July 9, 1947; Midland, Michigan:

Shortly after 5:00 p.m. EST.  Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Edward Lane were picking berries when they heard a kind of "puff" noise nearby. Looking up, they saw a ball of white, sparkling fire, like a 4th of July sparkler, about the size of a bushel basket, no more than a hundred feet away. It was hovering several feet above a stretch of sand. After about 10 or 15 seconds, the fiery object "went out," and the object vanished. The only thing remaining was a peculiar dark substance on the sand, and some metallic fragments. The report, from the Air Force files, is explained as a "Possible hoax." ( IV ­ 2 ) Analysis does not, as such, constitute any proof of a hoax. On the contrary, it seems to confirm that something of an unusual nature did occur, although it does not seem on the face of it to be necessarily connected with UFOs. According to a letter from Lt. Colonel Barnett B. Young, dated August 18, 1947, the incident, while classified as a hoax, "was not initiated by the observer." (Bloecher Case 802, FBI docs)