1965 - One of the Largest UFO Flaps in History

Thousands of reports rolled in across the central plains over a three day period from July 31, 1965 through August 2, 1965. Some reports claim that the flap lasted for longer and extended beyond the 7 main states where sightings were taking place. What prompted such a concentrated amount of sightings in the region back in the 60s?

7 States, 3 Nights, Thousands of Reports

The end of July into the beginning of August of 1965 saw the beginning of a massive flap over the central plains where thousands of unexplained sightings were reported within a matter only a few days. This 3 day period represents one of the highest concentrations of UFO sightings in recent history, but has largely failed to capture public attention like some of the more publicized single encounters. The reports kicked off on the night of July 31st, when officer Lewis Sikes of the Wynnewood Police Department spotted a strange blue green object with a rotating center just Northeast of his location. Nearby Tinker Air Force Base and Carswell Air Force Base in Texas both acquired a radar signal from the object at 8,000 feet just 15 Miles Southwest of Tinker and tracked it to a position 29 miles South of Tinker before losing signal. The sightings were just kicking off and the first night had already produced impressive response having been logged by both law enforcement and 2 separate military bases.

The following night on August, 1st, there was a steady stream of sightings pouring in from around central Oklahoma. By around 9 PM, Oklahoma Highway Patrol had received over 20 calls about a multicolored object seen in the Western sky. It was performing incredible maneuvers and heading in the direction of Oklahoma City. Citizens began congregating at the Police Tower on the north side of town, hoping to get a glimpse. At this time, Tinker Air Force base began tracking 4 unknown objects on their radar, flying at an altitude of 22,000 feet and traveling at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. By 10 PM a report came in about a man and wife who witnessed a 30 foot long domed object flying at approximately 8,000 feet heading toward the Southwest. By 11 PM, another object is spotted over El Reno, located west of Oklahoma City. It was flying in an Easterly heading and was witnessed by the group who has gathered at the police tower which included 6 Highway Patrolmen and the Director of the International UFO Bureau. They described the object as a white light with a green glow and flashing red, white, and blue lights. By Midnight, Officer Joel Cobb and Officer Chuck Jones, both of the Edmond Police Department, also had separate sightings of unexplained lights in the sky over the area.

An hour and a half later, an object is spotted over Tulsa, Oklahoma located about 100 miles northeast of the city, and this time, there is photographic evidence. Project Blue Book investigated this sighting under Case Number 9966. Despite the thousands of witnesses dispersed across 7 different states that night including Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming, only the Tulsa sighting is known to have produced any photographic evidence of the encounters over Oklahoma. Despite all of the confirmation from Air Force, Law Enforcement, and hundreds, if not thousands of everyday citizens, that objects were being seen across the region, the Air Force Official in charge of investigating the Alan Smith photo still concluded that it was an “Explained” case.

The next day, the Associated Press released an article highlighting the sightings it read in part:

"Most of the flying objects reported seen in Oklahoma were over the central section of the state. Reports of similar sightings came from police in New Mexico and Texas. Police in Hobbs, N.M., near the Texas border, said a round, white object with an orange tail was seen there, moving west. A police dispatcher at Carlsbad, N.M., about 69 miles west of Hobbs, said she saw a similar object, and Artesia City, N.M., police, 36 miles northwest of Carlsbad, received four reports of a bright red trail passing overhead to the northeast. Police at Amarillo, Borger and Dalhart, Tex., received hundreds of telephone calls from persons who said they saw flashes in the sky. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it received 25 to 30 reports of sightings, many by police officers and patrol troopers. The flying objects were reported over Purcell, Norman, Chandler, Shawnee and Meeker areas, all in central Oklahoma. Descriptions of the flying objects varied. Some reports said the objects were reddish in color, others said they were white or blue. One report from Shawnee said four of the objects appeared to be flying in a diamond shaped formation. A Liberal, Kan., man reported to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol headquarters in Guymon, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, that he saw what looked like a large comet shooting across the sky over the area of Forgan, east of Guymon. Melton Smith of Bartlesville in north central Oklahoma saw what he first thought was a burning plane about to crash near Bartlesville. No trace of a plane crash could be found in the area and Smith said later it could have been either a plane or a large meteor. "

There were also multiple reports coming out of Ardmore, OK the same night. The objects threw off a greenish metallic glow while emitting red, white and blue lights. They appeared to be saucer, or cone shaped and spun like a top. Ardmore Police Department reported that ham radio operators had been watching them for hours. The objects were reported to zip around the sky, and at times line up horizontally, dipping as low as tree top level. The objects were seen in the nearby towns of Lake Murray Lodge, near Dickson, Springer, Durant, Marietta, Madill and Kingston. The Ardmore Highway Patrol reported that a jet and helicopter were sent up from Perrin Air Force Base in Sherman, Tex., but they did not receive a report to confirm that the crafts had intercepted the UFO. Air Force officials from Sherman, Fort Worth and Wichita Falls reported that they had been unable to pick up the objects with radar although Tinker had been able to track 4 of them.

During the chaos of the night, reports of the mysterious objects were also coming in from Ent Air Force Base in Colorado, where 5 military members and 1 civilian reported seeing multiple bright silver objects flying approximately 9 miles apart. They slowly started moving closer to each other until only 4 miles was seen between them. Each object was observed for periods of time up to 30 minutes, but the sightings were dismissed by the Air Force as being stars.

