FROM "THE OREGONIAN" - Thursday, July 3 1947

PILOT RECALLS SEEING DISCS.

Dick Rankin Tells off Odd Aircraft:

More reports of "flying flapjacks" turned up wednesday, one from no less than Dick Rankin, brother of the late Tex Rankin, and himself an experienced pilot of more than (1or7)000 hours flying time.

Rankin, who is recovering from an old back injury received in an automobile accident, came to Portland over the weekend to spend the summer. He saw the 'silver saucers' over Bakersfield, Cal., June 23, while lying on the lawn sun bathing, he told the Oregonian.

"I hesitated to say much about them," Rankin said, "Until I noticed all the hullaballoo in the papers. I puzzled over their strange shape for a while and finally concluded that they were the Navy's new XFSU-1 flying flapjacks, which are thin and round, with twin propellers and stubby tail.

Only ONE XFSU-1 BUILT

The navy and manufacturer have announced officially that only one such machine was built and that it never left Connecticut.

"These planes were flying high, maybe 9000 feet and fairly fast, about 300 or 400 miles an hour. I first counted ten of them in formation, going north. About 2:15 P.M. they returned on the reverse course, headed south, but there were only seven in the formation.

"They were not weaving or bobbing in formation. I couldn't make out the number or location of their propellers and couldn't distinguish any wings or tail. They appeared almost round. They looked like pictures of the navy's flying flapjack," Rankin said.

Rankin, who plans on spending the summer here at *34 N.E. Simpson St. is now able to resume a littly flying for fun, but not commercially, he said. He now operates a string of auto courts, spending his winters in Palm Springs.

TWO DESCRIPTIONS CHECK.

Rankin's description of the mysterious aerial objects agree with that of Kenneth Arnold, Boise Idaho, business man, who first reported them over the State of Washington, except that Arnold clocked them at a estimated 1200 miles an hour.

Other reports came Wednesday, from Astoria.Jack Hayes, patient in St. Mary's hospital there, said he saw two of the discs Monday flying south west at a rapid speed and that they vanished behind the hills.

Mrs. Earl Reade, Fort Stevens, said she saw a disc traveling north over Fort Stevens Tuesday noon, and that other observers saw the same objects.

The army at Fort Stevens and the coast guard at nearpy Point Adams did not see the discs.

The report of a Centralia, Wash, man Wednesday coincided in matterial time with the original report made by Arnold. Sidney B. Gallagher of Centralia said he saw nine aluminum-hued objects flying north at 3 P.M June 24. He was working 11 miles southwest of Mineral Wash., at the time.

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Washington I realized that the articles that I saw were probably the same thing. I was still reluctant to mention this to anyone thinking that they would probably say that I was crazy. After sometime I mentioned the incident to the ******** the "Oregonian" a Portland, Oregon newspaper, at this time I was in Portland for the remainder of the *****. The results of the ********tion with the ***** of the paper is put forth in the accompanying newspaper article.

I fully realize that this is a broad statement in view of the fact that there has been so much publicity ******** put forth in various newspapers of the country. I am of sound mind in every aspect and I am finaly convinced that the articles I saw are actualy some sort of flying machines although I cannot say from where they came or to where they were going. I say what I have said with no idea of publicity or personal gain.

(Page 2)

Sources --
---------- http://foia.fbi.gov/ufo/ufo1.pdf (Page 1 & 2)