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.

The Twin Falls saucer hoax was a 1947 flying disc hoax in Twin Falls, Idaho.^[1][2][3] Amid a nation-wide wave of allege "flying disc" sighted, residents of Twin Falls reported recovering a 30-inch "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.^[4]

Twin Falls sightings[]

On June 30, a sighting was reported in the Twin Falls region.^[5] Another sighting was reported on July 4 over Twin Falls.^[6] 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.^[5] On July 7, additional sightings were reported, with one report naming three 14-15 year old boys as witnesses of a lone disc that was "the size of a motor scooter wheel".^[7]

Early stories of recovered discs[]

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.^[8] On July 10, United Press reported on a hoax saucer allegedly recovered in North Hollywood.^[9]

Twin Falls 'disc'[]

On July 11, press reported the recovery of a 30-inch 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.^[10] At 8:20 AM, a next-door neighbor reportedly discovered a "disc" and summoned police.^[11]

Local police arrived and took possession of the object. The matter was referred to both FBI and military intelligence. Multiple officers from Fort Douglas flew in to investigate.^[12][13] Authorities "clamped down a lid of secrecy pending the outcome of further investigation".^[14] Local press featured a piece on Army "cloak and dagger" during the disc investigation, mentioning that photographs of the object were confiscated.^[15]

On July 11, the FBI reported the apparently-mundane object had been turned over to the Army.^[16] On July 12, it was reported nationally that the Twin Falls disc was a hoax. Photos of the object were publicly released. The object was described as containing radio tubes, electric coils, and wires underneath a plexiglass dome. Press reported that four teenagers had confessed to creating the disc.^[17]

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 Grace of press coverage" on the Summer 1947 Flying Disc wave; In the days following the story, "press accounts rapidly fell off".^[18]

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.

Decades later, fringe conspiracy theorists would cite the Twin Falls hoax in connection with both UFO conspiracy theories and JFK Assassination conspiracy theories.^[19][20][21]

References[]