Parma, MichiganMay 1949

On May 31, 1949, a farmer found two metal discs stuck in the ground of his cornfield near Parma, Michigan. One disc had purple plastic clinging to it. The discs were about nine inches across and appeared to have been driven into the soil with considerable force. The farmer reported his find to the local newspaper, the Jackson Citizen Patriot, which sent a reporter to investigate.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations took the matter seriously enough to dispatch an agent to interview witnesses and examine the evidence. Investigators also tracked down a second, smaller disc that had been turned in to the newspaper by an unknown farm boy from Michigan Center. Meanwhile, other witnesses in the area reported seeing unusual objects in the sky in late April and late May. One man said he watched six silver discs rotating in a wide circle over Homer, Michigan, on April 28. Another woman reported seeing a single polished aluminum object about 12 feet across tilted at intervals on April 24.

On June 9, 1949, investigators in Detroit made a breakthrough. Newspaper staff discovered that the metal discs found in the cornfield and turned over to the Air Force were old radio transcription discs (a type of record) from the Jackson radio station. After radio stations finished making transcriptions on these discs, they threw them away. Local children collected the junked discs and sold them as scrap metal. The plastic covering on both sides of the discs was consistent with their original purpose. The investigation concluded the objects were not evidence of unusual aerial phenomena.

The full case file of 17 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.