Today in UFO History

July 4, 1947 – Boise, Idaho, USA:

The Flight 105 UFO Incident

On the evening of July 4, 1947, United Airlines Flight 105 departed Boise, Idaho, at 9:04 p.m. Just eight minutes into the flight, co-pilot Stevens switched on the aircraft's landing lights after spotting two groups of bright objects ahead. Initially believing they were other aircraft, he soon realized something was unusual.

As Captain Emil J. Smith examined the objects, both pilots noticed they possessed no wings, no tail fins, and no recognizable aircraft structure. Recognizing the significance of what they were seeing, they called a flight attendant into the cockpit to serve as an additional witness.

The crew attempted to obtain confirmation from ground personnel in Ontario, Oregon, but no satisfactory explanation emerged. For several more minutes they watched the mysterious objects maintain formation before they suddenly accelerated.

According to Captain Smith, the objects then "spurted ahead and disappeared at high speed off to the west," vanishing far faster than any known aircraft of the era could reasonably achieve.

The sighting lasted approximately 10 to 12 minutes, giving the witnesses ample opportunity to study the unusual craft.

Original saucer witness Kenneth Arnold (left) "comparing notes" with Flight 105's Captain Emil J. Smith (center) and co-pilot Ralph Stephens

When assessing any extraordinary claim, several factors deserve careful consideration. The credibility of the witnesses, the environmental conditions, and possible psychological influences all play important roles.

One obvious consideration is timing. The Flight 105 encounter occurred only days after private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine mysterious objects flying near Mount Rainier on June 24, 1947—a sighting that launched the modern UFO era. Because Arnold's account had received widespread media attention, some have suggested that the Flight 105 crew may have been influenced by the publicity.

However, later interviews conducted by physicist James E. McDonald, Senior Physicist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Arizona, paint a different picture.

McDonald reported that Captain Smith stated he had not taken the previous week's newspaper stories seriously before his own experience. Only after personally witnessing nine unconventional, wingless, high-speed objects did he begin paying close attention to the subject. Even then, Smith remained cautious, refusing to speculate about what the objects actually were or where they might have originated.

That restraint strengthens the credibility of his testimony. Rather than claiming the objects were extraterrestrial spacecraft, Smith simply described exactly what he observed.

The reputation of the witnesses is another important factor.

If those involved had histories of exaggeration or unusual beliefs, skeptics could reasonably question their testimony. Captain Emil J. Smith, however, enjoyed an excellent professional reputation.

During McDonald's investigation, numerous United Airlines employees who had worked with Smith for years described him as a man of "complete reputability." His colleagues regarded him as honest, level-headed, and highly competent.

Equally important, both Smith and Stevens were experienced commercial pilots accustomed to identifying aircraft under a wide variety of conditions. Their profession depended upon accurate observation, making misidentification less likely than it would be for an average observer.

Weather conditions also strengthen the case.

Many UFO reports can be attributed to atmospheric effects, astronomical objects, or unusual cloud formations. In the Flight 105 incident, however, the crew reported clear skies with no cloud formations that might have produced misleading visual effects.

The objects were observed while the aircraft climbed through approximately 1,000 feet of altitude, yet their appearance remained consistent throughout the observation. They also remained well above the horizon, making common optical phenomena an unlikely explanation.

The clear weather, prolonged observation time, and multiple independent witnesses significantly reduce the possibility that the sighting resulted from simple environmental misidentification.

Although James E. McDonald acknowledged that Flight 105 was not the most dramatic UFO encounter ever reported by an airline crew, he nevertheless regarded it as an exceptionally important case.

Unlike many UFO reports that lasted only seconds, this incident continued for an estimated 10 to 12 minutes. It involved multiple witnesses, including two highly experienced airline pilots and a flight attendant. The observation occurred under ideal weather conditions during a climb in altitude, allowing the witnesses to view the objects from changing perspectives.

McDonald concluded that these factors effectively ruled out ordinary optical explanations. As a result, the Flight 105 incident remained officially classified as "Unidentified."

More than seven decades later, the Flight 105 sighting remains one of the strongest early aviation UFO cases. Whether the crew witnessed an unknown atmospheric phenomenon, an undisclosed technological development, or something even more extraordinary remains unresolved. What is clear is that experienced commercial pilots reported observing nine wingless objects performing maneuvers beyond the capabilities of known aircraft of the time—and despite extensive consideration, no conventional explanation has achieved broad acceptance.