The Sighting That Started It All

On June 24, 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying his CallAir A-2 near Mount Rainier, Washington, when he observed nine bright, crescent-shaped objects travelling at speeds he estimated at over 1,700 mph — far beyond any known aircraft of the era. Arnold described their motion as "like a saucer skipping across water," and the press coined the term "flying saucer" from his description.

Arnold's sighting is widely regarded as the event that triggered the modern UFO era. It came just days before the Roswell incident and prompted the U.S. Army Air Forces to launch a formal investigation. Arnold was an experienced, credible pilot with no motive to fabricate his account, and he spent the remainder of his life standing by it.

Lasting Impact

Arnold's sighting triggered hundreds of copycat reports, forced the military to take the subject seriously, and established the cultural template for UFO encounters that persists to this day. He later became involved in early civilian UFO research and wrote The Coming of the Saucers (1952) with Ray Palmer.