Flying Saucer

The term flying saucer has often been used to refer to extraterrestrial spacecraft. Its use was inspired by the UFO report filed by private pilot Kenneth Arnold, who, in 1947, reported seeing nine mysterious objects “flying like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.” When this report was published in newspapers throughout the world, some reporters misquoted Arnold, saying he had said that he had seen “flying saucers.” After this, hundreds of people began claiming that they too had seen “flying saucers”—and they described these objects as being saucer-shaped, which Arnold did not.

SEE ALSO:

• Kenneth Arnold
• UFOs

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning