 People have recorded seeing lights and objects in the sky for hundreds of years. There are some well known weather and atmospheric conditions which can generate strange sights, apparently in the sky, mirrored upward from earth, or actual atmospheric objects but the description of unexplained objects as 'flying saucers' started with a news report in June 1947. One Kenneth Arnold was quoted as saying that a UFO was like a 'saucer' or 'pie plate'. The description was perfect for generating movie images or hoax photos. Visit http://www.project1947.com/fig/1947ka.htm to see what he actually thought they looked like. Again this is exactly the beginning of the US, USSR space race. If America was running experiments on space flight they would not want the details getting into the wrong hands. The American government attitude to UFOs fluctuated. They claimed to be recording sightings in project Blue Book (1947-1969) but they also made it illegal for pilots etc. to talk about sightings. Encouraging the population to think about aliens was probably useful disinformation. Note the dates. The 1950s saw the launch of a number of flying saucer movies, complete with animated plastic saucers. |
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