On the night of April 28, 1949, Percy Waki's wife and another person saw six objects over Catalina Island, California. Waki relayed the report in a letter to Kenneth Arnold, who lived in Idaho.
While a precise number of objects was given, almost nothing else was: no description of their shape, nor an explanation for what they were. The letter was preserved, and the US Air Force investigated the case. Even with the remaining documentation, there wasn't enough information to assess it.
A Report Passed On
Waki resided in Avalon, a city on Catalina Island. He did not write that he saw the objects himself. In the letter, he relayed what his wife and another person reported seeing that night.
The letter was sent to Kenneth Arnold, who lived in Boise, Idaho. This is how a story about a sighting in California reached him. The source of the story is correspondence between Waki and Arnold; it does not describe a conversation with the people who saw the objects.
Six Objects, No Details
The letter stated that the two saw six objects over Catalina. This is the only description preserved about what was seen in the sky. There is no information about their color, size, or movement.
Therefore, it's impossible to know from the letter what passed over the island. The number remains clear, but the objects themselves remain undescribed. The source contains no details that would allow them to be identified or their nature determined.
What the Documents Revealed
The story doesn't rely solely on a later description of the letter. Alongside the letter, there is a handwritten note and documentation from that period. These indicate that the US Air Force determined there wasn't enough information to assess the incident.
What Remains Unknown
It is unknown what the objects looked like or what they were doing over the island. The source offers no conventional explanation, and the Air Force was unable to assess the report due to a lack of details.
We are left with six objects over an island at night — and a letter that doesn't tell us what they were.
