The 1947 flying disc craze was a rash of unidentified flying object reports in the United States that were publicized in the summer of 1947. The craze began on June 24, when media nationwide reported civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold’s story of witnessing disc-shaped objects which headline writers dubbed “Flying Saucers”. Such reports quickly spread throughout the United States; historians would later chronicle at least 800 “copycat” reports in subsequent weeks, while other sources estimate the reports may have numbered in the thousands. On July 5, 1947, rancher W.W. “Mac” Brazel drove out from his remote ranch into the nearest town, Corona, New Mexico. As the ranch had no phone and no radio, Brazel was unaware of the flying saucer craze of the prior ten days. That Saturday night, Brazel connected the news reports with debris he’d found three weeks earlier. The debris – tinfoil, rubber, and thin wooden beams – had been scattered across a square mile of his ranch, and Brazel had pushed it all under some brush. Brazel returned to his ranch, and, on Sunday, July 6, gathered up his prior find. On Monday, July 7, he took it in to the sheriff’s office in Roswell. The sheriff called Roswell Army Air Field, which assigned the matter to Major Jesse Marcel. Brazel took Marcel back to the debris site, and the two gathered up more pieces of rubber and tinfoil. Marcel took the material home on Monday night. That same day, July 7, 1947, corresponded to the peak of the flying saucer reports. On Tuesday morning, July 8, Marcel took the material to his base commander, Colonel William Blanchard. Blanchard reported the finding to General Roger Ramey at Fort Worth Army Air Field (FWAAF). General Ramey ordered the material flown to FWAAF immediately. Marcel boarded a B-29 Superfortress and made the flight to FWAAF. On July 8, 1947, RAAF public information officer Walter Haut issued a press release stating that personnel from the field’s 509th Operations Group had recovered a “flying disc”, which had landed on a ranch near Roswell. “The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher’s home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters.” On July 9, Brazel told the Roswell Daily Record that the debris consisted of “large area of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks.” On July 9, Marcel explained: “[We] spent a couple of hours Monday afternoon [July 7] looking for any more parts of the weather device”, said Marcel. “We found a few more patches of tinfoil and rubber.” After the initial newspaper reports of 1947, the Roswell incident faded from public attention for more than 30 years. Interest reemerged in the late 1970s. The Roswell incident was featured in films, TV shows, and books. Amid increasingly complex conspiracy theories, multiple hoaxes and legends about “alien bodies” were incorporated into the Roswell mythos. The trend culminated in 1995’s purported footage of an “Alien Autopsy”, which filmmakers later revealed to be a hoax (though they preferred the term “reconstruction”).
First Appearance UFO sighting/incident — June 24, 1947
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Article: “Flying Disc Found; In Army Possession” in The Bakersfield Californian (July 8, 1947), “New Mexico Rancher’s ‘Flying Disk’ Proves to Be Weather Balloon-Kite” in Fort Worth Star-Telegram (July 9, 1947), “Harassed Rancher who Located ‘Saucer’ Sorry He Told about It” in Roswell Daily Record (July 9, 1947), “Report on the UFO Wave of 1947” by Ted Bloecher (April 29, 1967). Podcast: Astonishing Legends: Episode 186-187 Alien Autopsy.
Description The 1947 flying disc craze was a rash of unidentified flying object reports in the United States that were publicized in the summer of 1947. The craze began on June 24, when media nationwide reported civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold’s story of witnessing disc-shaped objects which headline writers dubbed “Flying Saucers”. Such reports quickly spread throughout the United States; historians would later chronicle at least 800 “copycat” reports in subsequent weeks, while other sources estimate the reports may have numbered in the thousands. On July 5, 1947, rancher W.W. “Mac” Brazel drove out from his remote ranch into the nearest town, Corona, New Mexico. As the ranch had no phone and no radio, Brazel was unaware of the flying saucer craze of the prior ten days. That Saturday night, Brazel connected the news reports with debris he’d found three weeks earlier. The debris – tinfoil, rubber, and thin wooden beams – had been scattered across a square mile of his ranch, and Brazel had pushed it all under some brush. Brazel returned to his ranch, and, on Sunday, July 6, gathered up his prior find. On Monday, July 7, he took it in to the sheriff’s office in Roswell. The sheriff called Roswell Army Air Field, which assigned the matter to Major Jesse Marcel. Brazel took Marcel back to the debris site, and the two gathered up more pieces of rubber and tinfoil. Marcel took the material home on Monday night. That same day, July 7, 1947, corresponded to the peak of the flying saucer reports. On Tuesday morning, July 8, Marcel took the material to his base commander, Colonel William Blanchard. Blanchard reported the finding to General Roger Ramey at Fort Worth Army Air Field (FWAAF). General Ramey ordered the material flown to FWAAF immediately. Marcel boarded a B-29 Superfortress and made the flight to FWAAF. On July 8, 1947, RAAF public information officer Walter Haut issued a press release stating that personnel from the field’s 509th Operations Group had recovered a “flying disc”, which had landed on a ranch near Roswell. “The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher’s home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters.” On July 9, Brazel told the Roswell Daily Record that the debris consisted of “large area of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks.” On July 9, Marcel explained: “[We] spent a couple of hours Monday afternoon [July 7] looking for any more parts of the weather device”, said Marcel. “We found a few more patches of tinfoil and rubber.” After the initial newspaper reports of 1947, the Roswell incident faded from public attention for more than 30 years. Interest reemerged in the late 1970s. The Roswell incident was featured in films, TV shows, and books. Amid increasingly complex conspiracy theories, multiple hoaxes and legends about “alien bodies” were incorporated into the Roswell mythos. The trend culminated in 1995’s purported footage of an “Alien Autopsy”, which filmmakers later revealed to be a hoax (though they preferred the term “reconstruction”).
