65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_SUB_A Sub-file A enclosures to FBI HQ 62-HQ-83894 — includes Knoxville file 65-11 photographs of reputed flying saucers seen over Oak Ridge, TN in July 1947 with a Knoxville News-Sentinel clipping (Mr. Presley photo), references to Kenneth Arnold, and other 1947-era enclosures and clippings collected as exhibits to the main HQ UFO file.
Per the official war.gov summary, the 62-HQ-83894 file is partially posted on the FBI Vault UFO collection with more redactions and missing pages; the 2026 release contains the same case file with newly declassified pages and fewer redactions. The famous 1947 Oak Ridge saucer photographs and Knoxville News-Sentinel clipping have circulated in UFO literature for decades.
Declassification authority derived
from FBI Automatic Declassification
MANNRNNNN
Guide, issued May 24, 2007.
.S. Department of Justice
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Schmidf, 48, an ex-Nebras-
a Californja
%g in dealer; was question¢d
kgn and now
0 Saucers
Trace Fouridj; 2 | b Air Force investigatdys
frhm the Continental Air De- |
fénse Command. Oil fouhd|
Inear the alleged landing spot
lof the space ship was identi-
A.F. Checks Schmidt 5| fied as ordinary but will be
Kearney Amused ttested by the “University of
Nebraska.
Tales of flying saucers and While the Schmidt tale was
|other such"%i’tr‘dfi g0t giving Kearney a sensational|
most of|
!an unofficial raspberry conversation piece,
Wednesday night ‘from an the talk was of a skeptical
|Air Force official. | variety:
| A top official of the Air | Newsmen Busy
{Technical Intelligence Cen- “Everybody downtown
ter at Wright-Patterson Air | seems to think it’s a big joke,”
Force Base in Ohio told the | one business man said.
Payton Journal-Herald his in- A Kearney, clothier put up
vestigators have found no
a sign advertising “space ship
|evidence in the past 10 years specials.” A window sign in
that flying saucers are real. a car agency announced:
He said 5700 reported “Space Ships Tuned Up.”
sightings wete investigated The Kearney car-rental
| between 1947 and 1957. Not operator reported business
a single landing impression,| was so good all of his cars
footprint, saucer or little | were in use. They were being
green man was found. rented by visiting newsmen.
. Investigation Goes On Presence of the newsmen
Wwis nearly the only sign that
Neb.,
tory of ' arfything unusual had hgp-|
isit with D ngg — or may have hgp:
aftes
] crew of a space ship near the 4
city Tuesday was still under
investigation, officials said.
Thb
pace—Ship S
World-Herald's News Service:
Kearney, Neb.—A grain
Huyer who said he saw a
space ship Tuesday in a
| field near here and chatted
amicably with its six occu-
pants had more pleasant
dealings with the visitors
from outer space than with
skeptical authorities.
The sensational report
by R. 0. Schmidt, about 50,
of Bakersfield, Cal., which
topped a host of reports
across the nation Tuesday
of seeing mysterious flying
objects, had these conse-
quences:
—State Penitentiary rec-
ords showed a 'man of”the
same name served a term
for embezzlement from —World-Herald. News Service Photo.
Scotts Bluff County in the Schmidt (left) and Kearney Police Chief Nelson . . . In
1930's. Scotts Bluffs Coun- “heart-to-heart” talk. RLD-HERALD
ty Sheriff Steve Warrick
spid he talked to Schmidt SIDE VIEW NEBRASKA
bly phone and was convinced OUTSIDE
“saw nothing.” WALL STREET EDITION
—He turned down a
chance to take a lie-
detector test.”
—Schmidt was kept up e
most of the night for
questioning. He finally
\
asked for an attorney.
Ward Minor of Kearney
was named.
LENGTH: APPROX. 100 FEET
./
\
—Wednesday forenoon
he went to the scene of the FLOOR PLAN
space ship’s landi with INSIDE
investigators from tlie Con-
tinental Air Defense Com-
mand at Colorado Springs,
Colo., Kearney Police Chief
Thurston Nelson and Buf-
falo County Attorney
Kenneth Gotobed. They
said Schmidt's story “ap-
peared to be weakening.”
