Document · 24 June 1947
Project Blue Book case file: Mt. Rainier, Washington, June 1947 (Kenneth Arnold)
The Project Blue Book case file on the sighting by the private pilot Kenneth Arnold near Mount Rainier on 24 June 1947, the report that began the modern UFO era, held by the National Archives in its sanitized version of the Blue Book case files. Our copy is the 61 page images from the NARA catalog, OCR'd for search.
It contains the record card, the Air Force's analyses and later summaries, Arnold's correspondence and statements, and press material from 1947. The Air Force concluded that the objects were a mirage; earlier, an analyst had suggested known aircraft.
Source: U.S. National Archives, Project Blue Book (local copy)
Facts and claims
- documented The Project 10073 record card files the sighting of 24 June 1947 at Mt. Rainier, Washington, as nine objects, observed air-visual for 2½–3 minutes by a civilian, “mirror-like reflections which dipped and twisted at a very high rate of speed”, with the conclusion “Other (MIRAGE)”. Source: doc-bluebook-mt-rainier-1947.pdf
- documented A later Air Force summary in the file says the witness timed the objects between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams, 47 miles in one minute and forty-two seconds, which it works out at 1,656 miles per hour, and states: “It is the Air Force conclusion that the objects of this sighting were due to a mirage”, citing the very stable, clear air he described. It also says his description of objects moving like saucers skipping on water “was shortened to ‘Flying Saucers’ by newspaper men”. Source: doc-bluebook-mt-rainier-1947.pdf
- documented An earlier analysis in the file argues that his distance estimates were inconsistent, judges it probable that the objects were travelling at subsonic speeds, and suggests they may have been some sort of known aircraft. Source: doc-bluebook-mt-rainier-1947.pdf
Connected files
Programs
- Project Blue Book (case file of)
Incidents
- Kenneth Arnold sighting near Mount Rainier (documents)
Mentioned in this file
- Kenneth Arnold (Person)
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
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