How old do you suppose he was in 1947?If he is 75 now that would make him 14 in 1947. Some 14 year olds are intensely interested in such stuff. Some are only interested in baseball but might get a bug on another subject when they are 20.
I have a married couple as friends who swear they saw a flying ship up close in Silver Spring, Md. It was just above the treetops. No blimp. No sound. They swear in a blink of an eye it was gone.
These two have never been known to exaggerate and are very low key. They get very quiet when they talk about it.