Flying Saucer
TopicCraft TypeFlying Saucer
TopicCraft TypeHistoric term for disc-shaped unidentified objects, popularized after Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting and central to the imagery of the modern UFO era.
Historic term for disc-shaped unidentified objects, popularized after Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting and central to the imagery of the modern UFO era.
“Flying saucer” is the historic popular term for a disc- or saucer-like unidentified object. It can describe what a witness thought an object looked like, but it is not a technical classification and does not identify origin. Reports filed under the label have included metallic discs, oval lights, lenticular forms, and ordinary objects seen at unfamiliar angles. The phrase now carries an extraterrestrial association that the observation alone does not establish.
The expression entered mass circulation after private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported nine bright objects near Mount Rainier on June 24, 1947. Arnold described their motion with a comparison to saucers skipping over water, and early wire reports used “saucer-like” language; newspapers quickly turned the phrase into a name for a presumed kind of craft. The Kenneth Arnold sighting helped trigger a wave of reports and made the saucer silhouette the defining image of the early modern UFO era.
The U.S. Air Force investigated the surge through Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book. Blue Book ultimately cataloged 12,618 reports, leaving 701 classified as unidentified, while the Air Force said its work found no evidence that those cases represented technology beyond contemporary scientific knowledge or extraterrestrial vehicles. Many identified reports involved balloons, aircraft, astronomical objects, reflections, or hoaxes. “Unidentified” meant that the available information did not support a confident explanation; it did not mean that investigators had verified a saucer-shaped machine.
The flying saucer remains historically important because it shaped both reporting and expectation. Once the image became familiar, witnesses, journalists, filmmakers, and officials used it as shorthand even when accounts described other forms. Modern UAP language is broader and often organizes cases by sensor, behavior, or morphology rather than assuming one craft type. Within UFO history, the saucer is therefore both a recurring reported shape and a cultural template—one that records should preserve without allowing the label to settle what an observer actually saw.
On August 2, 1955, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph published a photograph under the headline “THING FROM OUTER SPACE.” The image had been brought to Melbourne by three men who said it showed the pilot of a crashed flying saucer near Eucla, close to the South Australian border. They said they were driving through scrub and tall trees about 14 miles from Eucla when they heard what they believed was a tire blowout and stopped to inspect the vehicle. While they were stopped, Johnson noticed a shiny obje...
Did Weaponized ever follow up and talk about Corso's record, as chronicled by his FBI file I got, showing a history of "distorting" information and one governme [Quoted] He held senior posts. Then he made an extraordinary claim. Archival footage introduces Col. Philip Corso's military record before he recounts why he believed material in his files came from a flying saucer. Watch the exchange from WEAPONIZED, Episode 43. https://t.co/sbznc879gi https://t.co/yJfs1iGXla
Rare footage of Philip Corso saying the U.S. military recovered technology from a crashed flying saucer. He wasn’t some random UFO witness. He held senior mili [Quoted] He held senior posts. Then he made an extraordinary claim. Archival footage introduces Col. Philip Corso's military record before he recounts why he believed material in his files came from a flying saucer. Watch the exchange from WEAPONIZED, Episode 43. https://t.co/sbznc879gi https://t.co/yJfs1iGXla
Col. Philip Corso describes files marked New Mexico
He held senior posts. Then he made an extraordinary claim. Archival footage introduces Col. Philip Corso's military record before he recounts why he believed material in his files came from a flying saucer. Watch the exchange from WEAPONIZED, Episode 43. https://t.co/sbznc879gi https://t.co/yJfs1iGXla
“We saw a light on the horizon that was moving nonlinear, really fast, up and all across the horizon." “It went from being there to being like 500 metres away from us in less than a second." “It was badly designed. - It was a flying saucer with lights that went around it, like this. - I’m serious, I’m so sorry, and it was very disappointing." “And I cannot describe the fear I felt. I’ve never felt anything like it. I felt awe, maybe for a second and then I felt a fear, like I was a dog in fro...
[Retweeted] I sent a letter to MIT Lincoln Laboratory in May requesting the “Flying Saucer Talk” recording. Today, that tape was released through the Department of War’s PURSUE program. This is exactly why we’ve kept pushing to find and release these historical records. More than 70 years ago, the Air Force was investigating UAPs near some of our nation’s most sensitive facilities, with radar returns indicating extraordinary speeds. We asked for the tape. Now the American people can hear it f...
Buried for 74 Years: Project Blue Book’s 1952 “Flying Saucer” Talk | FULL AUDIO
[Retweeted] I sent a letter to MIT Lincoln Laboratory in May requesting the “Flying Saucer Talk” recording. Today, that tape was released through the Department of War’s PURSUE program. This is exactly why we’ve kept pushing to find and release these historical records. More than 70 years ago, the Air Force was investigating UAPs near some of our nation’s most sensitive facilities, with radar returns indicating extraordinary speeds. We asked for the tape. Now the American people can hear it f...
NEW: The 1952 “Flying Saucer Talk” is now public, and its discussion of nuclear sites deserves attention. Released today, the recording of Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt’s March 26, 1952 briefing documents an investigation already grappling with reports of extraordinary speeds and UFO activity around sensitive American installations. Ruppelt described concentrations of reports around Los Alamos, Albuquerque and Oak Ridge. He also discussed accounts of silent, high-speed flight and radar...
