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Era of the Flying Saucers

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Era of the Flying Saucers [ INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL Joe Nickell is CSI’s senior research fellow. A former stage magician, private investigator, scholar (PhD in English, with an emphasis on literary investigation and folklore), and forensic writer, he is author of numerous books, including The Science of Miracles (2013). Era of the Flying Saucers ilot Kenneth Arnold’s sighting of being seen from a farm “some six miles I:40). (Arnold also reportedly told the nine streaking objects near Mount north of this city,” refers to Dallas, not Chicago Daily Tribune the objects were PRainier in Washington state on Denison (“A Strange Phenomenon” “shaped like a pie plate,” but that was June 24, 1947, described the objects as 1878). not precisely true, since he later speci- moving like “a saucer skipped across The farmer was paraphrased as stat- fied that, although they were wide and water” (qtd. in Ruppelt 1956, 27). This ing that when he first noticed it, it was flat, one was crescent-shaped and the caused a reporter to dub them “flying about the (comparative) size of an or- other eight had pointed trailing edges saucers.” Yet others claim the term ange, but when overhead it “was about [Gross 2001].) Before long, flying sau- originated in the previous century, the size of a large saucer,” moving with cer began to make it into dictionar- when, indeed, there were also what considerable speed. Given its “peculiar ies (e.g., Webster’s 1951, 253). Almost would eventually be known as uniden- shape,” the newspaper continued, he immediately, “flying disc” (or “disk”) tified flying objects. Here is the story of “thought that it resembled, as well as became a synonym for “flying saucer” the coming of the saucers. he could judge at such a distance, a bal- (Webster’s 1951, 253), as did “flying loon, which seemed to him to be the object,” “flying light,” even “flying what- Earlier ‘Flying Saucer’? most reasonable solution of the strange sit” (Clark 1998, 2: 1064; Keyhoe 1950, phenomena.” 53). Sometimes the term was simply Various sources agree with UFOlogist Although the article describes what shortened to “saucer”—whether as an and ghost promoter Dennis William some would today consider a UFO, it adjective (“saucer crashes”) or noun Hauck (1996, 42) regarding “flying nowhere contains the words flying sau- (“sausage-like saucer”). There were saucers,” that “The term had been cer and, indeed, specifically indicates numerous word extensions, variants, used as early as 1878, by a farmer it was neither saucer shaped, nor (like and whimsies: “Project Saucer,” “Great describing an object that passed over Kenneth Arnold’s objects) moving in Flying Saucer Scare,” “flying saucer,” Denison, Texas.” However, that state- the manner of a skipped saucer. The “saucerian,” “saucer-men” (extraterres- ment is filled with misinformation, word saucer was only invoked to indicate trials), “saucerlike,” “saucer-shaped,” due to writers failing to seek out the (very imperfectly) the object’s size—not and so on and on. The late James reported source and instead copying its real size (that of a balloon), but its Moseley, a put-on artist of UFOlogy from other writers. apparent size if a saucer were held up and publisher of Saucer Smear, even The report in question did appear for a two-dimensional comparison. pretended to represent an organiza- in the January 25, 1878, Denison Daily tion named SAUCERS (an acronym News of Denison, Texas; however, in for Saucer And Unexplained Celestial Saucers, Discs, and UFOs searching out that source, one learns it Events Research Society) (Clark 1998, was reprinted from another paper, namely So the term flying saucer was actually 2: 816, 817, 1064; Peebles 1995, 40, 56; the Dallas Herald (sic), as indicated by coined in 1947. Arnold told a reporter Wilkins 1954, 46, 127; Sheaffer [1980] a notation at the bottom of the arti- of a Pendleton, Oregon, newspaper, 1986, 52). A critic (Ruppelt 1956, 27) cle. (Actually, the original source was the East Oregonian, that the crafts referred to “the bards of saucerism” The Dallas Daily Herald, just two days were “saucer-like” (Bequette 1947), (i.e., proponents). The term saucerology earlier [“A Strange Phenomena” (sic) and headline writers later began to came more recently (Sachs 1980, 282). 