—Oil drippings on the
ground from the space
machine were being ana- The Schmidtnik . , . As described by the grain buyer.
Iyzed at Kearney State
College. Inves tigators light when, white-faced and turn around. Near the OED
said the “mysterious shaken, he appeared in Platte River he saw what 99 105
green oil” closely resem- Kearney Tuesday and asked appeared to be a wrecked
bled that in a! partially- to see a minister. Taken to balloon. As he neared i
emptied can of commer- police, he told this story: Schmidt said, his car en
cial auto oil found in the Tuesday he inspected a gine conked out.
ck of Schmidt's ca{r and g field of milo about two Schmidt said he got ou
miles south and a mile east.
: ar '\;he site of the “land-
arly-empty can foun and walked toward the ma- '
of Kearney. When ready to chine. Proximity revealed
leave he drove down a side
: %chmidt‘s story came to road seeking a place to
it to be a translucent, ¢i-
‘Spoke German’
gar - shaped device abou | The ship occupants
one hundred feet long, 3 talked among themselves in|
{det wide and about 14 fee |Hjgh German, which]
gh. Schmidt said that Sdhmidt says he under
when he was 25 or 30 feef stands to a limited extent.
way, two men got out Ode man spoke excellent
and waved what looked | English and interpreted for
like a flashlight. the others,
| “Icouldn’t move. I don’t Schmidt said the inter-
know whether I was just preter told him repeatedly
afraid or what, but it was he had nothing to fear. The
like being paralyzed,” he visitors refused to answer
said. any questions but said he
‘In Business Suits” - would “find out all about |
Schmidt said the men, (it in a couple of weeks.”
- When repairs were com-
dressed in business suits,
searched him for weapons pleted, Schmidt said he was
ESkw to leave but was told
then remarked that as long
e would be unable to start
as they" were going to be |
his car until the machine
there for some time “you
had disappeared,
might as well come in and
see things for a few min?v i ‘Disappeared’ |
| utes” v ~ Outside the machine,
+ Schmidt said, he turned to
Inside the machine were
two other men and two - watch as the fans started
in motion without a sound.
women working on wires
and instruments. The de- He said the machine lifted
vice had a fan at each end. ‘:hmét ?ingfehund\‘ed or two
| By a strange coixlcidenca ~ hundre
and z:limpl:'e.armi{I
et into air
one of the crewmen*“jooked b
“It jll:st ihlended intd.
|exactly like” a hotel ac-
quaintance with whom he it
| has been watching televi-
| si ?
Command was keeping watch ported objects may_be some-
—=50 tarwith no results—and, thing from znolher?fifiii h‘
{ i i | “Assuming they are real,” he
thas enecialytusinediny cel o e e
tigators had been assigned toweapons made on earth or
look into the reports. |are “interplanetary.” Any na-
For several years the Air|tion with the secret, he added,
Force has checked all reports|Would by now have abandoned
of unidentified flying objects,|conventional aireraft or mis-
Investigators work under the| siles.
Air Defense Command at Col-{ Cosmic Energy
orado Springs, Colo,, and re-:
port to the Air Technical In- “It looks as though they are
telligence Center. interplanetary,” Keyhoe said.
He said one source of pow-
Judging from past findings, er
for such reported objects
the chances are 50-1 the Air| could
be cosmic ray energy.
