Frank Ryman photograph, Seattle
4 July 1947 · Seattle, Washington
Summary
Coast Guardsman Frank Ryman, 27, reported that he photographed a "white saucer" from the front porch of his home in the Lake City area of Seattle on the evening of 4 July 1947, according to a 5 July 1947 Oregon Journal clipping in the FBI file. The United Press account said he gave the picture to authorities who hoped it would clear up the saucer mystery, and that he said what he saw was neither an airplane, a cloud nor a "silver balloon."
The Department of War incident summaries recorded the case as Incident #11. The check-list gave the time as evening, the number of objects as one, the time in sight as 10 minutes and the direction as over the north end of Lake Washington. It described the color as "white" and the shape as saucer or ball shaped, and listed one news photograph. The narrative page said the photograph showed a tiny light spot against the dark evening sky, taken when the disc was directly overhead. It said Ryman and his wife watched it for about 10 minutes, and that she thought it was a shiny ball at great height. A second copy, DOW-UAP-D087, carries the same incident number and date, but the transcription renders the observer as Bruce Ryan and the place as Iowa City, with several fields illegible.
Press accounts in the FBI file described the picture itself. The Associated Press report said it showed a pinhead-size light spot against the dark evening sky. The Oregon Journal said Acme News Pictures in New York reported that a 7x9 inch print showed two tiny dots, one of which was a flaw in the print.
The same clippings placed the report among many others that day, including a United Air Lines crew near Boise and police and residents in Portland. The Oregon Journal recorded that Al P. Sanford thought the objects seen in the Portland area were cottonwood blossoms, and that Burl Nollsch called the reports a hoax and said the objects looked like bits of aluminum foil. Neither opinion referred to Ryman's photograph.
Where the files disagree
Two documents give different accounts of the same detail. Both are quoted as written; we don't say which is right.
Name and place of the observer
What the files say
“The results of Ryman's photographic effort showed a tiny light spot against the dark background of the evening sky.”
Page 28 →“He and his wife watched it for about 10 minutes as it seemed to speed across the sky.”
Page 28 →“Acme News Pictures, New York City, said a 7x9 inch print of the photograph showed two tiny dots, one of which was a flaw in the print.”
Page 178 →“The photograph showed a pinhead-size light spot against the dark evening sky.”
Page 122 →“He said what he saw was neither an airplane, a cloud nor a "silver balloon."”
Page 124 →
Also discussed in
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- Acme News Pictures reported that a 7x9 inch print of the Ryman photograph showed two tiny dots, one of which was a flaw in the print. — FBI UFO case file section 1: flying disc records (1947-1968), page 178
- Al P. Sanford of Portland gave his opinion that the objects reported there were cottonwood blossoms; this concerned Portland reports, not Ryman's photograph. — FBI UFO case file section 1: flying disc records (1947-1968), page 178
- Burl Nollsch of Portland called the reports a hoax and said the objects looked like aluminum foil or cigarette wrappers; this concerned Portland reports, not Ryman's photograph. — FBI UFO case file section 1: flying disc records (1947-1968), page 178