Redmond, Washington UFO Sighting (August 13, 1947) — FBI Files
Federal investigators recorded a sighting of two bright, disc-shaped objects traveling at high speed over Redmond, Washington, in August 1947.
Background
On August 13, 1947, in Redmond, Washington, 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 sighting occurred during a period of intense public and governmental scrutiny regarding aerial phenomena. The summer of 1947 is widely recognized in paranormal studies as the beginning of the modern “flying saucer” era, following the Kenneth Arnold sighting in June 1947 and the Roswell incident in July 1947. During this era, the Pacific Northwest was a significant corridor for both commercial aviation and military activity, making the region a frequent site for reports of anomalous aerial activity.
The incident was formally filed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At the time, the Bureau maintained a standardized procedure for handling reports of unidentified flying objects. Field offices in locations such as Knoxville, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles were tasked with routing such reports to headquarters. This protocol was established primarily for the protection of vital installations and national security, as the post-war period saw heightened anxieties regarding airspace incursions and the technological capabilities of foreign adversaries.
The Incident
The documentation released via the PURSUE program details a specific sighting over Redmond, Washington. On the evening of August 13, 1947, two witnesses and a third observer reported seeing two bright, disc-shaped objects traveling at high speed. The objects were described as wingless, tailless, and tapered, with a physical appearance resembling belly tanks. The movement of the objects was noted as being in a northeasterly direction, where they maintained an equal speed for approximately eight seconds before disappearing from view.
The released FBI file contains specific descriptors used by the observers during the reporting process. The file includes the phrase “FLYING DISCS” and notes the presence of “TWO VERY BRIGHT OJECTS TRAVELING AT AN EXTREME RATE OF SPEED.” Furthermore, the observers explicitly stated that “THE OBJECTS RESEMBLED A BELLY TANK AND THAT THEY WERE NOISELESS.” While the physical characteristics of the objects were described with some detail, the released document does not specify the exact number of witnesses involved in the primary observation.
Analysis and Classification
The witnesses categorized the objects as being disc- or saucer-shaped, a classification that became standard for reports during the late 1940s. This specific morphology—tapered and wingless—aligns with many contemporary reports from the same period, where observers often attempted to relate unknown phenomena to recognizable aeronautical components like fuel tanks or fuselage sections.
All records released under the PURSUE program are designated as unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) by default. The federal government has maintained a position of neutrality regarding the Redmond sighting, having neither concluded that the events were anomalous nor that they were the result of conventional technology. The investigation has not ruled out either possibility.
In the context of 1947, several conventional explanations are typically considered by researchers. These include the presence of experimental aircraft developed during the early Cold War, or the use of weather balloons, specifically those associated with the Project Mogul series, which utilized high-altitude balloons to detect nuclear tests. Other possibilities involve atmospheric optical phenomena, such as sundogs or lenticular clouds, which can create the illusion of solid, moving objects. Additionally, astronomical objects like Venus, the Moon, or meteors appearing near the horizon are often evaluated as potential sources for bright, fast-moving light phenomena.