Within Flight 105
Why Nobody Else Confirmed Flight 105
The crew sought outside confirmation, but no passengers, ground staff or nearby pilots produced a matching sighting.
On this page
- The radio calls and attempted checks
- Why passengers may not have seen the objects
- What single platform testimony can and cannot prove
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Introduction
One of the most important limitations of the United Airlines Flight 105 sighting is that nobody outside the aircraft independently confirmed what the crew reported. On 4 July 1947, Captain Emil J. Smith, First Officer Ralph Stevens and flight attendant Marty Morrow all stated that they observed groups of unusual objects ahead of their DC-3 after departing Boise, Idaho. Yet despite efforts to obtain outside verification, no passengers, ground observers, air-traffic personnel or nearby pilots reported seeing the same objects at the same time.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
This absence of corroboration does not prove that the crew imagined the sighting. It does, however, place important limits on what historians and investigators can conclude. Flight 105 remains notable because multiple trained aviation witnesses agreed that they saw something unusual. At the same time, the lack of independent confirmation means the case rests almost entirely on testimony from a single aircraft rather than on evidence from multiple locations or sensors.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
The Radio Calls and Attempted Checks
The crew did not simply keep the sighting to themselves. Contemporary accounts state that Smith and Stevens attempted to determine whether anyone else could see the objects. They radioed the Civil Aeronautics Administration facility at Ontario, Oregon, and also contacted another United Airlines aircraft operating in the region. Neither reported observing the objects described by Flight 105.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
This detail is often overlooked because later retellings focus on the pilots’ observations rather than on the failed verification attempts. Yet from an evidential standpoint, the unsuccessful checks are significant. If the objects had been plainly visible over a wide area, investigators would normally expect at least some possibility of corroboration from another aircraft or a ground observer looking in the same direction. No such supporting report emerged.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
The absence of confirmation also meant that investigators lacked a second viewing angle. Without observations from another location, there was no reliable way to determine the objects’ distance, altitude or true speed. Those missing measurements became one of the central weaknesses of the case.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
Why Passengers May Not Have Seen the Objects
The fact that the eight passengers aboard the DC-3 reportedly saw nothing unusual is sometimes presented as evidence against the sighting. The situation was more complicated than that. According to Captain Smith, the objects appeared mainly ahead of the aircraft rather than beside it. Cabin passengers seated behind the cockpit had a much poorer viewing angle toward that part of the sky.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
Several practical factors may have reduced the chance of passenger observations:
- The sighting occurred during evening twilight, when contrast and visibility can change rapidly.
- Cockpit crews had a forward-facing view that passengers did not share.
- Passengers were not continuously scanning the sky for potential air traffic.
- Aircraft windows in 1947 offered more restricted viewing angles than the cockpit windscreen.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
Importantly, the lack of passenger sightings is not equivalent to a direct contradiction. No passenger publicly reported seeing the objects, but neither did passengers publish detailed statements explaining that they had carefully searched the same area of sky and found nothing. The historical record is largely silent beyond noting that no corroboration came from the cabin.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
Why Ground Witnesses Never Appeared
Another striking feature of the Flight 105 case is the absence of known ground witnesses in Idaho or eastern Oregon.
Several factors may explain this. The objects were reportedly observed from a moving aircraft at altitude and were visible for only about ten to fifteen minutes. The viewing geometry may have been highly specific to the crew’s position. An object appearing prominent against the horizon from one location can be difficult or impossible to notice from another.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
There is also the problem of timing. The sighting took place during the intense flying-disc wave of summer 1947, when hundreds of reports were appearing across the United States. Newspapers were collecting large numbers of claims, but not every unusual observation generated enough attention to produce matching reports from the ground.[National Air and Space Museum]airandspace.si.eduNational Air and Space Museum1947: Year of the Flying Saucer24 Jun 2022 — Black and white comic strip depicting UFOs flying over the Whit…
The result is a historical gap. Researchers can identify the crew’s testimony, but they cannot point to a corresponding report from a police officer, farmer, airfield employee or civilian observer who independently recorded the same event at the same moment.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
What Single-Platform Testimony Can and Cannot Prove
Flight 105 is sometimes described as a “multiple-witness” case, and that description is technically correct. Three crew members reported seeing unusual objects. However, all three witnesses were on the same aircraft and therefore shared nearly identical viewing conditions.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
This distinction matters because independent confirmation normally comes from observers who are separated from one another. Multiple locations allow investigators to compare angles, estimate distances and check whether descriptions remain consistent. None of those opportunities existed in the Flight 105 incident.[kirkmcd.princeton.edu]kirkmcd.princeton.eduSTATEMENT ON UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS…In interviewing UFO witnesses, it is important to try to ascertain whether the witness was, p…
As a result, the case can support only limited conclusions:
What the testimony supports
- Three crew members believed they saw unusual aerial objects.
