Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Wednesday, June 29
    Trending
    • This Day in History on June 29th
    • Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through June 28th)
    • Even More Iconic American Things You Don’t See Anymore!
    • Project Middle East
    • Songs About Eyes
    • June 15, 2022: Your Chance to Preview Elvis
    • Josef Mengele, The Angel of Death
    • 5 More Stupid Rumors
    History and Headlines
    • Arts & Entertainment
      • Cinema & TV
      • Games
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Sports
      • Video Games
    • Bizarre Bulletin
      • Misconceptions
      • The Bizarre
      • The Paranormal
      • The Unexplained
    • Lifestyle
      • Animals/Pets
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Health/Medicine
      • Home Improvement
      • Horoscopes
      • Travel
    • Science & Tech
      • Inventions
      • Nature
      • Vehicles
    • Society
      • Business and Economics
      • Crime
      • Military
      • Politics
      • Religion
      • Society
    • About
      • Welcome to Our Site!
      • This Day in History
      • Table of Contents: A History of the World
      • Online History Textbooks
      • Advance Screenings and Movie Reviews Archive
      • Schedule of Video Adaptations of Our Articles
    • Friends
      • Armchair History TV
      • Fact Fiend
      • RealClearHistory
      • Simply Charly
      • TopTenz
      • ​Unique Interpretations
    History and Headlines
    You are at:Home»June»June 24»June 24, 1947: What Was the First UFO Sighting in the United States?
    June 24

    June 24, 1947: What Was the First UFO Sighting in the United States?

    Major DanBy Major DanJune 24, 2018Updated:May 31, 2022No Comments6 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Kenneth Arnold

    A Brief History

    On June 24, 1947, veteran pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing what he described as a line of shiny UFO’s flying past Mount Rainier (Washington) at a rate of “at least 1200 miles per hour.” The incident, known later as the Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting, was widely reported and became the first post-World War II UFO incident, becoming the first in what is considered the “modern era” of UFO sightings. Arnold’s description of the flat, metallic shiny objects led to the term “flying saucer” that became so familiar with UFO sightings. The incident and worldwide reporting spawned many other reports of UFO’s over the next couple weeks.

    Digging Deeper

    Ken Arnold was a person of considerable credibility, having been a seasoned pilot for many years and having flown 4500 hours of search and rescue missions among his 9000 hours of flight time. He had started a fire suppression business in 1940 and was a graduate of the University of Minnesota. (He was born in Minnesota, raised in Montana, and lived as an adult in Idaho where he founded his company.) While flying on a business trip in a CallAir A-2 light airplane (single engine 2 or 3 seat monoplane, propeller driven, similar to a Cessna 150) Arnold spotted 9 shiny objects whizzing by at high speed past Mount Rainier. (Arnold had diverted his course a bit to look for a lost USMC C-46 transport plane with a $5000 reward offered for anyone that located the plane.) He described the objects variously as similar to pie plates, or half pie plates, thinking at first the objects were a flock of geese, but quickly realized they were too high and fast to be geese. Arnold reported the objects, which he also surmised might be some new form of jet aircraft, were flipping around through the sky in frantic maneuvers, appearing very thin when viewed from the side. Arnold’s later descriptions included expanded details such as one object being crescent shaped and the UFO traveling similar to stones skipping on water. Arnold estimated their distance from his plane at about 23 miles. He lost sight of the objects when they flew behind a local mountain peak.

    Kenneth Arnold’s report to Army Air Forces (AAF) intelligence, dated July 12, 1947, which includes annotated sketches of the typical craft in the chain of nine objects.

    At first Arnold estimated the size of the UFO’s at about 60 feet, but later amended his analysis to claim a size closer to 100 feet across. Army Air Force analysts later used Arnold’s description and his use of range estimation as a basis for delivering an estimate of the size of the UFO’s at 140 to 280 feet across, accounting for human visual acuity. Arnold reported the objects to be flying in a diagonal formation over a distance of about 5 miles from front to back. He said the formation of UFO’s darted through valleys between mountains and at times banked on their edges. His later calculations estimated their speed at 1700 miles per hour. (No, we do not know how he could come up with such a deduction when no aircraft had ever flown that fast before.)

    Arnold told people at the Yakima airport about his observation when he landed, and word quickly spread among airport workers. Arnold later wrote that Yakima airport manager Al Baxter did not believe the story, but apparently some people did, for at least one of them phoned ahead to Arnold’s next destination, an air show at Pendleton, Oregon. When Arnold arrived, people were ready to ask him about his experience, but he did not speak to reporters until the next day. Within 3 days of the incident Arnold was besieged by reporters and other people asking questions and he complained of having constant distractions. Arnold did not reportedly surmise an extraterrestrial origin of the UFO’s until articles appeared on July 7, 1947, including an Associated Press story. Public speculation about the odd sighting included foreign aircraft of some unknown technological advanced state, alien space craft, or even religious implications. By July 19, 1947, Arnold was convinced himself that the objects had been extraterrestrial in origin. Arnold fiercely defended his observations as real and true, and wrote about his experience himself. Arnold seemed desperate for some sort of corroboration of his story.

