Mission, Texas, USA, on July 7, 1947:
ACUFO-1947-07-07-MISSION-1
The newspaper The Valley Event Monitor, of McAllen, Texas, USA, reported on page 1 for July 7, 1947, that six residents of the area reported they saw "aerial discs."
One of them was Leslie Cannon, 22, a student at the South Texas Flying School at Miller Municipal Airport.
He reported seeing a bright, shining flat object, going southwest, while he was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet two or three miles southeast of Mission at 5:30 p.m. on July 7, 1947.
The newspaper quoted Cannon:
"It was flying very fast and looked as though it was about two or three miles away from me. I couldn't tell what size it was as it was really a reflection."
The newspaper added that Leon Croche, of South Taylor Road, was also reported to have seen the flying disc at the same time and in approximately the same location, and that others people on the ground saw a flying disk at different hours that days in the area.
| Date: | July 7, 1947 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 05:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | July 8, 1947 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 1 day. |
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| State/Department: | Texas |
| City or place: | 2-3 miles southeast of Mission. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 + 1 on ground. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 2 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 2 |
| Reporting channel: | The Press. |
|---|---|
| Visibility conditions: | Day. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| UFO action: | Flew very fast. |
| Witnesses action: | Observed. |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Sensors: |
[X] Visual: 1 + 1 on ground.
[ ] Airborne radar: N/A. [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages: |
|---|---|
| Hynek: | DD |
| Armed / unarmed: | unarmed. |
| Reliability 1-3: | 2 |
| Strangeness 1-3: | 2 |
| ACUFO: | Insufficient information. |
[Ref. vem1:] NEWSPAPER "THE VALLEY EVENT MONITOR":
|
McALLEN - Three McAllen and three Edinburg residents joined the ranks today of those who have seen "flying saucers."
Leslie Cannon, 22, a student at the South Texas Flying School at Miller Municipal Airport, reported seeing a bright, shining flat object while he was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet two or three miles southeast of Mission at 5:30 p.m. Monday. It was going southwest.
"It was flying very fast and looked as though it was about two or three miles away from me. I couldn't tell what size it was as it was really a reflection," Cannon said today.
Leon Croche of South Taylor Road was also reported to have seen the flying disc at the same time and in approximately the same location.
Caesar Fulton, 12, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Fulton, 1120 Laurel Avenue, McAllen, was with a group of two other boys and a man at his home Monday at 7:30 p.m. when he saw what he thinks was one of the aerial pile-plates.
"The others and I were playing and I just happened to look up in the sky," said Caesar. "It was going fast and looked like it was traveling northwest in an arch."
Those with him were Bob Elder, 12, Jimmy Roberts, 12, and Forrest Sparks, 20. All substantiated his story.
Thelma Klotz, secretary at the Hidalgo County child welfare office at Edinburg, said she saw a flying saucer in the air west of the county courthouse this morning at 8 a.m. She and her mother, Mrs. Ida Klotz, stopped for a traffic light south of the courthouse square when they noticed an object in the air, she said.
"It was moving very slowly," she said, "was silver in color, and seemed to be several yards above the courthouse."
Asked if anyone on the street corners appeared to be aware of it, she said she did not notice anyone looking upward.
Mrs. E. B. (Beto) Reyna, wife of the county commissioner, reported that a flying disc which zoomed through the air over her house at La Joya Monday afternoon was moving at a rapid pace. She said that the object came from a northeasterly direction and headed southwest. She estimated the disc, which was flat and silver colored, was about the height of three electric light poles from the ground and was about 20 inches in diameter.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:
1001: 1947/07/07 17:30 60 98:18:00 W 26:12:00 N 3333 NAM USA TXS 6:8
SE/MISSION,TX:COV+MIL PILOTS+GND PERS:FAST DISK SPINS/1200m alt:+San Antonio
Ref#150 WEINSTEIN,D; UFO/AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERS Page No. 9: IN-FLIGHT
[Ref. dwn1:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:
French ufologist Dominique Weinstein compiled a catalog of the cases of UFOs observed from aircraft. This case appears in the February 2001 (6th edition) as:
| DATE | 47.07.07 |
|---|---|
| TIME | 17:30 |
| COUNTRY | USA |
| PLACE | 2-3 mi. southeast of Mission, Texas |
| P | |
| TYPE OF PLANE AND WITNESSES | a student pilot + ground witnesses |
| UFO DESCRIPTION | a bright fast moving object flying at 4,000 ft |
| Radar | |
| G | G |
| X | |
| E | |
| SOURCES | 03 |
The source "03" is referenced at the end of the catalog as:
Project 1947 Reports, newsclippings and documents (cases from Jan Aldrich and Barry Greenwood)
No information about the plane was given; but obviously it was a small plane.
|
It is not possible to exclude that the object was a jet plane, for example.
Insufficient information.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | June 29, 2026 | Creation, [vem1], [lhh1], [dwn1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 29, 2026 | First published. |
