1947: Disc Zooms Down Snake River Canyon, Idaho

(Last Updated On: March 19, 2021)

THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: August 13, 1947                      BBU

Sighting Time: 1

Day/Night: Night

Location: Snake River Canyon, Idaho

Urban or Rural: Rural

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc) Metallic or whitish object was seen in the day.

Duration:

No. of Object(s):

Size of Object(s): 20 feet in diameter

Distance to Object(s): 300 feet

Shape of Object(s): Oval

Color of Object(s):

Number of Witnesses: Multiple

Source: Battelle Unknown No. 9

Summary: A farmer and his two sons, were at his fishing camp on August 13, 1947. He noticed an object some 300 feet away, 75 feet above the ground. It was edge hopping, following the contour of the ground, was sky blue, about 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet thick, and had pods on the side from which flames were shooting out. It made a swishing sound.

Full Report

Diagram of UFO from Project Blue Book Special Report 14.

Diagram / drawing of UFO and headline from the newspaper Time News, of Twin Falls, Idaho, USA, on August 15, 1947.

Flying Saucer Reported Flashing Down Canyon At 100 Miles Per Hour – Two Others Seen

Twin Falls Times News
By John Brosnan
August 15th, 1947

Just as Magic Valley and the nation were starting to let go of lampposts after reeling under a weiter of flying saucer reports, two more Twin Falls county men revived speculation on the mystery with vivid descriptions of discs they saw.

From A. C. Urie, who operates the Auger Falls Trout Farm, six miles west of Blue Lakes Ranch to Snake River Canyon, came perhaps the most detailed account of any of the fast flying objects the nation has yet produced.

The flying saucer Urie saw was skimming along through Snake River Canyon at a height of about 75 feet at 1:00 pm Wednesday. At 9:30 am the same day, L. W. Hawkins, Twin Falls county commissioner and former county sheriff, also saw two circular objects soaring along at great speeds near Salmon Dam 40 miles south west of Twin Falls.

Here is Urie’s eye-witness description of the flying discs, seen by him and his son, Keith, 8, and Billy,10:

“I obtained a close-up view of the flying saucer as it passed the trout farm at 1:00pm August 13th going down Snake River Canyon at a height of about 75 feet from the canyon floor. I would estimate the speed about a 100 miles per hour.”

Urie explained that the incident occurred while the two boys were coming across the river from the north side in a boat. He had become concerned about what was delaying them, and walked toward the river to see if they were all right.

“I had a side view of a distance of about 300 feet and almost was level with the thing,” he continued. “Two of my boys, Keith and Billy were below me and they also saw it at about a right angle. They both a lower and a side view, and we and we were staring at it from the north side of the facing toward the north. The boys saw it coming from about a half a mile up the canyon, and we all lost site of it in less then a mile.”

While the the impression was still vivid in their minds, the three all got together and made rough sketches of what they had seen. These in turn were the basis of the artist conception of the strange affair by Vic Goertson of Twin Falls for the Times-News.

“The canyon floor underneath at that particular point was that it rode up and down over the hills and hollows at a speed indicating some type of control faster then the reflexes of man. It is my opinion it is guided by some type of instruments and must be powered by atomic energy, as it made very little noise-just a s-w-i-s-h when it passed by.”

Urie described the size as about 20 feet long by 10 feet high and 10 feet wide, giving it an oblong shape. It might be described as looking at an inverted pie-plate, or broad-brimmed straw hat that been compressed from two sides.

Pressed for his opinion of just what it was, he said he was convinced there was something to this “flying saucer” situation. “I know a number of people who have also seen them, and I know now that they’re not just imagining seeing these things or trying to get their names in the paper.

“I do know that it scared the boys, and made me feel uneasy,” he added.

Tracing down a rumor that county commissioner Hawkins had seen an unusual object in the air on the same day as Urie’s experience, the Times-News called him at his Filer home.

“Yes I did,” he replied without hesitation. “I’ll have to admit, I’ve been skeptical all along until I saw it with my own eyes.I can’t say what it was, but I can say there is something in the air.”

Hawkins related that while at Salmon dam Wednesday morning, a sound resembling that of an echo of a motor caused him to look upward, and there he saw to circular objects that reflected light. They were traveling at a great speed, and higher then most airplanes, according to Hawkins.

Aside from this, he declined to add details, except to say, “there’s something in the air.”

His general description however, corresponded closely to hundreds of persons who reported seeing “flying saucers” after Kenneth Arnold, Boise business man, touched a deluge by telling of coming upon nine disc-like objects while he was flying in his private plane in Washington.

Thereafter the nation became increasingly “flying saucer” conscious creating a state of mind for four teen age Twin Falls boys to cause a mild sensation when they built a model flying disc and tossed in a local yard July 10th. The was subsequently revealed as a hoax, following the investigation by the army and the FBI.

There after the saucer reports tapered off into a few scattered incidents until the question was revived by this weeks occurrences.

Speculation has ranged from mention that the discs could be army navy guided missile experiments, or they could be experiments by some foreign country, to something out of this world.

Whatever they are, a lot of people have seen something.

Farmer and two sons observe UFO with flame-emitting pods

Source: U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book Special Report #14 (Battelle Institute Study), 1955

A farmer and his two sons, aged 8 and 10, were at his fishing camp on August 13, 1947. At about 1300 hours, he went to look for the boys, having sent them to the river for some tape from his boat. He noticed an object some 300 feet away, 75 feet above the ground. He saw it against the background of the canyon wall which was 400 feet high at this point. It was hedge hopping, following the contour of the ground, was sky blue about 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet thick, and had pods on the side from which flames were shooting out. It made a swishing sound. The observer stated that the trees were highly agitated by the craft as it passed over. His two sons also observed the object. No one saw the object for more than a few seconds.

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Entry on this case from Brad Sparks’ “Catalog of 1,500 Project Blue Book Unknowns”:

Aug. 13, 1947. Snake River 6 miles W of Blue Lake Ranch, 9 miles NW of Twin Falls, Idaho. 1 p.m. A. C. Urie on land and 2 sons Billy and Keith 300 ft away in a boat, all on the S side of the river or river bank looking to the N, saw a squeezed or elongated straw-hat shaped sky-blue object about 10 x 10 x 20 feet, with pods on the side emitting flames, about 1/2 mile away fly towards them down the canyon at 1,000 mph E-W at 75 ft height, with a contour following motion up and down over uneven terrain, trees swaying underneath with a circular motion, disappearing with a swish sound. Urie was about 300 ft from the object which was about level with him about 75 ft above the river, and silhouetted against the canyon wall 1,200 ft away, disappearing behind a hill about 1 mile away. Object was at about 45° elevation to the boys on the river below him, disappearing behind trees. (Battelle Unknown No. 9; FOIA; FUFOR Index)