Force will offer a humdrum| Some of the citizens, peace
explanation for the current officers and seryicemen who
sightings. reported sighting mystery ob-
- During thefirst half of this jects
in the Southwest since
year, the Air Force said, only| the weeken
d said the objects
1.9 per cent of the 250 report-| stalled
aufo engines and
ed sightings of flying saucers| caused
radios to fade.
and other fantastic aerial ob.| James Stokes, an engineer
jects have wound up in the at the Air
Force missile de-
“unknown” category. velopment center at Alama-
Air Force Skeptical gordo. N. M., reported 10 autos
were stalled Monday on a des-
And the Air Force said firm.| ert highway between Alama-
ly—though not all flying ‘sa ordo and the White Sands
|cer buffs may agree—that it (N. M.) Proving Grounds.
|doesn’t believe even the 1.9 He reported seeing a sound-
per cent residue is made upl|less, “brilliant colored egg-
of the things you read aboutlshaped object” which flitted
in science fiction magazines. |erratically across the country-
Balloons, aircraft and such!side and left a sort of heat
astronomical sights as meteor-\wave, “like radiation from a
ites axnd hrighth sta}:s a}gcount giant sun lamp,” in its wake.
—~at least to the Air Force's ‘
official satisfaction —for al. |DeVice Sought
Associated Press
PATREREOIALCAE
four-fifths J! G. Kirby of Dallas made
€ SIEht ear for the Nationsl Inven-f
of thy .| Leonard Hardlund, chief en-
ings. this photo of a diamond
The director of a private o tors Council in Washington,, shaped object flying
ganization set up to invesfSaid a device that could stall
i
tigate yii g saucers and sucly/auto
flyin | s or of ther mechanical through the sky while he
and his family were driving
said e couldn’t evaluate af SAUIPMERt was one of the
this point the current rash ofjthings the armed forces would near Amarillo, Tex., in
reported sightings. llike to see developed. August, 1956. The photo |
But retired Marine Maj,| But Hardlund said he knew was turned over to the FBI
4
Donald I, Keyhoe, director of no research in this country
of o B, FECIRCh 1 ,
V1S country and has just been released
the National InveAstigalHons Ry 7 after intensive study. The
Committee on Actial Phe| TM1l toon.a
ge gffs repor Air Force described the
nemena added, that the e/ caing a
mysterious objpectu;g glow &5 ~Tadiation vapon.”
the sky over Annapolis, Md.,
last week.
Tean Hunt, 13, and Sylvia
Fowler, 15, said they saw
an eggshaped object which
glowed like a neon light. They
spotted it while trick-or-treat-|
ing with Jean's two younger
sisters on Halloween night in
Primrose Acres, a housing de-
velopment on the outskirts
of
Annapolis.
Jean said the girls became
/frightened and ran home but
no one would helieve their
story until weckend newspa-
per accounts told of @ mystery
| loheet siohto i, Texast:
DEQTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE .
Office of Public Information
Washington 25, D, C.
U. S. Alr Force Summary of EQents and Information
Concerning the Unidentifiled Flying Object Program
The Air Force feels a‘'very definite obligation to identify and
analyze things that happen in ‘the air that ‘may have in them menace to
the United States and, because of that feeling of obligation and pur-
sult of that interest, the Air Force established an activity known as
the Unidentified Flying Object Program,
" i
This program was established in 1947 when unidentified flying
objects were being reported in various parts of the United States,
The reports of.sightings reached a peak of 1,700 in 1952 and dropped
to a total of 429 in 1953, During the first nine months of 1954 only
254 sightings were reported.
From a survey of the volume of sightings received by the Air
Force, it.has been determined that over ‘80 percent are explainablé as
beling known objects, Generally, sighted objects fall into the cate-
gory of:. balloons, aircraft, astronomical bodies, atmospheric reflec-
tions, and birds, Al reports of unidentified flying objects result
from either radar or visual sightings.
Explanations pertaining to sightings réported from military and
civilian radar facilities are as follows:
1. Temperature inversion reflections can give a return on a
radar scope that is‘as sharp
as that received from an aircraft,
Speeds of these returns reportedly range from zero to fantastic rates,
The "objects" also appear to move in all directions. Such sightings
have resulted in many fruitless dntercept efforts.
