Joe Simonton's pancakes

[Sandy Band]

I did a quick search and couldn't find any reference to this story having already been posted, but my apologies if it's been mentioned before.

My favourite close encounters story has to be this one.

Essentially, on April 16, 1961 one Joe Simonton of Eagle River, Wisconsin heard a noise, went outside to find a 10m diameter flying saucer near his house. The "aliens" then met him, requested a jug of water, which he duly gave them and, in return they gave him three pancakes, one of which he ate. The saucer then took off, never to be seen again.

The full story is here http://www.ufowisconsin.com/county/reports...0418_vilas.html

This site http://ufos.about.com/library/weekly/aa082399.htm also gives the story but includes the Air Force analysis of the pancakes, as follows

The Air Force reported:

The cake was composed of hydrogenated fat, starch, buckwheat hulls, soya bean hulls, wheat bran. Bacteria and radiation readings were normal for this material. Chemical, infra-red and other dextructive type tests were run on this material. The Food and Drug Laboratory of the U.S Department of Health, Education, and Welfare concluded that the material was an ordinary pancake of terrestrial origin.

It's the details of the story I love. The description of the aliens as "Italian looking", the fact he received three pancakes (of apparantly terrestrial origin) that tasted "like cardboard" and the fact that he seems utterly embarrased by the entire episode.

If ever a story will convince me that visitors from outer space are here it will be something like this!

[Aslan]

What a sublimely ridiculous story. Everything connected to it seems just bizarre in the extreme.

This was my favourite bit:

Palmer reported to the Air Force his belief that Simonton had been hypnotized by an Eagle River real estate broker and was fed the pancake story so that he would repeat it and appear truthful. The motivation for this was economic, for the purpose of "a miniature Disneyland that is or was being built in the area."

They wouldn't even use a storyline like this on Scooby Doo.

[Blood Angel]

I remember mentioning this before, its in one of my books but the part about the real estate broker, was never printed...just goes to show that either this is a case of chinese whisper or the book isn't credile.

[snuffypuffer]

Wow, that is one dumb story.

[Cufflink]

They wouldn't even use a storyline like this on Scooby Doo.

I heard that the whole scam was blown because of those meddlin' kids.