Kenneth Arnold was an American pilot and businessman who reported seeing flying objects near Mount Rainier in 1947, and his account helped popularize the term "flying saucer."
Kenneth Albert Arnold was an American businessman and private pilot, born on March 29, 1915, and died on January 16, 1984. On June 24, 1947, while flying near Mount Rainier in Washington State, he reported seeing nine objects moving rapidly in formation. The report gained widespread publicity and is considered one of the first widely publicized UFO sightings in the United States; it also helped popularize the term "flying saucer."
Following his report, similar sightings emerged across the United States and worldwide, and Arnold continued to speak and write about UFOs. The exact nature of the objects he saw was never clarified. A later investigation by the US Air Force concluded that he likely saw a mirage or lenticular clouds above mountain peaks.
Arnold was an American businessman and private pilot who became famous for a UFO report in 1947.
According to him, he saw nine objects moving rapidly in formation near Mount Rainier. Their exact nature was never clarified.
His report helped popularize the term "flying saucer"; the facts provided do not state that he coined it.
A later investigation by the US Air Force concluded that Arnold likely saw a mirage or lenticular clouds above mountain peaks.