◆ SpookStack

Statement of David N. Johnson at Boise, Idaho, July 12, 1947 To Whom It May Concern: On the sixth day of July, 1947, I received from James Le Brown, general manager of the Statesman Newspapers, incorporated in Idaho as The Statesman Printing company, an assignment which was in substance: "Conduct an serial search of the northwest states in an effort to see and photograph a flying dise. Conduct this patrol for so long a time &s you believe reasonable, or until you see a flying disce" In accordance to these instructions, I took the Statesman's airplane, and with Kenneth Arnold as passenger, flew a seven and one-half hour mission on the seventh day of July, 1947. This mission was without result. It covered an areé embracing the confines of the Hanford plant in Washington, and territory between and around Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams, where Arnold first reported seeing objects henceforth described as saucers or dises. On the eighth day of July, 1947, I took an AT=6 of the 190th Fighter squadron, Idaho National Guard, of which I am a member, and flew to northern Idaho, into northwestern Montana briefly, to Spokane, Washington, and back to Boise by way of Walla Welle, Washington, and Pendleton, Oregon. This search also was negative. On the ninth day of July, 1947, I continued the search, again using a national guard AT-6, this time centering my efforts over the Owyhee mountains west and southwest of Boise, a portion of the Mountain Home desert on a track southesst of the Mountain Home army sir base, thence into the Sawtooth moun= tains, and back in the general direction of Boise on a line carrying me well to the north of the Shafer butte forest service lookout station, into the Horseshoe Bend area, and thence back in a southwesterly direction to a point between Boise and the village of Meridian, west of Boise a few miles. During this search, which lasted approximately two and one-half hours, I flew under and around repidly forming cumulus clouds over that area kmown as the Camas Prairie, east of Boise. The clouds were near the village of Fairfield in that valley, and Fairfield is 75 miles airline distance east of Boise. At that time I saw nothing in the vicinity of these clouds. At the time I reached the point between Boise and Meridian, I was flying at an altitude of 14,000 feet mean sea level, which would be a mean average of 11,000 feet above the earth in this area, not considering errors in the altimeter induced either by barometric changes since my takeoff, or by the temperature at thet altitude. I turned the aircraft on an easterly heading, pointing toward Gowen Field, and had flown on that course for perhaps a minute when there suddenly appeared in the left hand portion of my field of vision an object which was black and round. I immediately centered my gaze on the object. At that time, due to its erratic movement, I thought I was seeing a weather balloon. I called the CAA's communication station at Boise, and asked if the weather station had recently released a balloon. The reply from communicator Albertson was that the bureau had not. I do not remember his exact words; I am under the impression he said "not for several hours" or gave me the exact time of the previous release, which was around 08:30 that day. ENCLOSURE TOT INIGCATTNY A