The Gallup Poll 1947

August 1947 Gallup Poll" (www.galluppoll.com)

Q. What do you think these saucers are?"

No answer, don't know	33%
Imagination, optical illusions, mirages, etc	29%
Hoax 10% US secret weapon, part of atomic bomb, etc.	15%
Weather forecasting devices	3%
Russian secret weapon	1%
Searchlights on airplanes	2%
Other explanations	9%
Total	102%
(Adds to more than 100% because some gave more than one answer.)

"Guesses ranged all the way from practical to miraculous. Among the later was a woman, citing biblical text, who said it was a sign of the world's end. A man in the West thought the discs were radio waves from the Bikini atomic bomb explosion while another man saw in them a new product being put out by the 'Dupont people.'

"A few people smelled a publicity or advertising stunt, while others felt sure that the saucers were after all only some kind of meteor or comet."