Hoaxes have been a part of the flying saucer/UFO mystery from its very beginning. Shortly after Kenneth Arnold’s sighting report on June 24, 1947, people started coming forward with physical disks they claimed to have found in their yards, in fields, or to have actually seen flying through the air in flames and then crash. Claimants ranged from school children to professional adults, and there is even a report from a Catholic priest that received a good deal of press. The priest’s case, as well as others of this sort ended up in FBI files. The disks that were displayed were obviously home made, sometimes quite crudely, but there was the possibility that these could be responsible for valid sightings reports by people who were truly mystified. Read more →