Can the Tulsa saucer photo still be tested?

Introduction

The Tulsa saucer photograph became one of the most widely circulated UFO images to emerge from Oklahoma’s 1965 sighting wave. Taken by 14-year-old Alan R. Smith in Tulsa during the early hours of 2 August 1965, the image appeared to show a brightly coloured disc-shaped object hovering in the night sky. For Hayden Hewes and the civilian UFO network he was building in Oklahoma, the photograph seemed unusually valuable because it came with multiple witnesses, local newspaper scrutiny and a physical negative. Yet the case also became an example of a recurring problem in UFO history: once original photographic materials disappear from view, later claims become much harder to test. The Tulsa image remained famous, but the loss of easy access to the original negative weakened confidence in both believers’ and sceptics’ conclusions. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

Can the Tulsa saucer photo still be tested?

The short answer is only partly.

Researchers can still examine published copies, compare historical accounts and review statements made by investigators. What they cannot easily do is perform the kind of modern forensic analysis that would normally depend on direct access to the original negative and associated photographic materials. That limitation sits at the centre of the Tulsa case.

Unlike a witness report, a photograph appears to offer physical evidence. But photographs are only as useful as the surviving chain of custody. If the original negative is unavailable, damaged, lost or inaccessible, later investigators must rely on reproductions whose evidential value is much lower. The Tulsa image illustrates this problem particularly well because the original negative was reportedly sold to the Oklahoma Journal newspaper and later became difficult for outside investigators to examine directly. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

What witnesses said they saw in Tulsa

According to accounts circulated at the time, Alan Smith and several other witnesses were watching an unusual object over Tulsa at roughly 1:30 to 1:45 a.m. on 2 August 1965. The witnesses reportedly included Smith’s father, who worked as a turbine engine specialist for American Airlines, along with several other observers. They described an object displaying changing colours, shifting from white to red and blue-green. [Think About It Docs]thinkaboutitdocs.com1965 tulsa oklahoma ufo photographSmith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:45 a.m. on 2 August 1965 from his back yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Five other witnesses…R…Published: August 1965

As the object approached and appeared to pause or hover, Alan Smith used a simple camera loaded with ASA 64 film to take a single photograph. By the time he returned outside after handling the camera, witnesses said the object had accelerated away and disappeared. The resulting image showed a saucer-like form with distinct colour bands separated by darker divisions, a far more structured appearance than the bright light witnesses said they initially observed with the naked eye. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

That difference between what people recalled seeing and what the camera recorded is important. UFO photographs often become famous because they appear more detailed than witness descriptions. Yet that same gap can create uncertainty. A camera can capture unexpected visual effects, reflections or distortions that observers never consciously noticed.

How Hewes and the Oklahoma Journal checked the image

The Tulsa photograph became significant partly because it was not published immediately.

According to later accounts, a neighbour contacted Hayden Hewes after learning about the image. Hewes travelled to the Smith home with Cliff King, a photographer from the Oklahoma Journal. Rather than rushing the photograph into print, the newspaper reportedly attempted at least some basic verification. King tried to recreate the conditions under which the image had been taken, photographing from the same location and at a similar time of night in order to see whether camera defects or simple reflections could reproduce the effect. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

The Oklahoma Journal also had its chief photographer, John Gumm, inspect both Smith’s image and the additional film produced during the reconstruction attempt. Reporters and editors interviewed witnesses before deciding whether to publish the story. Only after weeks of examination did the newspaper run the photograph prominently in October 1965. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

Within Oklahoma UFO history, this mattered because it showed the practical role of Hewes’ network. He was not conducting laboratory science, but he was helping connect witnesses, journalists and local investigators. The Tulsa image gained credibility not because it was proven genuine, but because multiple people attempted to check it before publication.

Why the image attracted national attention

The photograph quickly escaped its local Oklahoma setting.

