Oak Ridge photographs by William Presley

W. R. Presley photographed what was described as a flying saucer at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in July 1947. A Knoxville News-Sentinel item from July 1947 said he had photographed his family and his house at 218 Illinois Avenue and snapped the last film on the roll as a picture of the mountain. The FBI Knoxville office later recorded that the public generally regarded the newspaper story as a possible trick.

On January 10, 1949, SAC Knoxville sent the Director two photographs and a clipping. The information came from George Rathman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Colonel C. D. Gasser of the Air Material Command. According to Rathman, Presley saw a vapor trail, photographed it, then saw a ball of fire and used his last film on it. Rathman said he recovered twenty-four copies at Gasser's request. Rathman examined the negatives and gave his opinion that the photographs were authentic. The memo said that no active investigation was made on the Bureau's instructions.

Gasser told the FBI he was not speaking officially. He said air force intelligence believed such objects were man-made missiles, and he suggested atomic propulsion and Russian experimentation as possibilities. He said he saw no connection between the objects and Oak Ridge.

A later memo, dated February 18, 1949, reversed the assessment. Gasser's letter of February 10 relayed an evaluation from the Technical Intelligence Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. It said a drop of warm water or developer struck the film and rolled across two negatives. It added that the trail matched across the two negatives and that the negatives had unevenly developed sections. Gasser recommended declassification. SAC Knoxville wrote that the photographs were the result of accident or purposeful hoax. Gasser said his statements on flying saucers still stood.