FBIUnresolvedAmbiguous
Sky-blue object with flame effect at ~1,000 mph — Twin Falls, Idaho, August 13, 1947
Aug 13, 1947Salmon River canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho
⟳ Deeper read pending. This record is from the FBI 62-HQ-83894 flying-disc file, whose cursive, clippings and faint scans are under-read by automated OCR. It is flagged for a vision-transcription pass and likely undercounts what the source contains — see the documents collection note.
Analysis — our summary
A. Urie and his two sons observed a sky-blue object approximately 20 ft long, 10 ft wide, and 10 ft tall moving down the Salmon River canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho on August 13, 1947. The object was traveling at an estimated 1,000 mph and had visible flames emanating from its sides, accompanied by a loud swishing sound. No official explanation was recorded.
As reported — verbatim from the document
“A. Urie and two sons saw object 'going down Salmon River, 20x10x10 ft, sky blue, flames from sides, approximately 1,000 mph, loud swish.'”
Analyst notes — caveats & confidence
Three family witnesses. Estimated speed of 1,000 mph in 1947 exceeds any known conventional aircraft in civilian context. Flames from sides could indicate conventional propulsion, but no aircraft matching this description and speed existed in 1947. Confidence moderate; no technical measurements.
Provenance
Source document65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_1.pdf
Document typecase file compilation
Reporting agencyFBI
Source pages185
DeclassifiedFirst public at this release (2026)
Held classified~79 years (≥, to this release)
Extraction confidence ModerateHow cleanly this record could be parsed from the source — driven by legibility & redaction. It is not a measure of how credible or anomalous the sighting is.