Within Emmett Sighting
Why Did Emmett Remain An Official 'Unknown'?
Official and civilian UFO investigators both preserved the Emmett sighting, but neither could turn it into a conclusive case.
On this page
- How Project Blue Book classified the case
- NICAP's later catalogue and summaries
- What missing evidence prevented a conclusion
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Introduction
In the UFO history of Idaho, the July 4 1947 sighting by the United Airlines crew near Emmett stands out not just for who reported it, but for how it was logged in both official military and civilian investigative records. The sighting was significant enough to be entered into the U.S. Air Force’s official Department of Defense files under Project Blue Book and later preserved in civilian UFO research archives such as the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). Yet neither archive ever transformed the Emmett report into a decisive explanation. This section examines how both Blue Book and NICAP treated the case, what they concluded (and what they left unresolved), and why the absence of key evidence kept the sighting in the category of official “unknown.”[NICAP]
How Project Blue Book Classified the Emmett Sighting
After the wave of UFO reports in the summer of 1947, the U.S. Air Force began systematically collecting sightings under successive projects: Project Sign in late 1947, later Project Grudge, and from 1952 onwards Project Blue Book, which became the longest‑running official UFO investigation. Blue Book’s mission was to determine whether reported sightings posed any threat to U.S. national security and to analyse them scientifically, while acknowledging that most cases would likely be explainable.[Wikipedia]
In the archived UFO case catalogs, the Emmett sighting is listed as an “unknown” under Blue Book case number 34. That designation means Blue Book analysts reviewed the report but did not assign it to one of the usual mundane categories (such as aircraft, balloons, astronomical objects, weather phenomena, or misidentification) and had insufficient data to positively identify it.[NICAP]
The entry summarises the core elements of the sighting: a United Airlines DC‑3 crew (captain, first officer, and stewardess) observed multiple thin, disc‑shaped objects, described as smooth underneath and rough on top, silhouetted against the sunset shortly after departing Boise, lasting roughly 12–15 minutes over a flight path of about 45 miles. The crew attempted to approach the objects but could not close the distance. No radar contacts or independent sensor data were available.[NICAP]
Blue Book’s retention of the Emmett case as an “unknown” reflects the limits of evidence available. Without corroborating physical data—radar tracks, photographs, recovered material, or precise measurements of range, altitude, speed, or size—investigators could not positively categorise the sightings or assign them to a more prosaic explanation. While Blue Book eventually explained many cases as misidentifications, the Emmett report remained in the subset of unresolved sightings.[Wikipedia]
NICAP’s Later Catalogue and Summaries
The National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena was a civilian UFO research group active from the 1950s through the 1970s that collected, indexed, and analysed sightings from official and independent sources. NICAP’s archives include aircraft sightings and cross‑referenced entries from military investigation projects including Blue Book.[Wikipedia]
In NICAP’s categorisation schemes, the Emmett sighting appears in its aircraft case directory as one of the more notable early sightings from the 1947 wave. NICAP’s case entry reproduces the Blue Book summary, noting that the sighting was logged under Blue Book’s “unknowns,” and provides additional compiled details such as approximate time, flight path, and witness dispositions.[NICAP]
NICAP did not, however, assert a definitive cause for the Emmett sighting; instead, it maintained the record as part of a broader catalogue of unresolved cases observed from aircraft. In its context within NICAP’s reporting, the Emmett encounter is valuable for being reported by trained observers and documented in official sources, rather than for yielding a singular explanation.[NICAP]
What Missing Evidence Prevented a Conclusion
Both Project Blue Book and NICAP’s records underscore the same constraint: the absence of independent, physical documentation made firm identification impossible. The Blue Book designation “unknown” was specifically reserved for cases where standard investigatory procedures (interviews, local environment checks, attempt to match the sighting with aircraft schedules, weather data, astronomical charts, etc.) could not yield an explanation within known phenomena.[Wikipedia]
For the Emmett sighting:
- No radar confirmation was noted in either the Blue Book or NICAP documentation, leaving only visual reports for analysis.[NICAP]
- No photographic evidence was collected, unlike other high‑profile 1947 sighting cases that were reported with photo stills (such as the McMinnville photographs in later months).[Wikipedia]
