Danforth, IllinoisAugust 1947

Insufficient Data

Summary

In August 1947, a farmer near Danforth, Illinois found a collection of metal and ceramic fragments on his land. He reported that the object had landed in the middle of his field and burned weeds up to 23 feet tall, charring them to ash across a circular area approximately 15 feet in diameter.

The package containing these fragments was forwarded to the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command at Wright Field, Ohio for analysis. Technicians examined the items carefully to determine whether they had any connection to the "Flying Saucer" sightings that were making headlines at the time. The collection included fragments of plaster of paris (a type of molded ceramic) mixed with electrical resistance wire, an outdated magnetic speaker diaphragm manufactured in 1910, old bakelite coil forms wrapped in copper wire, a filter condenser, and parts of a metallic magnetic device. The Air Force Analysis Division concluded that none of these components matched any classified research project in development at their command.

The Air Force's final assessment was straightforward. Investigators determined that the specimens showed signs of crude assembly by someone unfamiliar with engineering or electronics work. The analysts stated that "these specimens are considered as part of a hoax that could be perpetrated by almost anyone seeking publicity or for other reasons." The Air Force recommended that if similar objects were found elsewhere in the country, they could be evaluated using this case as a reference.

The full case file, which runs 6 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Danforth, Illinois

Date of incident

August 1947

State / country

IL / US

Page count

6 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 2

5 : ! PROJECT 10073 RECORD I |. DATE. TiMe GROUP 2. LC ATION B | DR Aug. 1947 \" Danforth, Illinios | 4 { et — EE ——- ln 0 A Sl, Cr CPD © EO AP. A ————\ 11. SOURCE 10, CONCLUSION ‘ | Civilian Hoax i | 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS Ei ww SRE SAR OREN | a £5 | 5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION |11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS ; | . instrument found by a farmer near Danforth, Illinios. He sai : BE | 1t landed in the middle of a section of his farm land and i : |. TYPE OF OBSERVATION burned weeds 2 } feet tall to fine ash an area of 15 fast in ; diametsr around where the objsct dropad, : m fo AR Ra Ihe articles contained in the instrumsnt was analyzed and | 7. COURSE it was found that no connaction can bs mads betwsen these i : SR. and the so-called "Flying saucer," Thess spacimens, “hea : TR RL ER AN AP Do ARTE 1ersafore. , ars considersd as part of a hoax that could bas EE 4, PHOTOS perpairated by almost anyons seeking publicity or for othar | ‘ | I'easons : | JH TS i 1 “22 Ne | 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE | { | 3) Yous a " oe . ’ 2 | {0 Ne O86 Case File Ses Case Fille | : FORM | “TO sep 63 0-329 (TDE) Previous sditlony of his [orm may be used, £ $ ¥ 2 & Le x § i | A "4