Chandler, Arizona UFO Sighting (July 7, 1947) — FBI Files
On July 7, 1947, William Rhoads photographed unidentified objects flying in circular patterns at high speeds near Chandler, Arizona.
Background
On July 7, 1947, in Chandler, Arizona, U.S. government investigators recorded an unidentified-object incident later released to the public on May 8, 2026, as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). This event occurred during a period of significant atmospheric and social preoccupation with aerial phenomena across the American Southwest. The incident is one of the first wave of “flying saucer” reports that swept the United States following the Kenneth Arnold sighting of June 1947 and the Roswell incident of July 1947. During this era, the sudden influx of reports regarding unidentified aerial phenomena led to widespread public speculation and heightened scrutiny of the national airspace.
The geography of the Phoenix metropolitan area, including Chandler, has historically been a focal point for such observations due to its clear desert skies and proximity to various military installations. During the post-World War II period, the United States was undergoing a rapid expansion of its aerospace capabilities, and the presence of experimental aviation technology was a common variable in aerial sightings. The Chandler case was filed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose Knoxville, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and other field offices routed UFO reports to headquarters under the Bureau’s standing protocols for the protection of vital installations. This administrative routing suggests that the Bureau viewed these reports through the lens of national security and the potential for unauthorized incursions into restricted or sensitive airspace.
What the document records
On July 7, 1947, William Rhoads photographed unidentified objects near his home in Chandler, Arizona. The objects were observed flying at high speeds and making circular patterns. The estimated height of the objects was 1000 feet. While the specific number of witnesses is not specified in the released document, the presence of photographic evidence indicates a documented attempt to capture the phenomenon for verification.
The documentation provided in the FBI files includes specific details regarding the timing of the photographic captures. The file contains a verbatim note describing the movement of the subjects: “The pictures were taken as the object passed in front of Mr, Rhoads, and Exhibit 2 as the object turned towards Mr. Rhoads.” This description provides a brief glimpse into the flight path of the objects, suggesting a maneuverable trajectory rather than a linear, ballistic, or simple drifting motion. The case is notable because it includes photographic or video evidence of the unidentified object, a rarity among the many anecdotal reports of the 1940s.
Type of case and status
The case is classified as an unidentified object incident involving photographic evidence. All records released under the PURSUE program are designated unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) by default. The federal government has not concluded that the events were anomalous, has not concluded that they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility.
When evaluating sightings from this specific historical window, investigators often consider various conventional candidates. These include experimental aircraft testing, which was frequent in the Arizona desert, or weather balloons, particularly those associated with the Project Mogul series in the late 1940s designed to detect Soviet nuclear tests. Other possibilities include atmospheric optical phenomena such as sundogs and lenticular clouds, or astronomical objects including Venus, the Moon, and meteors appearing near the horizon. Despite the presence of photographic evidence in the Rhoads case, the official status of the July 7, 1947, event remains officially unverified and unresolved.