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In early May 1947, strange
lights appeared in the skies above north-west USA. Nobody paid much attention
until 24th June, when businessman Kenneth Arnold took a detour in his light
aircraft to search for a missing transport plane, for which there was a
substantial reward. He didn't find the missing plane, but what he did discover
earned him world-wide fame.
Arnold spotted a formation of curious objects above Mount Rainier and
assumed they were secret aircraft - hopefully American! Upon landing at
Pendleton in Oregon he described them to the press as crescent-shaped, and
described their movement to Associated Press writer, Bill Becquette as 'like a
saucer skipping across water'. This curious phrase was meant to convey how the
objects bounced through the air, but Becquette misinterpreted Arnold, and
reported that the objects were saucer-shaped, hence coined the term 'flying
saucer'.
Ironically, many science-fiction movies took this description to heart
and made alien craft saucer-like in appearance, purely through a
misrepresentation of the facts. In truth, most UFOs actually look like balls of
light, or are shaped like eggs or cigars. Nonetheless, the world now had a name
for these odd things that people were witnessing. A craze was born that quickly
grew into a phenomenon, and the term 'flying saucer' has simply refused to die.
Within days of Arnold's sighting, the press reported the story that a
'flying saucer' had crashed into ranchland near Roswell, New Mexico on July
2nd. It was quickly explained away as a weather balloon - at least to the
satisfaction of the media of the day. There is still controversy surrounding
this case, which has recently re-emerged into public.
At Villa Santina in Italy on August 14th, a geologist discovered a
mysterious object imbedded into a gully and nearby, came across humanoid beings
about 3 feet tall. Thinking that the geologist's pick was a weapon, the alien
entities struck him with a beam of light fired from a tubular object. He went
tumbling down the mountainside, but luckily escaped with nothing more than a
few bruises. This was the first significant claim to have seen UFO pilots
rather than just a UFO.
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