- Range and size were estimated but not measured objectively, so apparent large size and formation could not be pinned down to measured distances.[NICAP]
Because both official and civilian archives rely on the quality of collected data, the Emmett case ended up illustrating a broader theme in mid‑20th‑century UFO research: even credible witnesses with aviation expertise cannot yield a firm conclusion if the available evidence lacks independent or corroborative sensory data.[Wikipedia]
Summary of Official and Civilian Treatment
Overall, the Emmett airline crew sighting exemplifies how early UFO reports were treated in both U.S. Air Force and civilian research contexts. Project Blue Book placed the case in the “unknown” category, acknowledging that the report could not be confidently attributed to conventional causes. NICAP preserved the sighting as part of its longer‑term case directory of noteworthy aircraft encounters, highlighting its documentation and place in the record rather than endorsing a specific explanation. The absence of stronger empirical evidence—radar, imagery, precise measurements—meant that neither archive could resolve the case conclusively.[NICAP]
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Endnotes
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Source: nicap.org
Link: https://www.nicap.org/Good_Cases/470704emmett_dir.htmSource snippet
NICAPUFO ReportThis is case #34 of the Project Blue Book "Unknowns". That night a United Airlines crew flying near Emmett, Idaho, saw fiv...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Project Blue Book
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book -
Source: Wikipedia
Title: National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Investigations_Committee_On_Aerial_Phenomena -
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Flight 105 UFO sighting
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_105_UFO_sighting -
Source: nicap.org
Title: Official NICAP Web Site
Link: https://www.nicap.org/Source snippet
July 12, 2024 — Image National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena A Privately-Supported Fact-Finding Body Serving The Public In...
Published: July 12, 2024
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Source: nicap.org
Link: https://www.nicap.org/waves/chrono.htmSource snippet
The UFO ChronologyMay 7, 2016 — The UFO Chronologies In the fall of 2005 we began a major update of Richard Hall's/NICAP UFO Sighting Chr...
Published: May 7, 2016
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Source: nicap.org
Title: ReportUFOWave1947 SectionI
Link: https://nicap.org/waves/Wave47Rpt/ReportUFOWave1947_SectionI.htmSource snippet
Report on UFO Wave of 1947 Section I> Section I - Summary of the Period > > During the summer of 1947 a bizarre and inexplicable situatio...
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Source: nicap.org
Title: ReportUFOWave1947 Preface
Link: https://nicap.org/waves/Wave47Rpt/ReportUFOWave1947_Preface.htmSource snippet
Report on UFO Wave of 1947 Preface> Preface > > > > > > During the past five years, while on several extended tours of the country, I had...
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Source: nicap.org
Title: Smith was certain that the objects had to be considerably larger than a DC-3
Link: https://nicap.org/waves/Wave47Rpt/ReportUFOWave1947_SectionIII.htmSource snippet
Report on UFO Wave of 1947 Section III> > The nine objects had been in view for at least twelve minutes, seen over a distance of more tha...
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Source: nicap.org
Link: https://www.nicap.org/newsearch.htmSource snippet
[Select] Keywords: ` [Input]` [Input] `The NICAP search engine can be used to search the entire server account, which...
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Title: Brad Sparks Comprehensive Catalog of 1,600 Project Blue Book UFO Unknowns
Link: https://archive.org/download/BernardSieglerTechnicsAndTime1TheFaultOfEpimetheus/Brad%20Sparks%20-%20Comprehensive%20Catalog%20of%201%2C600%20Project%20Blue%20Book%20UFO%20Unknowns.pdfSource snippet
Comprehensive Catalog of 1600 Project Blue Book UFO...2 Oct 2009 — Comprehensive Catalog of 1,600 Project Blue Book UFO Unknowns: Work i...
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Title: Project BLUE BOOK
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Unidentified Flying ObjectsPro-UFO researchers claim that an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants were recovered near Rosw...
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Title: It includes a detailed chronolog
Link: https://nicap.org/waves/Wave47Rpt/ReportUFOWave1947_Abstract.htmSource snippet
Report on UFO Wave of 1947 AbstractJanuary 1, 1967 — Abstract > The Report on the UFO Wave of 1947 discusses the first contemporary wave...
Published: January 1, 1967
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Source: nicap.org
Title: UF O Report
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UFO ReportFebruary 24, 1959 — Category 11 Case Directory SIGHTINGS FROM AIRCRAFT Preliminary Rating: 5 | | Image AVCAT is a special proje...
