Potter & Potter Auctions’ Weird Tales Sale Realizes Nearly $390,000

Top results include a 1955 USAF UFO report at $50,400, vintage Polaroids at $19,200, and top-secret UFO ephemera at $9,000

Chicago, IL — October 2026 — Potter & Potter Auctions has announced results from its Weird Tales! UFOs, Curiosities and Tattoos Sale, held October 1, 2026, which realized nearly $390,000 across 570 lots. The top lot of the day, Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14 (Analysis of Reports of Unidentified Aerial Objects) from 1955, soared past its $4,000-$6,000 presale estimate to realize $50,400.

A group of 400-plus original color Polaroids of nude women, taken in Chicago in the 1970s-1980s and estimated at $1,000-$2,000, realized $19,200. The photographs, measuring approximately 4-1/4 x 3-1/4 inches each, appear to have been shot in a strip club or similar performance space.

More than 200 pages of copies of top-secret UFO-related ephemera (Lot 495), attributed to sources including the White House, CIA, the military, and universities, and dating from the 1963-2000 timeframe, realized $9,000 against an estimate of $800-$1,200. The material included maps, photographs, and documents marked “need to know basis” and/or “confidential.”

A whimsical Warhol’s Cat Automaton (Lot 467), designed and constructed by Matt Smith and made in Cornwall by Fourteen Balls Toy Co. in 2015, sold for $4,560 against an estimate of $1,000-$2,000. When activated, the wide-eyed cat attempted to open a can of Campbell’s soup with one claw, while its head spun, tail wagged, and tongue moved back and forth. Hand painted and carved from lime wood, the automaton measured 9-1/4 x 6 x 4 inches.

A Pettibone Sciopticon magic lantern (Lot 446), manufactured in Cincinnati by Pettibone Mfg. Co. in the 1880s, realized $3,600 on an estimate of $800-$1,200. The 12-3/4 x 11-2/3 x 20-1/2 inch example was mounted on a wooden base retaining its original decoratively cast arms, claw feet, and acorn-shaped caps, and was sold together with six revolving color glass slide discs and its original wooden storage case. The model was nicknamed the “Peacock” for its appearance when a disc is loaded.

Seven photographs of Charles Manson (1934-2017) (Lot 158), dating from the mid-1990s, realized $2,880 against an estimate of $700-$900. The group included three 4-1/4 x 3-1/2 inch signed Polaroids taken at Corcoran State Prison, showing Manson posing with a decorated guitar, along with four 4 x 6 inch photographs of guitars, three of them signed.

Joe Slabaugh, Director of Cataloging at Potter & Potter Auctions, noted that while strong results were recorded throughout the day, the concluding section on UFOs was a particular highlight. “The allure of UFO photography and artwork, and the rare opportunity to bid on a secret US military report on the subject, made for an exciting string of lots to end the day,” he said.

Potter & Potter Auctions was founded in 2007 and specializes in paper Americana, vintage advertising, rare books, playing cards, gambling memorabilia, posters, fine prints, vintage toys, and magicana. For more information, visit Potter & Potter Auctions.