FBI's 1947 Flying Disc Investigation Begins The declassified FBI file
Airlines pilot at Boise Municipal Airport in Idaho, conducted in the wake of his statements to national press services that he had seen nine objects maneuvering over the Cascade Mountain Range in Washington on 26 June. The pilot, described as a reserved individual with roughly two thousand hours of flying time, recounted observing an object perform a slow roll or barrel roll before disappearing from view—a maneuver that defied conventional aircraft performance. His account was deemed credible by the interviewer, who noted that the pilot had more to lose than gain by exposing himself to public ridicule.
The file also preserves the testimony of an Air Corps sergeant who, on 8 July 1947, sighted three objects traveling northeast, two light gray and the rear one rolling, for a duration of about four seconds. These two cases, drawn from different branches of military and civilian aviation, illustrate the spectrum of witnesses…