The Oklahoma Journal reportedly purchased the photograph and negative from the Smith family for a modest fee and then published the image. Copies circulated through UFO research groups, newspapers and magazines. The photograph eventually appeared in major national media, including Life magazine in 1966, giving it far wider exposure than most Oklahoma sighting reports ever received. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

The image also arrived during a period of unusually intense UFO reporting across the United States. The summer of 1965 produced a large number of sightings, and investigators were actively searching for photographs that appeared stronger than ordinary witness testimony. The Tulsa image seemed to offer exactly that: multiple witnesses, a named photographer, a newspaper investigation and a visible object rather than a distant point of light. [ufoklubslovensko.webnode.sk]ufoklubslovensko.webnode.skufo 1960 70ufo 1960 70

For supporters of the photograph, later references to analysis conducted for Project Blue Book strengthened its reputation. Some accounts state that Air Force photo analysts concluded the image showed a physical object rather than a simple photographic defect, while also noting similarities to effects produced by photographing a rotating coloured floodlight. That mixed assessment became a defining feature of the case: intriguing, but not conclusive. [Think About It Docs]thinkaboutitdocs.com1965 tulsa oklahoma ufo photographSmith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:45 a.m. on 2 August 1965 from his back yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Five other witnesses…R…Published: August 1965

Why the missing negative weakens later claims

The strongest lesson from the Tulsa photograph is not that it proves an extraordinary object was present. It is that missing evidence changes how confidently any conclusion can be reached.

Accounts associated with Hewes state that copies of the photograph were sent to both Eastman Kodak and Project Blue Book. According to those reports, both organisations indicated that meaningful analysis required access to the original negative rather than copies. Later, when interest in the image increased after national publication, Project Blue Book reportedly sought another examination and specifically requested the original materials. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

This is where the historical trail becomes frustrating. The photograph continued to circulate, but the original negative became increasingly difficult for independent researchers to inspect. Once investigators are working from prints, magazine reproductions or copied negatives, important information is lost. Grain structure, exposure details, retouching marks, processing artefacts and other clues become harder to evaluate.

That limitation affects both sides of the argument:

The result is a case that remains suspended between possibility and uncertainty rather than moving decisively toward confirmation or debunking. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

What alternative explanations remain plausible?

Even investigators who regarded the image as interesting did not necessarily regard it as extraterrestrial.

Published summaries of the Air Force analysis noted visual similarities to photographs of rotating coloured lights. That does not prove a conventional explanation, but it shows that analysts recognised possible optical causes. UFO photography has a long history of ambiguous images in which scale, distance and focus are difficult to determine. A small nearby object can sometimes resemble a large distant craft, while lights photographed at night can produce unexpected shapes and colour patterns. [Think About It Docs]thinkaboutitdocs.com1965 tulsa oklahoma ufo photographSmith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:45 a.m. on 2 August 1965 from his back yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Five other witnesses…R…Published: August 1965

The Tulsa photograph sits in this ambiguous category. The object appears structured, yet the surviving public record does not provide enough accessible physical evidence to eliminate every mundane explanation. At the same time, the available information does not clearly establish a hoax.

That uncertainty is why the image has survived for decades in UFO books and archives. It is striking enough to resist easy dismissal, but incomplete enough to resist confident authentication.

Why the case still matters in Oklahoma UFO history

The Tulsa saucer photograph is important less because of what it proves than because of what it reveals about Oklahoma’s civilian UFO culture during the 1965 flap.

The case shows how Hayden Hewes’ network operated: witnesses contacted local intermediaries, investigators visited the scene, newspaper staff attempted verification and copies were distributed to national organisations. It demonstrates the strengths of that system, because a local sighting was preserved instead of disappearing into rumour. It also demonstrates the weaknesses. Preservation was uneven, documentation was fragmented and crucial physical evidence did not remain readily available for future testing. [edmondlifeandleisure.com]edmondlifeandleisure.comtulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte…

For historians of Oklahoma UFO reports, the Tulsa image therefore occupies an unusual position. It is one of the state’s best-known UFO photographs and one of its most persistent evidential frustrations. The photograph survived. The certainty did not.

Amazon book picks

Further Reading

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Endnotes

1. Source: edmondlifeandleisure.com
   Title: tulsa paperboy made ufo history in p10411 87
   Link: https://edmondlifeandleisure.com/tulsa-paperboy-made-ufo-history-in-p10411-87.htm
   Source snippet

   Tulsa paperboy made UFO history in 196525 Sept 2014 — A neighbor of the Smith's telephoned Hayden Hewes and asked him if he would be inte...