    Eight Arnold-like objects photographed over Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 12, 1947 (from Tulsa Daily World).

    After the widespread reporting of the Arnold UFO other reports of similar sightings started to reach the news. Reports of “flying saucers” came from locations around the United States and around the world (hundreds of them), and the term “flying saucer” became part of the American lexicon. In fact, Arnold himself had first used the term “flying disc,” and not “flying saucer,” although various news sources gave different details on quotes attributed to Arnold. The infamous “Roswell UFO Incident” allegedly occurred on July 8, 1947 only a couple weeks after the Arnold UFO. Army Air Force analysis of an interview with Arnold concluded that Arnold was an honest man and was telling the truth, though they publicly stated it was their belief Arnold had observed a mirage. Other explanations offered by skeptics include clouds of snow blown off mountain tops, regular clouds, meteors, or even small spots of water on the canopy of Arnold’s plane! Some skeptics were convinced Arnold had seen some sort of flock of birds, perhaps pelicans. (What???)

    By 1950, Ken Arnold reported 3 more sightings of UFO’s, and of course many others had reported other UFO incidents. Arnold wrote a book about his experiences, The Coming of the Saucers, in 1952. The book was self-published. Ken Arnold died at the age of 68 in 1984 in Boise, Idaho, leaving an indelible legacy on the subject of UFO’s. His CallAir A-2 that he was flying on the fateful day in 1947 is on display at the North Cascade Vintage Aircraft Museum in Concrete, Washington reportedly still flyable.

    Question for students (and subscribers): Do you believe Ken Arnold saw something not of the Earth in 1947? Feel free to offer your opinions or any further information about this intriguing incident in the comments section below this article.

    On June 26, 1947, the Chicago Sun coverage of the story may have been the first use ever of the term “flying saucer”.

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    Arnold, Kenneth and Raymond Palmer.  The Coming of the Saucers.  CreateSpace, 2014.

    O’Connel, Mark.  The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs.  Dey Street Books, 2017.

    The featured image in this article, an image by Crobard~commonswiki, has been released into the public domain worldwide by the copyright holder of this work.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous Article10 More Symbols of the Cold War
    Next Article June 25, 1947: Boxer Jimmy Doyle Killed in Title Fight with Sugar Ray Robinson
    Major Dan

    Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

    Related Posts

    Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through June 28th)

    June 28, 2022

    Josef Mengele, The Angel of Death

    June 6, 2022

    5 More Stupid Rumors

    May 30, 2022
    Follow Us!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Patreon
    Sign Up For Our Newsletter!
    Most Recent

    This Day in History on June 29th

    June 29, 2022

    Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through June 28th)

    June 28, 2022

    Even More Iconic American Things You Don’t See Anymore!

    June 27, 2022

    Project Middle East

    June 17, 2022

    Songs About Eyes

    June 13, 2022
    This Day in History Video

    Advertisements




    Amazon Affiliate Disclosure Statement

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via links in the “Historical Evidence” sections of articles.

    About HistoryAndHeadlines.com

    Thanks for visiting History and Headlines!  This site exists primarily for educational purposes and is intended as a resource for Dr. Zar’s students.  Articles are mostly written by either Dr. Zar or his dad (Major Dan).  To any guest readers, please keep that in mind when commenting on articles.   Thank you!

    We try to present our students with historical topics that are both diverse and a bit out of the ordinary.  Our motto is “We try until we succeed!”

    Contact us at admin@historyandheadlines.com

    Guidelines and Policies for Images used on This Site, as well as for Guest and Sponsored Articles

    Privacy Statement

    © 2022 History and Headlines

    All-Time Most Commented

    July 28, 1866: 18 Year Old Girl Wins Commission to Sculpt Statue of Lincoln (A Truly Great American Woman)

    July 28, 2014

    December 24, 1865: Birth of the Ku Klux Klan

    December 24, 2015

    December 25, 1868: President Johnson Pardons all Confederate Veterans

    December 25, 2015

    February 5, 1909: First Plastic Invented was called Bakelite!

    February 5, 2014

    November 23, 1876: “Boss” Tweed Turned Over to Authorities

    November 23, 2013
    Recommended Book
    © 2022 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Posting....

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

    You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

    History and Headlines
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.