9 out of 10 People in U.S. Have Heard of 'Flying Saucers'

[jingofever]

When asked what they believe the "Saucers" are, they replied in the following percentages:

33% - No answer, don't know
29% - Imagination, optical illusion, mirage, etc.
15% - U.S. Secret weapon, atomic bomb project, etc.
10% - Hoax
03% - Weather forecasting devices
02% - Searchlights on airplanes
01% - Russian secret weapon
09% - Other explanations

They add up to 102% because people were allowed to answer more than once. The "other explanations" included comets or meteors, a Biblical signal of armageddon, something to do with radio waves, and a new product by the "DuPont people." Notably absent is the extraterrestrial hypothesis which is because this survey was taken in August of 1947 (which isn't to say the idea was not floated). In contrast to the ninety percent who were familiar with flying saucers, the article points out that only half knew what the Marshall Plan was and sixty one percent knew the Taft-Hartley bill.

The article was published on August 14th (and written by George Gallup!), so not even two months had passed since "flying saucers" had entered the public's lexicon. And when I was looking through the early newspaper articles about flying saucers I noticed something funny. At first they would report accounts of sightings and the opinion of scientists and various government and military officials, then the articles turn into stories about hoaxes and how flying saucers have worn out their welcome, then flying saucers are either a joke or an advertising gimmick. And all of this takes place within a week. Fascinating.

I also came across an article from July 6th that has VFW commander Louis E. Starr alleging a government cover-up. Not even two weeks after saucers were initially sighted! Fascinating! There is a lot of interesting information in those old articles.

Edit: It seems that as recently as 1949 "photographed" was spelled "photografed!"

[jingofever]

Just checking the old articles again, seems nobody (at least in the mainstream media) really considered that flying saucers could have come from outer space until an article published in True Magazine claimed to have inside information alleging just that. This article coincided with the Air Force announcing that flying saucers were a myth, around late December 1949. By a few years later space aliens seems to be the dominant theory. Based on some articles I have seen, True Magazine may have got their inside information from a Navy officer at White Sands, Robert McLaughlin. I only say that because in an article from Februrary the next year we learn that he believes in ET and said so to True Magazine. And I'm not saying that he is disinfo. Any UFO buffs know if my chronology is correct?

[Sepka]

Have you seen Project 1947? http://www.project1947.com/

[jingofever]

I had not seen it, thanks for pointing it out.

[jingofever]

I was reading about the foo fighters on the Project 1947 site and was reminded of some articles I saw. They said that the phenomenon wasn't only limited to late 1944, early 1945, that is, they weren't a Nazi secret weapon to turn the tide of the war; foo fighters were seen in other theaters and at other times. The articles I thought of concerned "orange globes" pestering fighters over Korea. In one of the articles it is noted that there were similar lights in WWII but those turned out to be St. Elmo's Fire. It wasn't always St. Elmo's Fire:

The defense against bombers was by use of planes which American fighters called "Foo fighters." These were tiny jet-propelled craft which were "buttoned" to the base of steel poles and shot vertically into the air at the tremendous speed of rockets. Pilots inside guided the planes at 550 miles an hour, intercepting bomber formations with sprays of rocket shells fired from the noses of the craft.

After the pilot had used his two minutes of fuel, he pulled a lever and was catapulted out to float to safety by parachute. Simultaneously, the tail of the plane dropped off, releasing another parachute which brought the craft gently to earth where the Germans could salvage the jet units.

That is from August 1945. From an account earlier that year a naive calculation put a foo fighter in the air for at least four and a half minutes, but that is a minor point. The official explanation alters the reported behavior and appearance of the foo fighters.