The NICAP site has a great collection of sightings, research, and more. Explore them at https://www.nicap.org/chronos/1947fullrep.htm.
In recent news, has been stories of the "3 fingered" alien mummies found in Peru. Claims of an alien presence with possible proof is a mind-shattering idea for many. Most assume the "alien" presence is something that emerged in the 1980's with "ET" attempting to just phone home. Anything earlier is the product of "Buck Rogers" and cinematic menaces from other worlds.
So, when I ran across this 1947 case, I was intrigued.
Feb. 28, 1947; 6 miles south of Lima, Peru. Time not given. While driving C.A.V., witness observed a sand-colored & very shiny disc-shaped object hovering 6-7 feet off the ground. Three figures emerged from it. They looked like mummies. They had a humanoid profile, but their legs were fused together. The hands looked like fingers in mittens, and they had an opposable thumb. The skin was sand-colored, & they had no facial features. There was a transparent area where the eyes should have been.
Hmm...Kenneth Arnold will not see the objects that get coined as "flying saucers" for another four months. The "Roswell Incident" will not happen for another five months.
It is clear in reading the documents of early Air Force files for Project Sign, Grudge, and Blue Book that there was some tension among officials. It had successfully been kept "low key" but small newspapers leaked sightings of people seeing "whatchamacallits", "whirly gigs", and several other labels. All were laughed off with suggestions of drink, visits to eye doctors, and vivid imaginations. Yet, they were being seen in early 1947. Not just in the USA either.
Next examples -
June 8 (??), 1947; 20 mi S. of Maltaw. NICAP File: Evening. Fishermen Pawlu Zammit and others on a boat 20 miles south of Malta were raising their nets with a catch of fish when they saw an object floating on the water's surface that looked like a black submarine. The fishermen were frightened because they thought it looked more like a monster than a submarine, so they quickly pulled in their nets and started the boat's engine. At that moment a bright light from the "submarine" lit up the whole area and "little men" began running over the deck of the object. The fishermen couldn't make out much detail from their boat, but whenever the light illuminated the "little men," they could see some sort of apparatus around their waist. When the witness was asked how tall these men were, he replied, "About the size of a 10-year-old boy." After a few minutes, the "little men" entered the "submarine" which began to glow so brightly that the fishermen couldn't see the object. It then submerged.
June 19, 1947; Webster, Mass. NICAP File: One of the earliest cases of humanoid reports appeared about two weeks later in....Worchester paper -- possibly the Telegram. An older, unidentified, woman saw an occupant inside an object who looked like "a Navy officer."
June 24, 1947; near Pendleton Oregon. NICAP file: Afternoon. A man driving down a remote rural road heard a loud humming sound and driving over a rise, he saw on a nearby field, a large disc shaped craft hovering six-feet off the ground. He could also see two short figures wearing green suits and white helmets standing right underneath the object. The figures suddenly vanished and the craft then shot towards the Columbia River, made a big circle then flew towards the mountains. (HC addition # 728. Source: Bob Gribble, Mufon UFO Journal # 290, Type: C) [Comments: Interesting report that occurred on the same day of the Arnold encounter. Also notable is the clothing description of the little men, which was said to have been green, not the little men themselves.]
Early July, 1947; Nashville, Tennessee. Area of a sighting of a landed disc and two occupants. (Bloecher)
Small occupants...size of a ten year old child...all in 1947. Definitely to be filed under the heading of things that make you go "Hmmmm."
