The sighting
Kenneth Arnold was a Boise businessman and an experienced pilot. On the afternoon of June 24, 1947, he was flying his CallAir A-2 from Chehalis to Yakima. He detoured to search for a missing Marine transport near Mount Rainier. At about 3:00 p.m. a bright flash caught his eye. He saw a chain of nine objects flying north to south, passing in front of Rainier and toward Mount Adams. They weaved between the peaks. They flashed as they banked.
Arnold used the distance between the two mountains and a stopwatch estimate of the time the objects took to cross. The figure he reached was above 1,200 mph. Far faster than any known aircraft. He estimated the objects' size by comparing them to a DC-4 he could see in the distance.
The 'flying saucer'
Arnold described the objects as thin and flat. Some were crescent-shaped. He told reporters they moved 'like a saucer if you skip it across the water'.
The Associated Press dispatch was picked up nationally. The phrase 'flying saucer' stuck. Arnold said he had been describing the motion, not the shape.
Aftermath
Within weeks hundreds of sightings were reported across the United States, including Roswell in early July. The Army Air Forces interviewed Arnold. The case later appeared in Project Sign and Project Blue Book files.
Explanations offered over the years include a flock of pelicans, mirages, and reflections. Arnold rejected all of them. He later wrote a book, The Coming of the Saucers, with Ray Palmer.
Why it matters
This is the event that named the phenomenon. It set the pattern for the credible-witness single sighting. And its timing made it the spark for the 1947 wave.
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