Pancakes of Joe Simonton Incident (1961)

On April 18, 1961, Joe Simonton, a chicken farmer in Eagle River, Wisconsin, claimed to have had an encounter with a UFO and its occupants. According to Simonton’s account, he saw a metallic, disc-shaped craft land in his backyard, and the occupants, who he described as “normal looking humans,” gave him four pancakes to eat before taking off and flying away.

The incident gained national attention at the time and was widely reported in the media. Photographs of Simonton holding one of the pancakes were published in newspapers and magazines across the country, and he was interviewed on national television about his experience.

One of the most vocal skeptics of the incident was astronomer J. Allen Hynek, who investigated the case for the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book. Hynek argued that the pancakes Simonton received were likely a combination of potatoes, flour, and grease, and that the UFO he saw could have been a misidentification of a weather balloon.

Despite the skepticism surrounding the incident, it has remained a fascinating and intriguing part of UFO lore, and has been referenced in numerous books and articles on the subject. Among the books written about the incident is “The Eagle River Incident” by Derrel Sims, which explores the claims made by Simonton and others involved in the case.

In addition to Simonton and Hynek, other notable figures involved in the case include local police officers who investigated the incident and the Air Force personnel who interviewed Simonton and examined the pancakes.

The pancakes were analyzed by the Air Force and found to contain no known earthly ingredients, while others claim that the pancakes were simply made from potatoes, flour, and grease as Hynek suggested. Some sources also claim that Simonton received a message from the UFO occupants instructing him to “be of good cheer” and to “spread the word,” while others suggest that Simonton fabricated or exaggerated his story for attention.