World UFO Day: the Kenneth Arnold caseMarcos Campos
The account
Nine shining objects flying in formation at impossible speeds launched the era of visitors from other worlds.
What investigators found
Proposed explanations include mirages, reflections and flocks of birds. The sighting was never resolved, but it changed 20th-century culture.
The story
On June 24, 1947, pilot and businessman Kenneth Arnold was flying near Mount Rainier, in Washington State, when he saw nine shining objects passing in formation at a speed he calculated to be far greater than any aircraft of the time.
Describing their motion to reporters, he said the objects moved like a saucer skipping across water. The press turned the phrase into "flying saucer," and the term spread around the world. Just days later came the Roswell case. June 24 became World UFO Day.
