Twin Falls, Idaho, July 11, --AP-- Four teen age boys skimmed a "flying
saucer" into this town today and before the turmoil died down tonight with
their admission it was "all a joke," the FBI, army intelligence and local
police spent a dizzy day trying to figure out their gadget.
The home-made disc, replete with a plexi-glass
dome, radio tubes, burned wires and glistening sides of silver and gold
was discovered in the yard of the T.H. Thompson residence this morning by
Mrs. Fred Easterbrook.
Assistant Police Chief L. D. McCracken withheld
the names of pranksters because they were juveniles and no court action
will be taken against them. He said they admitted the hoax after he
was "tipped" that one of the boys knew something about the case.
Made In Two Days
The boys aged from 15 to 16 years were quoted by
Mr McCracken as saying that they spent two days making the disc which
measures 30 1/2 inches across.
It resembled two band cymbals put together.
However, the disc looked "real" enough that an FBI agent took one look,
notified his district office in Butte, Mont., and three army officers came
post haste from Fort Douglas, Utah, in a military plane furnished by the
state national guard.
The practical joke started the biggest wave
of speculation over flying discs this town has witnessed since about
30 residents reported 10 days ago they saw the galloping discs
swishing overhead.
Two narrow strips of turf on the Thompson
lawn were torn up as if the disc had ploughed into earth.
Officers Puzzled
Officers were puzzled at first -- until the
hoax was discovered -- how the metal object could have sailed to the
ground through a maze of overhead telephone and power wires.
Mrs. Easterbrook, the Thompson family and
neighbors in reviewing events last night, speculated today that they
heard a "thud" during the night -- probably about 2:30 a.m.
But the boys told police they planted the disc about 10 p.m.
A plane load of army officers -- two
lieutenant colonels, two first lieutenants and a civilian -- arrived
in a Utah national guard plane shortly after noon to inspire a new
round of speculation. The army men refused to divulge their
names to newsmen and kept distant from any persistent
interviewers.
While speculation was highest, the army
group slipped away from police headquarters with the saucer about
the size of a bicycle wheel -- and whisked back to Salt Lake
City. Shortly after their departure, McCracken announced the
whole thing was a hoax.
The boys told officers they used parts of an
old phonograph, burned out radio tubes and various discarded
electrical parts to manufacture their device.
FBI Releases "Story"
Following the army's departure an FBI agent
came into McCracken's office in the presence of reporters and asked
"have you released the news?"
"What news?" countered McCracken.
"Well," the federal agent said, "the army
intelligence man said you could tell the press that four teen age
boys confessed making the object and throwing it into the yard."
McCracken then related the whole story of
the hoax.
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