Portland, 1947: o chefe de polícia vê um objeto prateado cruzar a cidade, e outra patrulha não vê nada

FBI PORTLAND 9-13-47 8-08 PM HHS. DIRECTOR URGENT. FLYING DISCS. LEON V. JENKINS, CHIEF OF POLICE, PORTLAND, STATES HE OBSERVED AT ABOUT FIVE FIFTEEN PM ELEVENTH INSTANT, AN OBJECT SIMILAR IN SIZE TO A WEATHER BALLOON, WHICH APPEARED TO BE MADE OF ALUMINUM OR SOME OTHER BRIGHT METAL, TRAVELING RAPIDLY NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST OVER PORTLAND AT AN ESTIMATED TEN THOUSAND FEET. OBJECT VEERED TO SOUTH AND DISAPPEARAD IN THE DISTANCE IN APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE. ALSO OBSERVED BY PATROLMAN H. S. RANEY, DRIVER OF JENKINS CAR, AND POSSIBLY BY OTHER PORTLAND POLICE OFFICERS. SMALL ARTICLE APPEARED IN PORTLAND NEWSPAPER, THE OREGONIAN, CONCERNING THIS ON TWELFTH INSTANT. INVESTIGATION BEING CONDUCTED. BOBBITT. END

TO: DIRECTOR, FBI. FROM: SAC, PORTLAND. DATE: October 9, 1947. SUBJECT: FLYING DISCS, SECURITY MATTER - X. Reference is made to Portland teletype dated September 13, 1947. Records of the Radio Dispatcher, Portland Police Department, reflect that first notice of unidentified objects in flight over the city on September 11, 1947 was received from officers in District 18, which is in the extreme northeast section of the city, at 5:21 P.M. The log further reflects that at 5:23 P.M. the radio requested District 14, which is further south, to attempt to locate and identify the objects and that at 5:24 P.M. a report was received from the car occupied by Chief of Police JENKINS, reporting that they had sighted some objects. District 14 at 5:27 P.M. reported seeing nothing unusual in the sky. ROBERT D. ADAIR, 4325 S.E. Madison Ave., Portland, advised that he was one of the two officers on duty in District 18 on September 11. The car was in the vicinity of N.E. 25th Avenue and Saratoga Court when ADAIR and his fellow officer noticed a number of people looking upward and pointing. Upon looking at the sky ADAIR observed the very bright reflection of the sun on some object which was apparently made of silvery metal. The object was coming from the east and made a wide turn over the city and disappeared to the south. ADAIR estimated its speed at about 150 miles per hour and its altitude at about 5,000 feet. He watched it for a period of about two minutes and during that time it gradually disappeared in such a manner as to appear that the angle was slowly changing, so that the sun was no longer reflected into ADAIR's eyes. He says that the shape appeared to be round but that the glare was so bright that it could have hidden the true outline of the object. There was no oscillation visible - only steady flight. ADAIR believes it was an ordinary metal airplane reflecting light of the afternoon sun. J. R. CALDWELL, 7652 S.E. Lincoln St., Portland, Oregon was ADAIR's partner in District 18 on September 11. CALDWELL states that the object appeared to him to take the same course as that described by ADAIR. He pointed out that the speed, height, and size of the object were difficult to judge, because of the interdependence of the three factors. However, he believes that the object when first sighted was about three miles away and about two miles high. He believes it was traveling at a much greater speed than a conventional airplane and was a great deal larger. It appeared to him to be elliptical in shape, and inasmuch as it did not bank or tip he could not judge its thickness. It was of a very bright silver or aluminum substance.

PD 62-1531. Chief of Police LEON V. JENKINS advised that he was travelling south on N. Williams Avenue near Russell St., when he and Officer H. S. RANEY, his driver, received a call on the police radio requesting District 14 to attempt to observe an unknown object in the sky reported by officers in District 18. JENKINS observed what appeared to be a round silver object, about 10,000 feet high, travelling northeast to southwest. It was directly to JENKIN's left when observed first. He thought it was a weather balloon. Further observation convinced him that it could not be a balloon because of its speed which was extremely great. As JENKINS watched, it turned gradually until it was travelling due south, and as it did so, its shape seemed to change until it appeared to be egg-shaped. It disappeared in about 30 seconds. Patrolman H. S. RANEY stated that when he first observed the object it was straight ahead of him and travelling straight away from his car. RANEY was driving south on N. Williams Avenue. To RANEY it appeared to be just a glare of sun on some object, and he was unable therefore to tell its shape. It appeared to be very high and travelling extremely fast. It was out of sight after he had travelled 4 or 5 city blocks at a speed of about 25 mph. RANEY stated that he has never seen an object at such an extreme height before and that if the sun had not reflected from it he could not have seen it at all. He believes it could possibly have been a reflection from a large airplane at great altitude. ROBERT W. SHAYLOR, 4810 N. Fessenden St., Portland stated that he was on duty in District 14 with Officer DONALD W. COWLING on September 11, 1947 and received the call to watch for the object flying over the city. SHAYLOR and COWLING immediately scanned the sky from a vantage point in open territory where they could see the entire sky. They saw nothing in the sky at that time, SHAYLOR stating that they did not even see any airplanes. A short article in "The Oregonian", Portland daily newspaper, for September 12, 1947, describes the object as seen by Chief of Police JENKINS and also states that "The Oregonian" received several calls from other persons reporting the object. FRED M. WHITE, Assistant City Editor, advised that the paper has no record of the identities of the people making the calls. 62-1531. LHK:tkw