Project Blue Book case file: Kenneth Arnold

The Black Vault (USAF records) · 62 pages · text by OCR

This US Air Force Project Blue Book case file on Kenneth Arnold's sighting of nine objects near Mount Rainier, Washington, on 24 June 1947 was released through The Black Vault. It contains the Project 10073 record card, which concludes the objects were a mirage, plus Arnold's telegram, questionnaire data and interview notes. It also includes J. Allen Hynek's analysis arguing the objects were closer and slower than Arnold estimated. Other items are David Johnson's sworn statement on a Boise sighting, a Tacoma investigation telegram and news clippings.

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“The Sun”11 pages

p. 6 …of the objects would dip or change course slightly, just enough for the sun to strike…
p. 12 …cause the sun to strike them at an angle which reflected brightly on the plane. As…
p. 31 …change their course slightly, just enough for the sun to strike them at an angle that…
p. 32 …What kept bothering me as I watched them flip and flash in the sun right along…
p. 33 …sun glasses) Even though two minutes seems like a very short time to one on the…
p. 34 …for as determining shape of course, when the sun reflected from one or two or three…
p. 43 …They were flat like a piepan and so shiny they reflected the sun like a mirror…
p. 46 …For a direct reflection, the angle between the observer, sun, and object must be "just right…
p. 51 …the objects as "flat like a pie-pan," and so shiny that they reflected the sun…
p. 54 …the objects as "flat like a pie pan," and so shiny that they reflected the sun…
p. 62 …of the objects would dip or change course slightly, just enough for the sun to strike…

PROJECT 10073 RECORD

1. DATE-TIME GROUP
24 Jun 47	2. LOCATION
Mt. Rainer, Washington
3. SOURCE
Civilian	10. CONCLUSION
Other (KIRAGE)
4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
Nine
5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
2 1/2-3 minutes	11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
Observer sighted a large circular objects heading west.
They appeared as mirror-like reflections which dipped and twisted at a very high rate of speed. Skerrick were made.
6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
Air-Visual
7. COURSE
West
8. PHOTOS
Yes
No
9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
Yes
No

FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form may be used.

Cited by

The Kenneth Arnold Sighting 1947

Cases discussed

The Maury Island Incident 1947
investigation of flying disc that took place in Tacoma Washington July 9 thru August 3rd
United Air Lines Flight 105 Sighting, Emmett, Idaho 1947
co-pilot Stevens of United Air Lines and myself have compared our observations
The 1947 Flying Disc Craze: America's First Flying Saucer Wave 1947
aerial search of the northwest states in an effort to see and photograph a flying disc

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 62 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.