On June 24, 1947, a single pilot on a routine flight over Washington State unwittingly set in motion one of the most enduring mysteries of the modern era. Kenneth Arnold, a respected businessman and seasoned aviator, reported seeing a formation of strange, fast-moving objects near Mount Rainier. His account, quickly dubbed the “flying saucer sighting,” became a media sensation and is often considered the spark that ignited the modern UFO age (Smithsonian Air & Space).
Who Was Kenneth Arnold?
Arnold was born in 1915 in Minnesota and later settled in Boise, Idaho. By the 1940s he was a successful businessman and family man, selling fire control equipment while flying his own plane across the western United States (History.com). With over 4,000 hours logged, he was no amateur; he often assisted in search-and-rescue missions. He was married with children, well respected in his community, and considered reliable by local authorities (HistoryLink.org).
The Flight Over Mount Rainier
On that clear June afternoon, Arnold was flying a CallAir A-2 monoplane. He had departed Chehalis, Washington, and was heading for Yakima. Part of his trip was business, but he was also scanning the mountains for a missing Marine transport plane, tempted by a $5,000 reward. As he approached Mount Rainier at around 9,200 feet, he saw a sudden flash that drew his eye (HowStuffWorks).
The Sighting
Arnold described nine objects flying in a chain formation, darting and dipping with unusual agility. He estimated their size at 40–50 feet across, with speeds topping 1,000 mph—far faster than any known aircraft of the day (National Air & Space Museum).
They weren’t shaped like conventional planes. Arnold likened them to thin, flat discs or crescents, flashing in the sunlight as they tipped. When explaining their motion, he said they moved “like a saucer would if you skipped it across water,” a phrase journalists shortened into the famous term “flying saucer” (KIRO7 News).
Estimating Speed and Direction
Using Mount Rainier and Mount Adams as reference points, Arnold calculated their speed at roughly 1,700 mph. This was astonishing in 1947, when the fastest jets maxed out around 600 mph. The formation tracked southward along the Cascade range before disappearing within minutes (Wikipedia).
Aftermath and Media Sensation
Arnold reported the sighting in Yakima. Local authorities and the press quickly picked up the story. Within days, newspapers nationwide were running headlines about “flying saucers,” and similar reports surged across America (History.com).
The U.S. military interviewed Arnold but never reached a conclusive explanation. Some suggested experimental aircraft, mirages, or reflections, though Arnold himself insisted he saw real, physical craft of unknown origin. His credibility—an experienced pilot with no history of exaggeration—made the case difficult to dismiss (CIA FOIA Archive).
Legacy
The Mount Rainier sighting is widely regarded as the birth of the modern UFO era. The term “flying saucer” entered the global lexicon, and Arnold became an accidental celebrity. Though he continued to talk about UFOs in later years, he remained primarily a businessman, husband, and father until his death in 1984.
Whether the objects were advanced military craft, natural phenomena, or something even more extraordinary, Kenneth Arnold’s testimony endures as one of the most important and best-documented UFO encounters in history (Skeptical Inquirer
