Eagle River reported disc saucer observation — April 13, 1961

In April 1961, Wisconsin farmer Joe Simonton reported an encounter at his property near Eagle River that became famous for an unlikely piece of physical evidence: several pancake-like wafers. The Atlas baseline dates the record to April 13, while many published accounts give April 18. That conflict is preserved rather than silently resolved. Simonton said a small metallic object descended into his yard during the morning and settled close to the farmhouse. It was commonly described as a compact saucer or capsule with a hatch. Inside he saw three short, dark-haired, humanlike men wearing close-fitting dark clothing. One occupant held up a container and indicated a need for water. Simonton filled a jug or container and returned it. Looking through the opening, he saw another occupant preparing food on a grill-like surface. Before departing, one of the men handed him several thin, perforated or hole-speckled cakes. The craft then rose and disappeared. The encounter was reported and examined in the context of Project Blue Book. Samples of the food were analyzed. The widely cited result found ordinary terrestrial ingredients—principally buckwheat, fat and starch—with no extraordinary composition. One piece was said to have been kept by Simonton, while other material entered investigative custody. The prosaic composition does not establish that the encounter happened as described, but the existence of a submitted sample makes the case different from a purely verbal report. Alternative interpretations have included a misunderstanding, an elaborate joke or fabrication. No photograph of the landed object or occupants was produced, and the food could not prove where it came from. CE3 is retained because Simonton reported visible occupants associated with a landed craft. The Atlas treats the water exchange, cooking scene and wafers as his testimony and the laboratory description as a separate evidentiary fact. The portrait reconstructs the reported exchange in daylight: a modest craft, a rural chicken farm, three short humanlike occupants, water offered by Simonton and a tray of thin cakes. It is not a photograph and does not imply that the Air Force confirmed extraterrestrial visitors.