To possibly bear out the theory of temperature inversion
reflection is an.incident which occurred in January 1951
near Oakridge,
Tennessee.. Two Alr Force aircraft attempted to intercept an unldenti-
fled "object" and actually established a radar "lock" on the object,
Their altitude at the time was 7,000 feet, The unidentified object,
according to their radar, appeared to be at an elevation of 10 to 25
degrees from this altitude. Three passes were made in an attempt to
close on the object, In each instance the pilots repoqted that. theipr
radar led them flrst upward and then down toward a spécifie point on
the ground. (One scientific theory holds that light can be similarly
reflected from a layer of warm air above the earth, If thigs proves
to be correct, many visual night sightings could be accoun
ted forg )
2, Tonized clouds have caused Some unidentified radap
returns
Thunderstorms are ldentifiable by radar ‘and radar
returns have
been received from ice formations in the air, balloons, ground also‘
reflec-
tions, frequency interference between other radar stations, ang widds
born objects, Obviously, such returns are very difficyis éO’identify
especlally when they occur during darkness, 2
4 MORE
ENCLOSIRE
Sio) L e radar‘reen has; picked up birds ! in one case a .
-
B
flock of ducks, Flight interceptions proved these phenomena.
An explanation o6f known typeslof visual sightings are as.
follows: Y i
1. Present-day jet alrcraft, flying at great speeds and high
altitudes, are often mistaken for, unknown obJjects by the untrained
observer., Sunlight reflections from the polished surfaces of air-
craft can be seen plainly even when the aircraft itself is too dis-
tant to be visible, .The exhaust:
of jet aireraft emits.a trail and
often this 1s seen rather than the alrcraft itself,:
2, Weather balloons account for a substantial number of sight-
ings. These balloons, sent to altitudes of 40,000 feet.and higher,
are launched from virtually every airfield in the country, They are
made of rubber or polyethylene, swell as:they gain altitude, have
very good reflective qualities, carry small lights when.launched
after dark, and can be seen at very high altltudes,
3. 1In additilon to the ordinary weather balloon, huge 90-foot
balloons, which sometimes drift from coast to coast, .are used for
upper alr research, These balloons also have a highly reflective
surface and are visible at extreme altitudes. &
4, Frequently, unusually bright meteors and planets will cause
a flurry of reports, sometimes from relatively experlenced observers,
At certain times of the¢ year, Venus, for instance, is low on the
horizon and will appear to change color and move erratically due to
hazy atmospheric conditions. Since the stars are charted and most
of thelr characteristics known, many cases are traced to
them,
Meteors on the
other hand are of rapid single-direction movement and
are only visible for a few seconds, Meteor activity 1s more common
at certain times of the year than others, and reports of UFO's have
shown a tendency to increase during these periods. i
5. Some cases arise which, on the basis of information receivegd *
are of a welrd and peculiar nature, The objects display erratic
movements .and phenomenal speeds, Since maneuvers and speeds of this
kind cannot be traced directly to aircraft, balloons, or known astro-
nomical sources, 1t;is belleved that they are reflections from ob-
Jects rather than being objects themselves, For examples suppose
we would hold a mirror in hand under a light, causing a reflecti
on
on the ceiling, . Only a slight, quick movement of the hand would
result in erratic movements and phenomenal speeds of the reflected
beam. Reflections may be projected to clouds and haze bath from the
ground and air, Many things which are common to the sky have highly
reflective qualities, such as balloons, alrcraft, and
clouds, Accu-
rate speeds are also difficult to determine due to the inabili
ty
of the reporter to jJudge distance, angles, and time,
6, Brilliant ‘flashing Tights that sometimes appear red and
white in color have been reported by observers, This type has been
traced to a new lighting system of commercial airlines and
military
aircraft, Atop the tall section of these ailrcraft highly reflective
red and white flasher type lights have been installed and
are many
times misinterpreted by the ground observer.
