Kenneth Arnold
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This article is about the businessman and pilot. For the programmer, see Ken Arnold.
Kenneth A. Arnold

Showing a drawing of the crescent-shaped object
Born
March 29, 1915(1915-03-29)Sebeka, Minnesota
Died
January 16, 1984 (aged 68)Bellevue, Washington
Occupation
businessman, aviator
Kenneth A. Arnold (March 29, 1915 in Sebeka, Minnesota – January 16, 1984 in Bellevue, Washington) was an American businessman and pilot.
He is best-known for making what is generally considered the first widely reported unidentified flying object sighting in the United States, after claiming to see nine unusual objects flying in a chain near Mount Rainier, Washington on June 24, 1947. Arnold described the objects' shape as resembling a flat saucer or disc (see quotes below), and also described their erratic motion as resembling a saucer skipped across water; from this, the press quickly coining the new terms "flying saucer" and "flying disc" to describe such objects, many of which were reported within days after Arnold's sighting. Later Arnold would add that one of the objects resembled a crescent or flying wing. (image at right)
The U.S. Air Force formally listed the Arnold case as a mirage; this is one of many explanations that have been rebutted by critics, and researchers Jerome Clark[1] and Ronald Story[2] both argue that there has never been an entirely persuasive conventional explanation of the Arnold sighting.