1878].) So the reference to an object refer to “flying saucers” (Clark 1998, The saucers inspired seemingly 16 Volume 38 Issue 6 | Skeptical Inquirer endless books on the subject, the ear- • June 24, 1947: Arnold’s “Flying Saucers.” Jerome Clark (1998, I: 214) observes, liest of which was Donald E. Keyhoe’s UFO expert Major James McGaha “the story sounds more like a practical The Flying Saucers Are Real (1950). Key- (USAF retired) has identified these as joke than a serious report.” hoe (1897–1988) was a retired Marine probable “mountain-top mirages.” (For • Mid-July 1947: Maury Island, Washington, Corps pilot turned freelance writer. In a discussion, see McGaha and Nickell report. A man identifying himself as a 1949, True, the men’s magazine, as- 2014.) harbor patrolman was allegedly boating signed Major Keyhoe to a saucer story, • July 4, 1947: first photo. What Ruppelt with his son and two crewmen on June and his resulting article in the January (1956, 32) describes as “the first photo” 21 when he saw a group of donut-shaped 1950 issue was expanded into a paper- of a UFO was taken in Seattle. He saucers above. One showered a slag-like back book written in “the breathless, states, “After much publicity it turned material and metallic flashes over them, pulpy style that would characterize all of out to be a weather balloon.” killing his son’s dog and injuring the his UFO books”—including Flying Sau- • July 8, 1947: Roswell Incident reported. boy’s arm. The man’s superior took cers from Outer Space (1953), The Flying The Roswell Daily Record headlined, some of the extraterrestrial material Saucer Conspiracy (1955), Flying Saucers: “RAAF [Roswell Army Air Field] to Ray Palmer, publisher of Amazing Top Secret (1960), and Aliens from Space Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Stories. He enlisted Kenneth Arnold (1973) (Clark 1998, 1: 558–561). Roswell Region,” adding as a sub- to investigate, but Arnold was taken in As reports came in, it was found that head, “No Details of Flying Disk Are by what proved to be a hoax, involv- “saucers” could be any shape—e.g., a “cigar-shaped” saucer, a “saucer” as “a large sphere,” and so on (Wilkins 1954, 127, 250). Therefore, later, as a From the saucer’s shape, fluid movement, replacement term, unidentified flying object (UFO) was created by Captain and sightings by ground observers with Edward J. Ruppelt (1956, 7), head of telescopes, it has since been identified as Project Blue Book, the USAF’s saucer probe. (The investigative group was a balloon, almost certainly a then-secret formed in March 1952 out of the earlier “Skyhook”—a huge, 100-foot-diameter Project Grudge, itself replacing Project Sign, which began January 22, 1948.) balloon used for cosmic-ray research. Any UFO that subsequently became identified was known as an IFO—the acronym for identified flying object. As with “flying saucer,” “UFO” spawned other terms, “UFOlogy” (Sachs 1980, Revealed.” Subsequently dismissed as ing metallic stones picked up on the 334), “UFOlogical” (Klass 1974, 16), a weather balloon, it has since been Maury Island beach. The two fake “UFOdom” (Sheaffer [1980] 1986, identified as a spy balloon array, with harbor patrolmen confessed to Air 123), and so on, including UFOlore, dangling radar reflectors, from Project Force investigators that what began and UFOmania (defined as an “exces- Mogul (which attempted to monitor as a joke had escalated out of control sive and persistent tendency to apply sonic emissions from Soviet nuclear (Sachs 1980, 191–192; Clark 1998, 2: tests). (See Nickell 2009, 10.) 612–614; Peebles 1995, 14–17). the UFO label to any aerial phenome- • July 9, 1947: Encounter with alien • January 7, 1948: Pilot Killed Chasing non without making any effort to find a beings. Among the earliest saucer-oc- Saucer. Air National Guard pilot conventional explanation” [Sachs 1980, cupant reports published following Thomas F. Mantell died as a conse- 334]). Kenneth Arnold’s sighting, it was quence of chasing a saucer near Fort reported in the Nashville Tennessean Knox, Ky. From the saucer’s shape, fluid UFO Incunabula (on the date given). In a letter to the movement, and sightings by ground Ruppelt (1956, 31) observed of reports editor, the alleged witness claimed he observers with telescopes, it has since that “Within a few days of Arnold’s had encountered little men, “all heads been identified as a balloon, almost sighting, others began to come in,” and and arms and legs, and glowing like certainly a then-secret “Skyhook”—a “The week of July 4, 1947, set a record fireflies.” He said they exited their huge, 100-foot-diameter balloon used for reports that was not broken until saucer to greet him with sign lan- for cosmic-ray research. Air Force 1952.” The following is a short list of guage, then reboarded and shot away investigators concluded Mantell flew what may be called the incunabula (early in a dust cloud. Although the newspa- too high in his non-oxygen-equipped examples) of flying saucers, considered per described him as “apparently per- plane and passed out, while his plane here as the years 1947 and 1948. fectly sane and sober,” saucer historian went into a spiral and crashed. (See Skeptical Inquirer | November/December 2014 17 example of an “argument from igno- rance”—“we don’t know, therefore we do know.” That is the way paranormal Saucers were off and soaring, aided by buffs claims are typically promoted, little having changed in the many decades and saucerologists who, as it often seemed, did since the term flying saucers entered not want cases explained but forever sought to into America’s—and the world’s— ■ keep them “unidentified.” vocabulary.
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