Silver top-shaped object encountered by hiker — California mountains

A letter forwarded to the FBI via Walter Winchell described a 1947 encounter by Peter Camerlon Jones, who reported observing a large silver metallic object shaped like a child's top approximately one-half block away while hiking in the California mountains. Jones reported the object appeared to contain life, departed silently at high speed within one second of his standing, and knocked him to the ground. FBI Los Angeles field office was directed to locate Jones for interview but could not identify him at the address given.

“"a large silver metal, greenish in color, shaped like a child's top and about the size of the balloons used at County Fairs"; "this so-called flying saucer was off the ground in a second, knocking Jones to the ground"”

Letter originally sent to Walter Winchell; identity of Jones could not be verified by FBI Los Angeles. No physical evidence; single unverified witness. Possibility raised internally that the original letter 'may have been a prank.' OCR quality is moderate; document is 1949 FBI correspondence, noisy but legible for key passages.