UFO reports and atomic sites
Since 1947, United States media coverage has speculated that UFO reports might be linked to atomic sites. In June 1947, the start of the Cold War led to domestic UFO reports being taken seriously by both military and media. On July 6, 1947, media nationwide claimed that the ongoing "flying saucer" craze was linked to "transmutation of atomic energy", though experts later dismissed that claim as gibberish. In 1968, Air Force debunker J. Allen Hynek, in the wake of controversy over his claim that a UFO report had been caused by swamp gas, floated the suggestion that reports might be tied to the atomic phenomenon.
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