- The observation lasted long enough for discussion among the crew.
- The pilots considered the objects sufficiently noteworthy to seek outside confirmation.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
What the testimony cannot establish
- The objects’ exact distance.
- Their physical size.
- Their altitude.
- Their actual speed.
- Whether they represented an extraordinary technology rather than a misidentified conventional phenomenon.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
This evidential limitation helps explain why later official assessments remained cautious. The sighting was not dismissed as a hoax, but neither was it accepted as proof of anything extraordinary. Without corroborating observers or instrument data, the report remained an unresolved observation rather than a confirmed event.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
Why the Missing Confirmation Still Matters
Within Idaho’s UFO history, Flight 105 remains important because it highlighted both the value and the limits of pilot testimony. The crew’s aviation experience gave the report credibility, helping make it one of the most discussed sightings of the 1947 flying-disc wave. Yet the same case also demonstrates why witness reliability alone cannot settle the question of what was observed.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
The lack of confirmation from passengers, ground observers, air-traffic personnel or nearby pilots did not invalidate the crew’s account. It did, however, prevent the sighting from advancing beyond a single-platform observation. More than seven decades later, that remains the central reason Flight 105 is remembered as an intriguing but unresolved Idaho UFO case rather than as a conclusively documented aerial event.[Wikipedia]WikipediaFlight 105 UFO sightingFlight 105 UFO sighting
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Endnotes
1.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Flight 105 UFO sighting
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_105_UFO_sighting
2.
Source: kirkmcd.princeton.edu
Link:https://kirkmcd.princeton.edu/JEMcDonald/mcdonald_hcsa_68.pdf
Source snippet
STATEMENT ON UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS...In interviewing UFO witnesses, it is important to try to ascertain whether the witness was, p...
3.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: 1947 flying disc craze
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_flying_disc_craze
Source snippet
Flight 105. edit. Main article: Flight 105 UFO sighting · 1947 flying disc craze is located in USA West. Boise. Flight 105 departed Boise...
4.
Source: time.graphics
Link:https://time.graphics/event/10182928
5.
Source: airandspace.si.edu
Link:https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/1947-year-flying-saucer
Source snippet
National Air and Space Museum1947: Year of the Flying Saucer24 Jun 2022 — Black and white comic strip depicting UFOs flying over the Whit...
6.
Source: spacedoutclassroom.com
Title: flight 105
Link:https://spacedoutclassroom.com/tag/flight-105/
7.
Source: arewealoneinthisuniverse.fandom.com
Title: Flight 105 UFO sighting
Link:https://arewealoneinthisuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Flight_105_UFO_sighting
Additional References
8.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/MetalBird.India/posts/%EF%B8%8F-we-have-traffic-at-our-11-oclock-position-on-4-july-1947-the-crew-of-a-united-/1003557369260258/
Source snippet
Facebook️ "We have traffic at our 11 o'clock position..." On 4...Smith and Stevens radioed the tower in Ontario, Oregon, as well as anot...
9.
Source: wweek.com
Link:https://www.wweek.com/culture/2025/01/14/a-recent-report-of-strange-lights-in-illuminate-a-longer-history-of-ufo-sightings-in-the-pacific-northwest/
Source snippet
Willamette WeekA Recent Report of Strange Lights Illuminates a Longer...14 Jan 2025 — The region has been an epicenter of postwar UFO si...
10.
Source: americanheritage.com
Title: American Heritage Was This the First Reported UFO?
Link:https://www.americanheritage.com/was-first-reported-ufo
Source snippet
AMERICAN HERITAGE... flying object or UFO. Among those earliest UFO sightings came the most famous incident of all.... sighting by Big S...
11.
Source: arxiv.org
Link:https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.18566
12.
Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81r00560r000100010001-0
13.
Source: govinfo.gov
Link:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-89hhrg50066O/pdf/CHRG-89hhrg50066O.pdf
14.
Source: project1947.com
Title: UA L Flight 105,
Link:https://www.project1947.com/fig/ual105.htm
Source snippet
J. Smith... Smith's experience, along with references to the massive wave of UFO sightings that were exciting the whole of the U.S...
15.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OarL8ymktIE
Source snippet
"Flight 105" UFO 1947 Days Before Roswell: The Flight 105 UFO Sighting Curtis Paranormal...
16.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCxtUqZA2Zw
Source snippet
United Airlines Crew Encounters MYSTERIOUS UFO on July 4th 1947...
17.
Source: reddit.com
Link:https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/z8ksvm/1st_pilot_that_finally_told_the_truth_about/