IN 1948 - 'MIDGET HELICOPTER HERALDED AS BOON TO AERIAL STUDIES"

It had weighed only 15 pounds, carried a payload of 10 pounds,

1948 Aero Digest

and could be carried in a suitcase.

The U.P. story datelined Buffalo, New York told that two aviation engineers, John E. Duncan and W. Hewitt Bayley (some articles show it as Baylor) (Duncan and Bayley Research Labs) had developed a midget helicopter they named "Skyhook".  In June of 1948 there had been nine versions to date and the current model under development for the past year.

It reached altitudes of 500-100 feet, could travel 30 mph in high winds and had emerged from small prototypes and versions used for radar target work. It had applications for mirco wave shadow probing of antenna and early television development, photography survey applications, and as a scanning platform radar.  Plans were to develop a full scale rotorwinged craft utilizing auto pilot.

In essence the first drone?

If nine versions had been turned out - and tested - prior to the mid-year 1948 article could they account for a portion (only a portion) of some of the UFO stories of the 1947 to 1950 years?

There are some tales of small, darting, wobbling objects with 'swishing', 'whizzing' and 'whirring' sounds.  Their small size has often made them seem more outliers rather than part of a 'mainstream' group matching other descriptions as to size, movement, shape, and color.




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Some additional information can be found on this page along with a drawing of the 'Skyhook Midget Helicopter'. 

News articles supplying this fascinating story include:
Breckinridge American (TX), June 2, 1948, pg. 4
Sapulpa Herald (OK), July 15, 1948, pg. 9