Black River Falls, WisconsinJuly 1947

Unidentified

Summary

On July 4, 1947, residents of Black River Falls, Wisconsin found a disk-shaped object in the local fairgrounds. The object measured about 10 inches in diameter and 7 inches thick. It was silver-colored and reportedly contained a motor, propeller, shaft, and some radio cells. A local resident named Schaeffer put the disk on display and charged admission to view it.

Word of the discovery quickly reached the U.S. Army Air Forces. On July 14, 1947, an officer from the Second Air Force traveled from Milwaukee to Black River Falls to inspect the object. After examining it, the officer concluded it was a hoax and returned to Milwaukee.

The Air Force's official evaluation, recorded by the Air Defense Command at Mitchel Field, New York, classified the object as a "hoax" and stated that it "should not be dignified by any further consideration from any Intelligence agency, nor should any further government funds be spent in its transportation." The case file includes photographs of the object, though the poor quality of the OCR scans makes it difficult to read many of the details in the written reports. The disk itself was held at a local bank in Black River Falls pending further disposition.

The complete case file, comprising 12 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Black River Falls, Wisconsin

Date of incident

July 1947

State / country

WI / US

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 2

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 12

View transcribed text

- o-
PROJECT 10073 RECORD
| 11. DATE IME GROUP a TATION
“9 Bass IW) ‘ Tal I ra 951 4 r Recras Balle [12 anvAR 23
| | July 4 ( 11 / OL D4 Black aiver Falls ys W13CONsSin
E LOURCE 10. CONCLUSION {
|
C3213 ay Oh ay (H AY) ]
: wi1ViL1AaIlM wv LILCA \ ] AX) {
E MR ge {
} 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS {
: i
- i
{ Une | The I'Bl investicated the object and evaluated it as a hoaz |
PY FOS Ghali Guinan nites sant asad cuts” eT i :
{ LENGTH OF CBSERVATION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND AMALYSIS {
i \Y [7 mm | vos ad . T°: £4) —_—— Bs 3 aa coil and = a
{ 1/2, LI1®™ Of m2rver pnoned the if h Al ye ONicazo, alld S tated an {
es ————————————————— — HR. Bgl Ad i Png lf {
Want s A nas ol p sr + - 1 ¢ . RT, : | ns rrr ! o~ |
- po. e ( 1 =F, 1934 ) ~ 117¢ ’ \ { { J ALLE n\n |
Is. TYPE OF OBSERVATION J ' 1 8- LF Su 6 J ¢ SE ound LI a BAS RO, § ALA LGd JA Usa d Oe !
A lying disk which was 10 in in diameter, 7 in in thickness,
: -
i AZ INOUDNL eV o Wed lL OilLV EAL yiored, la ie we 3 Ly WOO | LEI J P ana nodnovead \ ]
Pg SE SA 3 | ator nroarnellor. shaft vara l and some radio e-11
! 7. COURSE LL Was a motor pri lior, snaft cro ind some radil 2118.)
| H ve of { . | SE 8 | SV LP Ls? RET PR 2 - :
! | vo. 1 APES fp ound i Liias NS 19 ‘Ah V i : a SLIE \QELLSS |
nn aA sa the ahiaat
'S Ah ACA ’ A AS J - J 0 i
! ~ TE — ee - p— - - - om - H
18. PHOTOS |
| [|
: fos | !
{
|
| | - 5 i
i Re cae {
19. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
i | |
| |
| ZA Yes Not in Fils i
| |
tn | . :
- - Et a tea a ED ER —
FORM
Gg ) » 63 Je. 9 { D =) fravious «ditions of this form may de used,

/ 12

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28929741