Pentagon UFO files show 1947 Newsday blurb sparked FBI probe

WASHINGTON — It was 1947, the start of the Cold War, and a Hicksville woman alerted the FBI about an ominous, interstellar-themed warning she’d decoded within a cryptogram puzzle published by Newsday.

"Tired of Human Nonsense Wont Await Atomic War Disrupting Order Solar System So Sent Flying Disks And Will Set Up World Order Under Martians Late This Year," that decoded message read.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation lab confirmed the woman’s deciphering to be "substantially" correct. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover then got involved.

This story can be found as part of the Pentagon's trove of other never-before-seen documents released Friday from decades of inquiries tied to unidentified anomalous phenomena — otherwise known as unidentified flying objects.

"Whereas previous administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new documents and videos, the people can decide for themselves, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Have Fun and enjoy!" reads a social media message posted by President Donald Trump on Friday. The files are found on the Department of Defense website, with more cases to be added.

Included is the case involving the Hicksville woman, spelled out in faded and torn typewritten duplicate pages, with smeared ink and handwritten notations that hark back to Cold War-era government bureaucracy, and stationery.

What is described begins with her writing on July 10, 1947, to the FBI: "Enclosed you have a clipping which speaks for itself. ... If my decoding is correct, it is no joke. Please read."

She enclosed her deciphering of the  puzzle that was published — unsolved — as part of a readers "mailbox" column. The column described it as being "a shortwave message" received by an unidentified ham radio operator who couldn’t figure out what it meant. 

The FBI lab confirmed it had deciphered the message, too, as a warning that flying discs  were being sent to Earth.

A letter bearing Hoover’s name was sent back, informing the woman an agent would interview her. Hoover also instructed his agents to contact Newsday.

According to a memo, the city editor advised agents the letter with the coded message had been signed only "Radio Ham," and that the paper had no way of determining the author’s identity.

An FBI agent wrote in that memo: "It was the City Editor’s opinion that the code had been made up by some local ‘screwball’ who had been affected by all of the newspaper publicity that had been given to stories concerning ‘flying discs.’ "

The same memo noted the Federal Communications Commission kept records of area amateur ham radio operators and perhaps it had information that could help the FBI identify the person.

But instead, the memo’s final recommendation was that no further action be taken.