Pilot recalls Flying Discs UFO.

Dick Rankin tells of odd aircraft

More reporting of flying flapjacks turned up Wednesday one from no less than Dick Rankin, Brother of late Tex Rankin, and himself an experienced pilot of more than 7,000 hours flying time.

Rankin, who is recovering from an old back injury received in an automobile accident, came to Portland over the weekend. He saw the flying saucers UFO over Bakersfield Cal June 23 while lying on the lawn sunbathing, he told the Oregonian.
"I hesitated to say much about this" Rankin said, "until I noticed all the hullabaloo in the papers. I puzzled over their strange shape for a while and finally concluded that they were the Navy's new IFSU-1 flying flapjacks, which are thin and round, with twin propellers and stubby tail."

Only 1 IFSU-1 built

The Navy and the manufacturer have announced officially that only one such machine was built and it never left Connecticut.
These planes were flying high maybe 9,000 feet, and fairly fast, at about 300 or 400 miles an hour. I first counted 10 of them in formation going north. About 2.15PM they returned on the reverse course and headed south, but there were only 7 in formation.

They were not weaving or bobbing in formation, I couldn't make out the number or location of their propellers and couldn't distinguish and wings or tail. They appeared almost round. They looked like pictures of the Navy's "flying flapjacks" Rankin said.

Rankin who plans to spend the summer here is now able to resume a little flying for fun but not commercially he said. He now operates a string of auto courts, spending his winters at Palm Springs.

TWO DESCRIPTIONS CHECK

Rankin's descriptions of the aerial objects agree with that of Keith Arnold, Boise? Idaho, Business man, who first reported them over the State of Washington, except that Arnold checked them in at an estimated 1200 miles per hour.

Other reports, some Wednesday, from ??toria, a patient at St Mary's Hospital, said he saw two of the discs Monday flying South-West at a rapid speed and that they vanished behind the hills.

Mrs Karl Beado, Fort Stevens said she saw discs flying North over fort Stevens Tuesday noon, and that other observer's saw the same object

The Army at Fort Stevens and the Coast guard at the nearby point ?? did not see the discs.

The report of Centralia, Wash, Wednesday coincided in material time with the original report made by Arnold Sidney Gallagher of Centralia said he saw 9 aluminium objects flying north at 3pm. He was working 11 miles southwest of Mineral, Wash, at the time.

(Missing segment of information)

Washington I realized that the articles that I saw were probably the same thing. I was still reluctant to mention this to anyone thinking that they would probably say that I was crazy, after some time I mentioned the ??? to the "Oregonian", a Portland Oregon Newspaper. At this time I was in Portland for the remainder of the summer, the results of the conversation with the (blank) of the paper is put forth in the accompanying newspaper article.

I fully realize that this is a broad statement in view of the fact that there has been much publicity put forth in various newspapers of this country. I am of sound mind in every respect and I am firmly convinced that the articles I saw are some sort of flying machines although I cannot say from where they came or where they were going, I say what I have said with no idea of publicity or personal gain.


More to come.. updated as at 03/10/05