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Twin Falls saucer hoax

On July 12, 1947, the US Army released photos of a hoaxed "flying disc" recovered from Twin Falls. In the wake of the release, flying saucer reports decreased rapidly.
Date	July 11, 1947 (1947-07-11)
Location	Twin Falls, Idaho
Coordinates	42°33′20″N 114°28′15″W / 42.55556°N 114.47083°W / 42.55556; -114.47083
Type	UFO Hoax
Perpetrator	Unnamed teenagers

The Twin Falls saucer hoax was a hoaxed flying disc discovered in Twin Falls, Idaho, United States, on July 11, 1947. Amid a nationwide wave of alleged "flying disc" sightings, residents of Twin Falls reported recovering a 30 in (76 cm) "disc". FBI and Army officials took possession of the disc and quickly proclaimed the object to be a hoax. Press reported that local teenagers admitted to perpetrating the hoax.

Background

On June 24, 1947, civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reported a sighting of 'flying discs'. By June 27, disc sightings were being reported nation-wide.

On July 1, Twin Falls Times-News declared that "flying saucers have invaded" the Twin Falls region after a forest ranger and his companion reported seeing eight to ten "discs" flying in a V-shaped formation over Galena Summit. The two men were marking timber about three miles south of Galena Summit when they reportedly heard a buzzing noise overhead and saw shining objects above themselves. One of the witnesses, Walter Nicholson, was quoted as saying "it wasn't anything like an airplane".

The following day, on July 2, press reported on a second sighting. Mr and Mrs. J. F. Meuser were reportedly driving near Malta, Idaho, when they spotted a lone "big ball of fire" about the size of the moon, only "much brighter".

A third sighting was reported on July 3; railway foreman B.G. Tiffany contacted the Times-News with a story of him and his crew having seen a fleet of nine discs noiselessly flying in a V-shaped formation over Hollister, Idaho, a month prior. Two additional sightings were reported on July 4. Twin Falls resident R.L. Dempsey reported seeing two discs over the city. Three residents of Richfield, Idaho, reported having seen a single disc.

On July 5, a group of 60 picnickers reportedly witnessed 35 discs in the skies over Twin Falls, making it the "largest number of the mystery devices reported anywhere in the nation" according to local press. On July 7, additional sightings were reported, with one report naming three 14- to 15-year-old boys as witnesses of a lone disc that was "the size of a motor scooter wheel".

1947 flying disc craze
Headline from July 6, 1947
Events
Kenneth Arnold Flight 105 Roswell Rhodes photographs Twin Falls hoax Maury Island hoax

The Twin Falls disc was not the first story of a recovered disc. On July 8, it was reported that Army personnel at Roswell had recovered a 'flying disc'; the following day, it was reported that the Roswell debris was an ordinary weather balloon. On July 10, United Press reported on a hoax saucer allegedly recovered in North Hollywood.

Twin Falls 'disc'

On July 11, the press reported the recovery of a 30-inch (76 cm) disc from the yard of a Twin Falls home. Residents reported hearing a "thud" around 2:30 am but dismissed the noise as a truck. At 8:20 am, a next-door neighbor reportedly discovered a "disc" and contacted police.

Local police arrived and took possession of the object. The matter was referred to both FBI and military intelligence. Multiple officers from Fort Douglas (two lieutenant colonels, two first lieutenants, and a civilian) flew in to investigate. Authorities "clamped down a lid of secrecy pending the outcome of further investigation". Local press featured a piece on Army "cloak and dagger" during the disc investigation, mentioning that photographs of the object were confiscated.

That same day, the FBI Special Agent In Charge Banister reported the object had been turned over to the Army. On July 12, it was reported nationally that the Twin Falls disc was a hoax. Press reported that four teenagers had confessed to creating the disc. Photos of the object were then publicly released.

Description

The object was described as containing radio tubes, electric coils, and wires underneath a Plexiglas dome. According to Deseret News:

"The disc is described as being thirty inches in diameter and resembling the base of an old-fashioned chandelier. It has a dome-like bubble, made of plexiglass, on one side and steel dome-like bubble on the other. Inside the plastic dome are three silver painted radio tubes with wires attached to what appears to be an electro-magnetic coil on the outside."

The Independent Record further described it, stating: "The object measured 301⁄2 inches in diameter with a metal dome on one side and a plastic dome about 14 inches high on the opposite side, anchored in place by what appeared to be stove bolts. The gadget is gold painted on one side and silver (either stainless steel, aluminum, or tin) on the other. It appeared to have been turned out by machine."

Reception and influence

The Twin Falls hoax, with its nationally published image showing a bemused army officer holding a disc-like object of mundane construction, has been called the "coup de grâce of press coverage" on the 1947 flying disc craze. In the days following the story, "press accounts rapidly fell off".

