IncidentKenneth Arnold sighting (24 June 1947)
Private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported nine crescent-shaped objects flying in formation near Mt. Rainier at an estimated 1,200 mph — the sighting from which the phrase 'flying saucer' was coined, mistakenly.
What's documented
Arnold was searching for a downed C-46 Marine transport on a $5,000 reward when he saw nine objects flying south past Mt. Rainier toward Mt. Adams. He timed their passage between the two peaks at 1 minute 42 seconds, which — given the 50-mile separation — placed their speed at roughly 1,700 mph. His actual description to journalist Bill Bequette of the East Oregonian was that the objects flew “like a saucer would if you skipped it across water.” Bequette’s wire report compressed this to “flying saucer,” and the phrase entered the language within 48 hours.
Notable & intriguing
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Arnold timed the nine objects' transit between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams at 1 minute 42 seconds over a 50-mile baseline; the implied speed of approximately 1,700 mph exceeded any known aircraft of 1947 by a factor of three.
Arnold's signed statement to Army Air Forces intelligence, 12 July 1947, Project Sign file
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Arnold described the objects' shape as crescent or boomerang-like, never as a 'saucer'; the phrase was a journalistic compression by East Oregonian reporter Bill Bequette of Arnold's analogy 'like a saucer would if you skipped it across water.'
Bequette interview, Pendleton East Oregonian, 25 June 1947; UPI wire, same date
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Within two weeks of the Arnold report, the Air Materiel Command at Wright Field had logged 850 'flying disc' sighting reports from across the United States.
AMC intelligence summary, 30 July 1947, Project Sign file