5Miles South Of Placerville reported disc saucer observation — August 1947

There are a few statements which, taken alone, strongly suggest that a meteor was observed: high rate of speed, "seemed to be in a shallow dive," white smoke trail, "disappeared in a puff of dark gray smoke." However, unless the description of the object (4-6 feet long and 14-14 inches wide) and the estimated distance (less than 1000 feet)-are illusory, this meteoric explanation will not hold. [REDACTED] Editor, [REDACTED], with an impressive executive with the [REDACTED] of [REDACTED] of Sacramento, reported the following incident: At appx. 14:30P, on August 14, while driving on Cedar Spring Road, 4 to 5 miles southeast of Placerville, Calif., he, accompanied by his wife, observed a "flying disc" about 200 ft from 50 to 100 ft. The object struck the ground with a "puff" of black smoke" about 100 feet below the top of a hill which was approximately 700 feet ahead of the automobile driven by the observer. An inward, outward explosion, inversion- ation of the location where the object was observed to have landed. The observer is able to identify the location where the object was observed to land. (Mr. DOD DIR 5200.10 <Incomprehensible text> HEADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE OFFICE OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL HAMILTON FIELD, CALIFORNIA <Incomprehensible text> 11 SEPT 1947 SUBJECT: Investigation of Flying Discs. The document seems to be related to the investigation of what is described as "flying discs," a term often associated with unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and it is addressed to a military command structure. The poor quality of the scan renders parts of the text unreadable. "JN CLASSIFIED HEADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2 Hamilton Field, California 27 August 1947 Subject: To: Flying Discs Sighting Commanding General, Fourth Air Force [REDACTED PORTIONS OF TEXT] 1. At approximately 20:30 hours, 13 August 1947, a [REDACTED] designed by the [REDACTED] flying at approximately [REDACTED] miles south of Placerville, California, sighted an unidentified object in his flight path. The object, disc-shaped, was estimated to be [REDACTED] feet in diameter and was flying in a [REDACTED] fashion at approximately [REDACTED] feet altitude and at a speed of approximately [REDACTED] The observer stated that as the object passed overhead, he could feel the concussion of the [REDACTED] 2. If you require assistance with some other aspect of the image or if you have a clearer image, please let me know and I will do my best to help you. --- 00 Observer first noticed a wide smoke trail and while searching for its source he saw an object a long to ft. in length 10 to 14 inches wide and of metal color which gave off a very bright reflection like highly polished aluminum.