REALL 1997 V05N06

The 50th anniversary of the flying saucer phenomenon is upon us, and thoughts time-warp back to the case that started it all, Kenneth Arnold's sighting of nine objects speeding by Mount Rainier on a sunny June afternoon. At the time it was a sensation which made the front page of newspapers across t

to the case that started it all, Kenneth Arnold's sighting of nine objects speeding by Mount Rainier on a sunny June afternoon. At the time it was a sensation which made the front page of newspapers across the nation. Faster than any airplane of the era, Arnold's objects were a puzzle that eluded qu

PENDELTON, Ore., June 25 (AP) -- Nine bright saucer-like objects flying at "incredible speed" at 10,000 feet altitude were reported here today by Kenneth Arnold, a Boise, Idaho, pilot who said he could not hazard a guess as to what they were. Arnold, a United States Forest Service employee engaged i

at 10,000 feet altitude were reported here today by Kenneth Arnold, a Boise, Idaho, pilot who said he could not hazard a guess as to what they were. Arnold, a United States Forest Service employee engaged in searching for a missing plane, said he sighted the mysterious objects yesterday at 3 P.M. Th

he sighted the mysterious objects yesterday at 3 P.M. They were flying between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams, in Washington state, he said, and appeared to weave in and out of formation. Arnold said he clocked and estimated their speed at 1,200 miles an hour. As Martin Kottmeyer has related to us in

As Martin Kottmeyer has related to us in an earlier article ("The Saucer Error," May, 1993, V. 1, #4), the news release actually got it wrong; the objects were not saucer-shaped, but rather Arnold had said the objects "flew erratic, like a saucer if you skip it across the water." He said the objects

1, #4), the news release actually got it wrong; the objects were not saucer-shaped, but rather Arnold had said the objects "flew erratic, like a saucer if you skip it across the water." He said the objects "were not circular," but the reporter apparently misunderstood and thus arose the term, "flyin

Arnold had said the objects "flew erratic, like a saucer if you skip it across the water." He said the objects "were not circular," but the reporter apparently misunderstood and thus arose the term, "flying saucer." Unusual aerial phenomena, all well acknowledge, long pre-date the Arnold case, but h

the objects "were not circular," but the reporter apparently misunderstood and thus arose the term, "flying saucer." Unusual aerial phenomena, all well acknowledge, long pre-date the Arnold case, but his report set fire to a controversy which made it a benchmark in the history of the subject. Whethe

With some 80 skeptics and interested individuals filling the partitioned room at the Ramada Plaza Hotel near Chicago's O'Hare airport, Tom Flynn, director of the Center for InquiryInternational in Amherst, New York, set the tone for two-day workshop by decrying the "paranormal hucksterism" and "cult