William Albert Rhodes, the Subject of Character Assassinations Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

Greetings. The Rhodes UFO photographs. 

The photographs were reportedly taken on July 7th of 1947, by amateur inventor and astronomer William Albert Rhodes. The images were originally printed in The Arizona Republic newspaper on July 9th, along with Rhodes's own account of his sighting of the unidentified object. Published during the 1947 wave, the photographs were among the first showing an unidentified flying object. Despite the intervening seventy-plus years, they are still the subject of heated debate and controversy in UFO circles. 

On June 24th of 1947, Kenneth Arnold reported that he had observed nine unidentified flying objects flying over Washington State. From his description of the unknowns, the press coined the term flying saucers. By June 27th, unidentified flying objects were being reported nationwide, with sightings beginning to occur in Arizona by the second week of July. The Arizona Republic published a story on July 7th about Tempe resident Francis Howell, who reported seeing a "circular object about two feet in diameter floating to the earth" near his residence. According to Howell, when he approached the object, it "slowly went into the air at a 45-degree angle headed in the direction of Phoenix." On July 8th, the same newspaper reported on two "silvery balls" seen in the skies north of Phoenix. The article stated that the objects were "estimated to be about twice as large as an airplane."

In 2015, files were released that detailed the official investigation into Rhodes and his photographs. On July 8th of 1947, the FBI obtained copies of the photographs from the managing editor of The Arizona Republic. By August 29th, Rhodes was interviewed by Special Agent Brower of the FBI and George Fugate Jr. of the Army's Counterintelligence Corps at Hamilton Air Field. Rhodes willingly gave the two men the photographs and the original negatives. Two officers from Air Materiel Command eventually visited Rhodes at his residence in Phoenix to conduct further interviews. By 1949, the Air Force had internally published its first top secret study of unidentified flying objects, entitled "Analysis of Flying Object Incidents in the United States." The Rhodes photographs were contained within the report. The U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book designated the case "Incident 40." 

The Air Force stated in a report that it had consulted four expert photographers about the Rhodes photographs, and they had "disagreed with each other as to the possibility of filming such an occurrence under the conditions described. Considering that the object was grey as described, and at a distance of 2000 feet, it seems unlikely that it would appear pure black on the print." The report also noted that Rhodes referred to himself as chief of staff of a laboratory, the specialties of which included photography, additionally stating, "Yet, the negative was carelessly cut and faultily developed. It is covered with streaks and over a period of six months, has faded very noticeably." Notably, an agent had discovered that the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, which of late had been including UFO reports submitted by readers, had printed a letter from Rhodes, in which he asked the magazine for advice on taking legal action against the U.S. government to get back his photographs and negatives. In reality, Rhodes had never made a request to the government for their return. The report also noted, Rhodes' "character and business affiliations are presently under investigation." Finally, the report stated that "Dr. Irving Langmuir studied subject photographs, and after learning of the prior passage of a thunderstorm, discounted the photographed object as being merely paper swept up by the winds. In view of the apparent character of the witness, the conclusion by Dr. Langmuir seems entirely probable." 

Langmuir later recalled: "It looked to me like a piece of tar paper when I first saw it and the two photographs showed the thing in entirely different shapes. It was taken about fifteen or twenty minutes after a violent thunderstorm out in Ohio. Well, what's more natural than some piece of tar paper picked up by a little miniature twister and being carried a few thousand feet up into the clouds and it was coming down, that's all." Further, "Of course the man who saw it didn't have the vaguest idea of how far away it was. That's the trouble. If you see something that's up in the sky, a light or any kind of an object, you haven't the vaguest idea of how big it is. You can guess anything you like about the speed. You ask people how big the moon is. Some say it is as big as your fist, or as big as a baseball. Some say as big as a house. Well, how big is it really? You can't tell by looking at it." 

On the same day that Rhodes claimed to have taken his photographs, it was reported that the FBI was investigating a letter received by the Los Angeles Examiner, asserting that the flying discs that had been widely sighted were atomic-powered Soviet military apparatus. The newspaper had consulted with a "top-flight atomic scientist" who assessed the letter as "not all nonsense" and recommended that it be turned over to the proper authorities.

The U.S. Air Force's investigations into Rhodes and his photographs amounted to a series of subjective opinions and attacks on Rhodes' character and alleged motivations. None of this proves that Rhodes photographed an alien spacecraft, the photographs remain unexplained, but it does demonstrate the efforts and motivations of the powers that be. It is clear that legitimate investigative efforts were not a part of the Air Force's mandate.

Thank you for your time and consideration.