Sighting record / 1947

The Caherciveen "Doughnut" Disc

c. 1947 · Caherciveen, Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland

23Thinly documented UAP Disc / saucer 11 sources

Summer 1947. The world was talking about flying saucers. Then the craze reached the far south-west of Ireland. Michael O'Sullivan, of Caherciveen in County Kerry, looked up. A disc like a doughnut, about five feet across. A white halo. A hollow centre. It skimmed in from the north-west at high speed and made no sound at all. O'Sullivan pointed it out to four other witnesses, and for about ten seconds they watched it cross the sky near the Lakes of Killarney. A statement went to the gardaí. It stayed in the Irish Defence Forces UFO file until the file was released in 2007.

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Key facts

When	c. 1947
Time of day	not recorded
Where	Caherciveen, Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry,Ireland
Duration	about 10 seconds
Witnesses	5
Witness roles	civilians
Found	declassified documents
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	Garda statement filed in the Irish Defence Forces UFO file
Status	undisputed

The object

A flat, circular disc like a doughnut, about five feet across, with a white halo or rim and a hollow centre, "like a big wheel or large plate". It skimmed in from the north-west at high speed, "faster than a motor car", and moved soundlessly at about 1,000 feet. One account calls it spinning.

Size	about 1.5 m (about five feet across)
Altitude	about 305 m
Colour	white
Sound	no sound
Motion	high speed
Duration	10 seconds

Shannon / Kerry Coast Airline Pilot Sightings (related)
The 1947 Flying Disc Craze: America's First Flying Saucer Wave (same wave)
The Falcarragh Bog "Flying Iron", County Donegal, 1984 (related)
The Boherlahan "Fried Egg" UFO, County Tipperary (1984) (related)

The summer of the saucers

Summer 1947. On 24 June, Kenneth Arnold's sighting was reported. On 8 July, Roswell made the news. Newspapers everywhere were full of flying saucers. Within days, the craze had reached the far south-west of Ireland.

Sources (11, most influential first)

Irish UFOs blast into the light after 37 years in twilight zone · The Irish Times· 2007-09-20 · Academic / paper of record · news
Truth (Sydney), 13 July 1947: New 'Saucer' Reports At Biscay, Killarney (transcription) · Patrick Gross, UFOs in the daily Press · Research organisation · org report
First flying saucer sighting reported in County Kerry in 1947 five days after Roswell UFO incident · IrishCentral· 2013-07-10 · Press, book, documentary · news
Mr. M and Defence Forces · Office of the Information Commissioner· 2021 · Official document · gov doc
1947 flying disc craze · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki