The International News Service (INS) had a reputation for a "lively" (and sometimes loose) editorial style that thrived on the 1947–1950 flying saucer craze. Because they were the smaller, more aggressive rival to the AP and UP, they often prioritized sensational accounts that built the "crashed saucer" mythology.
Here are a few other notable "hoaxes" or sensational reports distributed by the INS that helped shape modern UFO lore:
1. The Twin Falls "Disc" (July 1947)
Just weeks after the Kenneth Arnold sighting, the INS widely distributed a report of a 30-inch metal disc found in a yard in Twin Falls, Idaho.
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The Story: A local resident claimed to have found a "perfect" saucer-shaped object in his garden.
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The Hoax: FBI and military investigators quickly determined it was a crude hoax made of silver-painted plywood and radio parts.
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Mythological Contribution: This was one of the first cases where the term "recovered hardware" appeared in national headlines. It established the template for the "crashed disc in the backyard" trope that would later be used in more elaborate hoaxes.
2. The Hollywood "Saucer" (July 1947)
The INS was the primary wire service to push the story of a "flying disc" that allegedly landed in the yard of a resident in Hollywood, California.
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The Story: A woman claimed a disc about two feet wide landed with a "hissing sound" and left a burn mark.
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The Hoax: It was discovered to be a practical joke involving a modified hubcap and a smoke bomb.
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Mythological Contribution: Because the INS dateline came from "Hollywood," the story reached international audiences, reinforcing the idea that these objects were small, metallic, and actively "scouting" urban areas.
3. The Silas Newton "Doodlebug" Claims (1949–1950)
While Frank Scully gets the credit for writing the book Behind the Flying Saucers, it was the International News Service that kept the story alive in newspapers before and after the book's release.
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The Story: The INS carried reports of "Dr. Gee" and Silas Newton, who claimed to have access to a crashed saucer in Aztec, New Mexico. They claimed the craft was held together by "magnetic pins" and contained small, child-like beings.
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The Hoax: As mentioned earlier, this was a "long con" to sell oil-detecting "doodlebugs" based on "alien technology."
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Mythological Contribution: This story is the direct ancestor of the "Hangar 18" and "Recovered Bodies" myths. The INS’s decision to treat Newton’s "geophysicist" credentials as legitimate gave the story a veneer of scientific authority it didn't deserve.
4. The INS "Sociological" Report (July 3, 1947)
Interestingly, the INS also wrote one of the first "meta-narratives" about UFOs. On July 3, 1947, an INS report suggested that Kenneth Arnold had simply "broken the ice," and that people were now "seeing things" because they were finally allowed to talk about them.
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The Impact: This report is often cited by historians as the moment the media shifted from reporting "events" to reporting a "craze." By framing it as a social phenomenon while simultaneously printing every wild claim that came across the wire, the INS helped create the feedback loop that AARO noted as "circular reporting."
Key Distinctions
Unlike the Associated Press (AP), which tended to wait for military confirmation, the INS would often run a story with a headline like: "PROSPECTORS FIND MARTIAN DISC IN DESERT" and only add the "Military Denies Claim" part in the final paragraph or in a follow-up piece days later. This "headline-first" approach is why so many 1940s hoaxes are still cited by UFO researchers today—the sensational original report is easy to find, while the tiny retraction a week later remains lost (or is ignored).