The Twin Falls hoax was not the last recovered saucer hoax. On July 28, 1947, just weeks after the Twin Falls hoax, there were reports of recovered disc debris at Maury Island, Washington. In 1949, another 'crashed disc' story circulated as part of the Aztec, New Mexico UFO hoax.

In the late 1960s, Guy Banister, the FBI official who had overseen both the Twin Falls and Maury Island cases, was posthumously accused of involvement in the JFK assassination by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, as dramatized in the 1991 film JFK. Fringe conspiracy theorists including Kenn Thomas, Nick Redfern, and Peter Lavenda would cite the two cases in connection with both UFO conspiracy theories and JFK assassination conspiracy theories.

References

1. "Speedy "Flying Saucers" Now Being Reported Throughout United States". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. June 27, 1947. p. 1.
2. ^ "'Flying Discs' Reported Soaring Over Galena in Wavering 'V' Formation". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 1, 1947. p. 1.
3. "Solo Disc Reported at Malta". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 2, 1947. p. 1.
4. "More Discs Reports as U.S. Opens Probe". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 3, 1947. p. 1.
5. "'Flying Discs' Seen Over City, Richfield". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 4, 1947. p. 1.
6. "'Flying Saucers' Seen by 16 More Residents of Area". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 7, 1947. p. 1.
7. "'Weather Balloon,' Says AAF of New Mexico's 'Saucer'". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 9, 1947. p. 1.
8. "'Jokers' Have Great Fun on 'Flying Discs'". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 10, 1947. p. 1.
9. Jacobson, David J. (November 24, 1948). "The Affairs of Dame Rumor". Rinehart – via Google Books.
10. Bloecher, Ted (November 24, 1967). "Report on the UFO Wave of 1947" – via Google Books.
11. Weeks, Andy (March 30, 2015). Forgotten Tales of Idaho. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625852465 – via Google Books.
12. "'Disc' Found In Yard Here Causes 'Stir'". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 11, 1947. p. 2.
13. Randle, Kevin D. (May 20, 2010). Crash: When UFOs Fall From the Sky: A History of Famous Incidents, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups. Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN 9781601637369 – via Google Books.
14. "4 'Ambitious' Youths Given 'Disc' Credit". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 13, 1947. p. 2.
15. "Attention Focuses On City as 'Disc' Is Found in Yard". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 11, 1947. p. 1.
16. "The 'Disc' Investigation". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. July 15, 1947. p. 4.
17. ^ "Flying Disc Reported Found in Idaho; Now in Army Hands". The Independent-Record. July 11, 1947. p. 1. FBI Agent W.G. Banister said an object which appeared to be a 'flying disc' was found early today at Twin Falls, Idaho, and was turned over to federal authorities. Banister, special agent in charge of the FBI in Montana and Idaho, said the bureau had reported the discover to the army at Fort Douglas, Utah.
18. ^ "Twin Falls Falling Disc Proves Ingenious Hoax Of 4 Teen-age Boys". Deseret News. July 12, 1947. p. 9.
19. Wright, Susan (August 15, 1998). UFO Headquarters: Investigations On Current Extraterrestrial Activity In Area 51. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9780312207816 – via Google Books.
20. "Army Will Explain Crash of Plane Carrying Saucer". The Neosho Daily News. Neosho, Missouri. August 5, 1947. p. 4. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
21. Shaw, Herbert A. (September 8, 1950). "New Book Revives Flying Saucer Controversy: Attacks A.F. Role". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. p. 31. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
22. "FBI's real-life "X-Files" documents strange connection between UFOs and the JFK assassination". MuckRock. December 5, 2016. At the time, the FBI's Special Agent in Charge (SAC) for Butte, Montana was one Guy Banister. He was dead by the time of the Clay Shaw trial, but that didn't stop suspicion from falling on him. According to Jim Garrison's files on Crisman, both he and Banister were connected to Sergio Aracha Smith, a leader of a CIA backed anti-Castro group that Banister apparently helped supply with arms. These twists of high weirdness surrounding the JFK Assassination are so high and so weird, that H.P. Albarelli to dedicated a book to it.
23. Kenn Thomas (May 31, 2011). JFK and UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island. Feral House. ISBN 978-1-936239-06-1.
24. Nick Redfern (August 2013). Final Events and the Secret Government Group on Demonic UFOs and the Afterlife. Anomalist Books. ISBN 978-1-938398-11-7.
25. Sinister Forces - The Nine: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft (Sinister Forces) (2005) ISBN 978-0-975290-62-0

• 1947 hoaxes
• July 1947 events in the United States
• UFO crashes
• UFO hoaxes
• Hoaxes in the United States
• 1947 in Idaho
• 1947 flying disc craze
• Twin Falls, Idaho