estimated their speed at from 50 to 60 miles an hour. One, he added, appeared to land near the river. Some of the men made a search but could find no evidence a disk had landed.
[Ref. tbr1:] TED BLOECHER:
Ted Bloecher indicated that there was an air-to-air case on July 7 or 8, 1947, near Spokane, Washington, by a young Dishman, Washington, war veteran and student pilot, Spokane Naval Supply Depot employee, James Davidson, who said he had spotted a "flying disc" from his plane as he was flying at a 500-foot altitude in the Mount Spokane area during the afternoon.
Bloecher quotes Davidson:
"It was not flying fast. It appeared to be the size of a wagon wheel. The side of the disc exposed to the sun was shiny. It looked like it had a hole in the center."
Davidson reported that he had tried to take a photograph of the object. The negatives, however, "did not reproduce well." Davidson said he had not believed reports of flying discs at first, "but I do now."
[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 | 47.07.08 |
|---|---|
| TIME | 12:00 |
| COUNTRY | USA |
| PLACE | Spokane, Washington |
| P | |
| TYPE OF PLANE AND WITNESSES | a student pilot |
| UFO DESCRIPTION | a flying disc looking like it had a hole in its center, flying at 500 ft high |
| Radar | |
| G | |
| X | |
| E | |
| SOURCES | 365 |
The source "365" is referenced at the end of the catalog as:
report on the UFO wave of 1947, Ted Bloecher
[Ref. gvo1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1947, July 8
USA, Spokane (Washington)
A student pilot observed at 12:00 a flying saucer flying at an altitude of 500 feet. The disc had what appeared to be an opening in its center. (Project ACUFOE, catalogue 1999, Dominique Weinstein)
[Ref. wia1:] "WIKIPEDIA" (EN):
| Report publish date | Location | Date of claimed sighting | Names | Notes | Bloecher # |
| Jul 10 | Spokane, Washington | Jul 8 | James Davidson (531) | #735 |
The source "531" is described as: "Spokane Daily Chronicle, July 10, 1947".
All we know is that it was "his airplane"; thus a small civilian private airplane.
|
The date is given in [sdc1] as "this week." In the US, the week starts on Sunday and not Monday, so the sighting must have taken place between Sunday, July 6, 1947, and at least 2 days before publication, therefore between July 6, 1947, and July 8, 1947.
The only unusual aspects of the case appears to lie in the witness's interpretation - a "flying disc" - and in the statement that it seemed to have a hole in the middle, which could indicate an influence from the fraudulent Maury Island case.
Insufficient information.
* = 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 | July 4, 2026 | Creation, [sdc1], [tbr1], [dwn1], [gvo1], [wia1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 4, 2026 | First published. |