Published: February 24, 1959
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Source: nicap.org
Title: UF O Report
Link: https://www.nicap.org/470709meridian_dir.htmSource snippet
UFO ReportJuly 9, 1947 — Category 11 Case Directory SIGHTINGS FROM AIRCRAFT Preliminary Rating: 5 | | Image AVCAT is a special project be...
Published: July 9, 1947
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Source: nicap.org
Title: Richard Haines, and othe
Link: https://www.nicap.org/470704emmett_dir.htmSource snippet
UFO ReportJuly 4, 1947 — Category 11 Case Directory SIGHTINGS FROM AIRCRAFT AVCAT is a special project being conducted by NICAP, with the...
Published: July 4, 1947
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Source: nicap.org
Title: 470704emmett e
Link: https://www.nicap.org/reports/470704emmett_e.htmSource snippet
J. Smith, courtesy of Wendy Connors Wendy Connors & Michael Hall: Two other independent sets of ob...
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Source: cufos.org
Title: Project Blue Book
Link: https://cufos.org/resources/project-blue-book/Source snippet
14, as edited by Leon Davidson, July 1966The United States Air Force managed three UFO projects, from 1948 to 1969. The first w...
Additional References
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Link: https://www.newsweek.com/project-blue-book-true-story-reality-tv-show-history-channel-ufo-sightings-1288942Source snippet
NewsweekJanuary 11, 2019 — ‘PROJECT BLUE BOOK’ TRUE STORY: THE REALITY BEHIND HISTORY CHANNEL’S UFO CONSPIRACY TV SHOW * * * Published Ja...
Published: January 11, 2019
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Source: sofrep.com
Title: the truth behind ufos from project blue book to the pentagons uap task force
Link: https://sofrep.com/news/the-truth-behind-ufos-from-project-blue-book-to-the-pentagons-uap-task-force/Source snippet
The Truth Behind UFOs: From Project Blue Book to the...8 Feb 2026 — Project Blue Book had two main goals: to determine whether UFOs posed...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/HISTORY/posts/a-pilot-reports-sight-of-a-number-of-flying-discs-near-mount-rainier-historysgre/1536344454725192/Source snippet
. UFO sighting near Mount Rainier in Washington state. World News Update ▻ UFO, Aliens, Unexplained Phenomena. 32w · Public...Read more...
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Source: thinkaboutitdocs.com
Title: 1947 united airlines flight 105 pilots witness disc shaped objects
Link: https://www.thinkaboutitdocs.com/1947-united-airlines-flight-105-pilots-witness-disc-shaped-objects/Source snippet
1947: United Airlines Flight 105 pilots witness disc-shaped objects – Think AboutIts1947: UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 105 PILOTS WITNESS DISC...
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Source: theprojectbluebookarchive.org
Link: https://www.theprojectbluebookarchive.org/Source snippet
Air Force Explore the Archive Buy the Book ABOUT THE ARCHIVE The Project Blue Book Archive is...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: Long-discussed UAP-related files including Unidentified
Link: https://www.facebook.com/news.now.go/posts/long-discussed-uap-related-files-including-unidentified-flying-objects-and-flyin/1353704246860361/Source snippet
alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and unidentified flying objects.... says 'FACTIFYĞK RELEASE 24 ALIENS AN...
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Source: uapdiscovery.discourse.group
Title: july 4 1947 emmett id the e j smith emmett idaho case
Link: https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/july-4-1947-emmett-id-the-e-j-smith-emmett-idaho-case/228Source snippet
Smith / Emmett, Idaho Case - Blue Book Unknowns - UAP Discovery ForumJuly 4, 2025 — JULY 4, 1947 — EMMETT, ID — THE E.J. SMITH / EMMETT...
Published: July 4, 2025
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/darkhorsecomics/posts/in-1947-flight-105-departed-boise-idaho-for-pendleton-oregon-and-encountered-a-f/817970080366208/Source snippet
In 1947, Flight 105 departed Boise, Idaho for Pendleton...Flight 105 UFO sighting, Boise Idaho 1947 July 4, 1947, At 9:04pm...
Published: July 4, 1947
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Source: scribd.com
Link: https://www.scribd.com/document/51179838/UFOlogy-The-Book-NICAP-DatabaseSource snippet
ly every color of the rainbow has been ascribed to UFOs.Read more...
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Source: gutenberg.org
Link: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17346/pg17346-images.htmlSource snippet
ept the UFO that was picked up on radar, are unknowns.Read more...
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