-2- MORE
have been
+ established from experl®nce and trends to measure #hd attempt to
determine the source of UFO's., Some of these are general in nature
Yand are subject to change as new sclentific and factual information
is received. It should be remembered that any object viewed from a
great distance appears to be round. Nearly all the sightings reported
are described as round and would tend to indicate that most of the
objects are at a greater:-distance from the observer .than is generally
estimated, 4
Another misconception centers about photographs of unidentified
flying objects, At best the majority of photographs have proven
non-conclusive as evidence to this program mainly due to type cameras
used. Also, it might be mentioned that because still photographs .can
be so easily faked, either by using a mock-up or model against a
legitimate background, or by retouching the negative, they are worth-
less as evidence, Innumerable objects, from ashtrays to wash basins,
have been photographed while sailing through the air, Many such
photos have been publighed without revealing the true identity of the
objects.
More attention i1s given to moving pictures of unidentified fly-
ing objects since they are more difficult to retouch, However, only
a very few movie-type films have been receilved by the Alr Force and
they reveal only pinpoints of light moving across the sky. The Air
Force has been unable to identify the source of these lights because
the images are too small to analyze properly. Since ownership of
these films remains with the persons taking them, the Alr Force is
now in a position to give them out.
The difficulty of evaluating reports of all types is based
largely upon the lack of basic data surrounding the sightings, The
drop in sightings during 1953 is largely due to the increased accuracy
and the completeness of reports being received, To be of value, a
report should include such basic data as size, shape, composition,
speed, altitude, direction, and the maneuver pattern of the objects,
Without such information, i1t is almost impossible to establish the
identity of the object sighted. In addition, a recent study has shown
a direct correlation between the number of sightings reported and the
publicity given to "saucers" by the nation's press.
The Alr Force took a further step in early 1953 by procuring
Videon cameras for the purpose of photographing this phenomena, These
cameras were distributed to various military installations, This type
camera has two lenses, one of which takes an ordinary photograph, and
the other has a diffraction grating which separates light into its
component parts, This ailds in determining the composition of the ob-
Ject photographed, A small number of photographs have been receilved
from this camera; however, only light spots of no detail have been
indicated in the photos to date, As more photographs are taken by
these observers, 1t is believed that a great deal of the mystery
will
be lifted from the program,
The Alr Force would like to state that no evidence has been
received which would tend to indicate that the United States is belng
observed by machines from outer space or a foreign govern
ment, No
object or particle of an unknown substance has been receive
d and
-3~ MORE
no photographs of detail have been produced, . The bhotographs on
hand are, at best, only large and small blobs of light which, in
mest cases, are explalnable, b .
It may be concluded from the above and from past experience that
no new significant trends have developed out of these cases, _There
was an increase in public interest which occurred simultaneously with
the publication of varilous books and articles on the subject; however,
this trend has been noted several times previously.
In _order to overcome the lack of basic data, and to standardize
all reports, a detailed questionnaire 1S now submitted to each person
reporting-an unldentified aerial object. It 1s felt that the infor-
mation thus obtained will lower still -more the number of unexplained
sightings. . f
;
;
For observers who wish to report unidentified aerial objects,
the Alr Force would welcome the information., Attached to this report
is a brief basic summary form, It would be appreciated if observers
would send the completed form to the nearest Air Force Base,
If and when new developments turn up in this program, the Air
Force will keep the public informed.
TIME OF SIGHTING:
SHAPE:
COMPOSITION:
SPEED:
ALTITUDE:
DIRECTION OF TRAVEL:
MANEUVER PATTERN:
COLOR:
SOUND
LENGTH OF TIME OBSERVED:
SKY CONDITIONS:
VISIBILITY:
GROUND DIRECTION OF WIND:
NAME, AGE, MAILING ADDRESS OF OBSERVER:
REMARKS: (General descelption of what you saw--use back if necessary)
NEV\Q %ANT ON
IND! 4 'ELYIN AUCERS
By FORSAITH REES smd there are two types
Flying Saucer built to-day—
HERE is the “real truth” one with a diameter of 48ft.
about Flying Sacers, powered by five jets and a
as' told by Georg#Klein, larger model with a diameter
former secret weapons ex- of 126ft. and 12 jets.
This, he says, accounts for
Fe" in the German War the rumour that Saucers often
‘Production Ministry, and appear to change size sud-
now 'an engineer in denly.