2. Source: ufoklubslovensko.webnode.sk
   Title: ufo 1960 70
   Link: https://ufoklubslovensko.webnode.sk/news/ufo-1960-70/

3. Source: thinkaboutitdocs.com
   Title: 1965 tulsa oklahoma ufo photograph
   Link: https://thinkaboutitdocs.com/1965-tulsa-oklahoma-ufo-photograph/
   Source snippet

   Smith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:45 a.m. on 2 August 1965 from his back yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Five other witnesses...R...

   Published: August 1965

4. Source: Wikipedia
   Title: UFO photographs
   Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_photographs

5. Source: facebook.com
   Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/977293555618189/posts/1108917155789161/
   Source snippet

   Tulsa Oklahoma UFO photograph from 1965August 2, 1965 - Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA...Alan R. Smith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:45...

   Published: August 2, 1965

Additional References

1. Source: theufodatabase.com
   Link: https://theufodatabase.com/ufos/tulsa-oklahoma-ufo-august-1965
   Source snippet

   Tulsa, Oklahoma UFOAlan R. Smith, just 14 years old at the time, captured an intriguing photograph at 1:45 a.m. on August 2, 1965, from h...

   Published: August 2, 1965

2. Source: facebook.com
   Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/271625487184735/posts/1311910273156246/
   Source snippet

   Tulsa, OK UFO sighting from living room windowTulsa Oklahoma UFO photograph... Alan R. Smith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:4...

3. Source: archive.org
   Title: Full text of “Madroño: a West American journal of botany”Wagner, Jr., Alan R
   Link: https://archive.org/stream/madronowe303119831984cali/madronowe303119831984cali_djvu.txt
   Source snippet

   Smith, and Thomas R. Pray 69 A REVISION OF ABUTILON SECT. OLIGOCARPAE (MALVACEAE), INCLUDING A NEW SPECIES FROM MEXxIco, Joan E...Read more...

4. Source: govinfo.gov
   Title: SENATE Impeached,” from the Tulsa (Okla.) Tribune,
   Link: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1950-pt2/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1950-pt2-2.pdf
   Source snippet

   SENATEImpeached," from the Tulsa (Okla.) Tribune. January 28, 1950; an editorial... HAYDEN] sitting here. His father was one of the men...

   Published: January 28, 1950

5. Source: sar.org
   Link: https://www.sar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/XCIV-NO.-2_FALL-1999.pdf
   Source snippet

   heck from the NSSAR for $5,000 and a volume titled "The Maxims of George.Read more...

6. Source: aaa.si.edu
   Title: oral history interview florence kerr 11700
   Link: https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-florence-kerr-11700
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   18-Oct. 3131 Oct 2025 — An unrelated interview of Harry Hewes conducted by H. Phillips is also on reel 2. Summary: An interview of Floren...

7. Source: facebook.com
   Title: This photo started circulating locally after the UFO files
   Link: https://www.facebook.com/TulsaAreaBreakingNews/posts/this-photo-started-circulating-locally-after-the-ufo-files-started-trending-agai/122137260489120425/
   Source snippet

   Smith, aged 14, took this photograph at about 1:45 a. m. on 2 August 1965 from his back yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma...

   Published: August 1965

8. Source: facebook.com
   Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7281843785168302/posts/27061427443449976/
   Source snippet

   about to go looking into it. Just want to know who...

9. Source: facebook.com
   Link: https://www.facebook.com/SWTimesRecord/posts/the-fort-smith-ufo-sighting-of-summer-66-did-you-see-it/10158152772525882/
   Source snippet

   65 from his back yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Read more...

10. Source: enid.org
    Title: 2022 altus trophy nominati
    Link: https://www.enid.org/files/assets/public/v/1/administration/documents/2022-altus-trophy-nominati.pdf
    Source snippet

    2022-altus-trophy-nominati.pdfEnid, Oklahoma and Vance Air Force Base have a long, rich history as “Partners in the Sky.” The partnership...