United Press
July 8, 1947
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NOTE |
On June 25, 1947, Kenneth Arnold launched the modern UFO era when he claimed to see objects flying like skipped discs in Washington State. On July 8, 1947, R. Dewitt Miller (1910-1958) a pulp magazine science fiction writer and a writer on Fortean phenomena (particularly the supernatural), speculated on what the discs might be. He brought into the discussion interdimensional beings for the first time, a topic that later came to dominate the field. He did so by applying Theosophical ideas about beings from alternate dimension versions of the planets (referenced obliquely below), thus setting up ufology to incorporate Theosophy for decades to come. This version of the article appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal on July 8, but versions under varying headlines ran in many papers over the succeeding days. The article appears here because as best I can tell the UP copyright was not renewed as required by law, nor did Miller register a copyright in his own name as would then have been required by law.
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Those Things in Sky Seen 150 Years Ago
EDITOR’S NOTE: R. Dewitt Miller, one the world’s foremost authorities on psychic phenomena and author of “Forgotten Mysteries,” has spent 15 years accumulating authenticated case histories on inexplicable happenings. In the following dispatch, Miller shows that the mysterious appearance of objects in the sky dates back 150 years.
By R. Dewitt Miller
(Written for the United Press)
LOS ANGELES—There have been thousands of reliable reports during the last 150 years of strange things seen in the sky. There are at least 100 cases in which the queer objects were said to have a “disc-like” form.
Never have reports of strange sky phenomena been so widespread and so uniform as the “Flying Saucers.”
Saw ‘Em in 1870
On Mar. 22, 1870, a flat, light-colored disc was observed by the ship, “Lady of the Lake,” then in mid-Atlantic between South America and Africa. The disc appeared to be of large size and seemed intelligently controlled.
A report of it was made in the Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society and a sketch included. The sketch is strikingly similar to sketches made by observers of the flying saucers.
Other discs were seen in north Wales Aug. 26, 1894, in India in 1839, and in Norway Nov. 3, 1886.
It seems to me the three most likely explanations -- and at this point only guesses -- are:
ONE. The army and navy are experimenting with a new weapon. Although they have denied it, there is much in favor of this explanation.
TWO. The discs actually are from Mars or somewhere outside the earth. The fact that similar objects were seen before the invention of aircraft strengthens this explanation. There has been increasing evidence of life on some other planets. If they are Martians, I would like to meet one.
THREE. They are things out of other dimensions of time and space. Certain thinkers in abstract science long have held that some other dimensional being conceivably could enter our world.
Something Very Queer
Although many reports of the saucers are undoubtedly untrue or distorted, there is plenty of evidence that something very queer is going on.
This is not the first time strange things have occurred. But the previous ones have been “forgotten.” Many weird things have crossed the skies of this earth.
(Written for the United Press)
LOS ANGELES—There have been thousands of reliable reports during the last 150 years of strange things seen in the sky. There are at least 100 cases in which the queer objects were said to have a “disc-like” form.
Never have reports of strange sky phenomena been so widespread and so uniform as the “Flying Saucers.”
Saw ‘Em in 1870
On Mar. 22, 1870, a flat, light-colored disc was observed by the ship, “Lady of the Lake,” then in mid-Atlantic between South America and Africa. The disc appeared to be of large size and seemed intelligently controlled.
A report of it was made in the Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society and a sketch included. The sketch is strikingly similar to sketches made by observers of the flying saucers.
Other discs were seen in north Wales Aug. 26, 1894, in India in 1839, and in Norway Nov. 3, 1886.
It seems to me the three most likely explanations -- and at this point only guesses -- are:
ONE. The army and navy are experimenting with a new weapon. Although they have denied it, there is much in favor of this explanation.
TWO. The discs actually are from Mars or somewhere outside the earth. The fact that similar objects were seen before the invention of aircraft strengthens this explanation. There has been increasing evidence of life on some other planets. If they are Martians, I would like to meet one.
THREE. They are things out of other dimensions of time and space. Certain thinkers in abstract science long have held that some other dimensional being conceivably could enter our world.
Something Very Queer
Although many reports of the saucers are undoubtedly untrue or distorted, there is plenty of evidence that something very queer is going on.
This is not the first time strange things have occurred. But the previous ones have been “forgotten.” Many weird things have crossed the skies of this earth.