Switzerland. Raised wing flaps lift both
airoraft like a helicopter. The
“Flying Saucers,” he says,
big one can keep stationary by
are top secret weapons of the
turning jets down to counter-
SA and Russia.
balance gravity.
“They are a continuation of
8 Flyénnga}Icg
erman wartime experi-
anada by Jo
fients.
“Prototype Flying Saucers
colleague of Sir Frank Whitle,
have “reached speeds upf to
were built in Germany during
1,500 mph ang have been fin-
the war. I saw one reach a
height of 40,000 feet in three |’ spected by eld-Marshal-
mmutes. near Prague, in Montgomery, says K.Ie
1945.” G
CEERSRRIE
S B e L
Klein says the Russians
captured a scale model and top
technicians at Breslau, The
technicians have not returned |
to Germany. j 1
|
|
|
|
Saucer developmenf, | |
est and now works il fhe |
|
ited States. |
lein in a Zurich interview. |
&
Are They Hiding Those
'THAT WAS NO AIRPLANE’
Lights Under a Bushel?
Base 22 times in
By EVERT CLARK
Mysterious red lights which have flown over the Quantico Marine
a new type of aircraft
the past six nights were officially explained away today as
navigation light. But most of the Marines who saw them still don’t believe that’s what
they were.
In addition, The News ran
into what seems to be a delib-
erate attempt to cover up cer-
tain facets of the longest con-
tinuous “flying saucer” run in
history.
The first man to see the light
was Pfc. Norman Viets, 18, of
Greenville, Pa. Since’ then, at least
30 other Marines, including half a
dozen officers, have seen it, too.
On one occasion, sentries report-
ed seeing three lights at once. They
say they have seen the lights drop
straight down, fly straight up and
stand still.
Even the most careful—and
skeptical—observer, the base prov-
ost marshal, Maj. D. D. Pomerleau,
admitted the lights had character-
istics he never expected to find on
an airliner.
FIRST SIGHTING
Pfc. Viets was standing sentry
duty at the Tank Park a few miles
north of Camp Barrett on the south-
western side of the Quantico reser-
vation at 9:05 p. m. Dec. 30 when
he “reported a moving, blinking red
Jight near his post which he could
not explain.”
The sergeant of the guard, Sergt.
Francis R. Salinder, “investigated
and saw the light but could not ex-
plain it.”
Pfe. Viets told The News the light
first appeared to come straight
toward him over a line of trees about
200 yards to the south of hishalfpost.
“It was about a foot and a in
diameter,” he said, “only going abou t
30 or 15 miles an hour. t Then it fol-
Jowed the tree line abou 50 yards to
the right and went dow n.
‘It went straight dow n, all of a
sudden. Fifteen min utes I:aler it By
went straight up and moved over
toward the tank shed. [ /) ) /Qe25 Pl “_, S:
LY NEW
DAILY
ere
] gaw it two times after w that,the
the sam e thin g. NO i
ItL ever saw. 9 Z T REC‘OHD\ED 5 Bditio
did est looki ng thing
weird was no engine noise and no JAN 12 1u54
C rbon
ot
shape—just the ligh
t.”
—
Se e
NO SALE
By the time The News talked to
Pfc. Viets at Quantico yesterday,
the airplane navigation light theory
already had been offered. The News
asked Pfc. Viets about it, and he
said:
“That was no airplane. I first
thought it might be a weather
balloon, but it wasn’t. Either way,
you could have seen the shape.”
Pfc. Viets and.Sergt. Salinder saw
the light again at 10:15 the same
night. Five minutes later they called
in the roving guard from a nearby
guard tower, but the light was gone.
CONFLICT Pfc. Bennett (top front) grabbed a butcher knife and said: “It’s land-
First reports had it that troops ing in_the tank shed!” Maj. Pomerleau (middle photo) is skeptical,
‘were' sent into the area to look for but still curious. Pfe. Viets (bottom photo) saw enough to convince
the lights, Yesterday
[…truncated…]