July 8, 1947 — Muroc AFB [now Edwards AFB], CA
9:30 a.m.–9:20 p.m. Four separate UFO sightings take place at Muroc Army Airfield [now Edwards AFB] in southern California, the Air Force’s aircraft testing and development center. Ruppelt says these are the first sightings “that really made the Air Force take a deep interest in UFOs.” At 9:30 a.m., 1st Lt. Joseph C. McHenry and three others see two silver discs heading silently in a westerly direction at about 350–400 mph at about 8,000 feet; after they pass, a third disc is seen to the north flying in tight circles. At 11:50 a.m., Maj. Richard R. Shoop, Col. S. A. Gilkey, and Capt. John P. Stapp are sitting in an observation truck at Rogers Dry Lake and see an oval, white, aluminum-like object silently descending from 20,000 feet for about 90 seconds; it has two knobs or thick fins on the top. Around 4:00 p.m., a pilot flying an F-51 some 40 miles south of Muroc sees a “flat object of a light-reflecting nature”; it is flying too high for him to climb up to it. At 9:20 p.m., spherical objects are again seen in the area, this time at 8,000 feet and moving against the wind at 300 mph. [Eberhart]
SIGN Incident 4 (9:30AM Paul Strapp):
SIGN Incident 1 and 1c (9:30 and 9:45AM):
SIGN Incident 2 and 2a (Noon, Richard Shoop / Col. Gilkey / Capt. Black):
SIGN Incident 1d and 1e (10:00AM):
Sources:
Weird Science-Fantasy #4 (1993), Reprint from Weird Science-Fantasy (EC, 1954 series) #26 (December 1954);
Ted Bloecher, Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, Case 712,717,727,755, pp. III-4-5, 12;
Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknowns Catalogue, Case 33-35, pp. 22–23;
“The Lost Words of Edward Ruppelt,” IUR 20, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1995): 14–15;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed., pp. 783–784;
Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 4th Ed., pp. 482, 865;
NICAP, “Observers Sight Saucer over Base”;
NICAP, “Object Observed by Four Witnesses in Observation”;
NICAP, “Object Descends to Ground Level, Rises”;
NICAP, “Flat Object with Fin Observed by F-51 Pilot”;
Affidavit, Joseph C. McHenry to Thomas A. McMillan, July 11, 1947;
Affidavit, Richard R. Shoop to Thomas A. McMillan, July 11, 1947;
Affidavit, Jannette Marie Scott to Thomas A. McMillan, July 14, 1947;
Affidavit, John Paul Stapp to Thomas A. McMillan, August 12, 1947;
Patrick Gross, “The Muroc Army Air Field Incidents”