Sometime during the night of August 1st, a TWA 707 was flying over the area of Topeka Kansas, when they started picking up multiple targets on their Air Intercept Radar. The pilot, co-pilot, and engineer tracked 12-15 objects on their 20 miles scope as they flew directly towards them in formation. The crew watched as they passed directly by the targets, but were not able to visibly see the objects responsible for the radar returns.

An investigation was launched by Blue Book to get to the bottom of the outbreak of sightings taking place over the course of July 31st through August 2nd. In the end, they concluded that the majority of sightings could be attributed to misidentifications of stars of the planet Jupiter. I think anyone would be hard pressed to describe the planet Jupiter as appearing to be multiple objects at once, or flying at 22,000 feet, or able to be tracked on radar.

In the same vein, Robert Risser, the director of the Oklahoma Science Arts Foundation Planetarium weighed in on the Air Force findings. His analysis showed that Jupiter wasn’t even visible from Oklahoma City during the time of the sightings, although meteors could account for at least some of the reports. He states: “That is as far from the truth as you can get…These stars and planets are on the opposite side of the earth from Oklahoma City at this time of year.…The Air Force must have had its star finder upside-down during August.”

Tulsa Photograph Evaluated
Page 6

During the August 1965 "flap" throughout the central United States, more people saw UFOs than in any month in recorded history. Radio and television programs were interrupted by announcements that strange objects were passing overhead and young and old alike rushed outside to see what appeared to be bright lights in the sky but which, when photographed or viewed through bi-noculars, seemed to be domed structures circled by lights of varying colors.

It was during this rash of sightings that a 15-year- old boy, Alan Smith, photographed a UFO in color as it passed over Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early morning of August 2, 1965. IIOUFO learned of the photograph a few days later. Following a conference between our staff and Mr. Bill Atkinson, publisher of the Oklahoma Journal, the original negative was obtained and a photo analysis made by experts. After intensive investigation, including careful screening of Alan, his family and neighbors who were present when the picture was made, it was agreed unanimously that the photo was genuine. It was run in full color on the front page of the Journal on October 5. The following month it was carried in color on the front cover of the Interplanetary Intelligence report. From there it was picked up by the Indianapolis Tribune. A full report of our investigations along with the photo was furnished to LIFE Magazine where the photo was published in the UFO Special April 1, 1966. On April 23, 1966, MATCH, the best known pictorial magazine of France, published the photograph with a comprehensive article

A copy negative and our report was forwarded to Project Blue Book on November 5, 1965, for Air Force evaluation. The photograph and report were returned with the following comments in part: "The pictures which you forwarded are quite interesting. However as you know, analyses of copies are meaningless. The original negatives depict so much more that is not visible on enlargements or copies of the original. The absence of any reference point or star trails makes it extremely unlikely that the photographs represent an object in flight. This, of course is my personal opinion and is not based on photo analysis techniques!'

Information and photo copies were forwarded to the Eastman Kodak Company. Their acknowledgement in part reads as follows: "It is extremely difficult to come to any definite conclusion on the basis of the print alone without reference to the negative. Obviously, something was photographed and the picture is surprisingly clear and sharp for an exposure probably made with very little preparation'

In advance of the CBS 'anti" UFO Special Report of May 10, 1966, a negative copy and full information was supplied for use on the program. The reply stated: 'Thank you for your courteous interest in sending us the UFO material. We're returning the negative, as you asked. We're sure the subject has not been exhausted and hope there will be some more in the future!'

Since we believe that there should be free exchange of information between UFO organizations, a print and report were supplied to NICAP Washington Their reply dated December 16, 1966 read: "Many thanks for your letter of December 11, and especially for the print of the color picture, which we had been unable to obtain from the Oklahoma Journal. We are forwarding it to our photoanalyst for interpretation. Unfortunately, the lack of detailed background data make it quite unlikely
that he will be able to come to any conclusion!'

On May 6, 1966 the following was received from NICAP: "As for the Alan Smith photo, it is NICAP's opinion that it is of dubious value. Considering the amateurish equipment, we find it hard to believe that such a clear photograph could be taken at night in the manner reported!'

Following the March 1966 sightings the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing on April 5 during which high-ranking Air Force officials admitted sightings that they could not explain away. It was agreed that a team of civilian scientists would be named to study the 'unknowns!' Chairman Mendell Rivers, of the Armed Services Committee, urged Secretary of the Air Force to obtain the "alleged UFO photographs (which appeared in Life Magazine) for analysis.' Without the help of the Committee it is likely that no evaluation of the Tulsa photograph would have been made public, or if so, it probably would have been explained away as a half grapefruit mounted on a steering wheel, or a "funny hat" such as children wear at birthday parties.

Under Congressional pressure, the original negative of Alan Smith's photograph was evaluated by the Air Force. A copy of that evaluation is enclosed with this issue of IIR. (MT currently attempting to locate this)

After identifying all UFO photographs as frauds. fakes or natural objects, insulting observers and denying the existence of unidentified flying objects for 20 years, it is refreshing to note that the Air Force admits that Alan photographed an "object" and not a glowing ball of marsh gas.

Thank you, Chairman Rivers, for your help

The Interplanetary Intelligence Report was produced by Hewes' office operating under the name of the Interplanetary Intelligence of Unidentified Flying Objects. The May - June, and July - August 1966 issues (pictured above) highlights his investigation of the Tulsa Boy Scout Photo. The following is the transcript from that article.