Mount Rainier, Washington
46°51′N, 121°45′W
Pierce County, Washington — active stratovolcano of the Cascade Range, 4,392 m
[from the public record]
46.8500, -121.7500 · view on OpenStreetMap →
What's documented
Mount Rainier is the highest peak in the Cascade Range and an active stratovolcano in west-central Washington state. On 24 June 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine crescent-shaped objects flying in formation past the mountain at approximately 1,200 mph while he searched for a downed C-46 transport. Arnold's account, given to reporters in Pendleton, Oregon the following day, originated the term "flying saucer" in American press usage.
Notable & intriguing
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Kenneth Arnold’s report at 3:00 PM on 24 June 1947, while searching for the wreckage of a Marine Corps C-46 lost on Mount Rainier’s south slope, is widely credited as the origin of the modern UFO phenomenon. Arnold described nine objects flying in chain formation between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams at an estimated 1,700 mph.
Arnold’s signed report to Army Air Force Intelligence, 12 July 1947
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Arnold disputed the term ‘flying saucer.’ He described the objects’ motion — not their shape — as ‘like a saucer skipped across the water.’ Their actual shape, he insisted, was crescent or boomerang-like. The shape-vs-motion confusion was introduced by Associated Press reporter Bill Bequette of the East Oregonian on 25 June 1947.
East Oregonian, 25 June 1947; Arnold’s ‘The Coming of the Saucers’ (1952)
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The Marine Corps C-46 Arnold was searching for — Bureau Number 39528 — was located 32 days later on the south face of Mount Rainier with the loss of all 32 Marines aboard. The wreckage remains on the mountain; partial remains were recovered in 2015.
U.S. Marine Corps loss record, BuNo 39528; Tacoma News Tribune, 21 August 2015
Public-record items already documented about this subject. Folklore is labelled. Sources cited where the specificity warrants it.
Suggested watching
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Kenneth Arnold's UFO Sighting (1998) episode
The History Channel reconstruction of June 24 1947 — Arnold's flight from Chehalis to Yakima, the nine objects near Mt. Rainier, and the press conference that coined 'flying saucer.'
primary-source heavy on the Arnold side
Public-record imagery
