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[Music]

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before they were ufos

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by charles lear the very first flying

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saucer flap

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occurred during the summer of 1947. it

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began with the reported sighting of nine

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mysterious objects

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by pilot kenneth arnold on june 24th and

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hit its peak that july

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this was the first summer of the saucers

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much has been written about arnold

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siting but the sightings after that have

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been largely ignored

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for the interested student in this

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period of ufo history

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there is a document available online

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that is well worth reading

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it provides a comprehensive account of

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the flap citing a large number of

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newspaper articles that appeared during

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that time

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housed at the university of iowa is a

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thesis paper written in 1948 titled

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the flying saucers episode link

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available in the written version of this

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blog

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it was submitted by state university of

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iowa journalism graduate student

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emile earned wentergren as part of the

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requirements for his master of arts

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degree

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it is also available at the national

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investigation committee on aerial

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phenomenon website

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link available besides providing insight

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into the fervor of the time

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and the effect it had on arnold there is

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an early look at the events at roswell

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most amusing is the conclusion by

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wennergren that roswell marked the end

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of what was just a passing fascination

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in the introduction winograd notes that

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many articles refer to

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d-i-s-k-s and d-i-s-c-s

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the reader is informed that according to

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webster's international dictionary

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refers to an inanimate object whereas

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d-i-s-c

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is the preferred spelling in zoology and

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botany

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he then describes arnold's sighting of

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quote nine shiny objects and quote

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near mount rainier in washington state

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arnold told reporters that they flew

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with emotion

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quote like a fish flipping in the sun

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end quote

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the story was on page one of the june

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26th edition of the portland oregonian

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and spread to papers throughout the

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united states that same day

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not in the thesis paper is the origin

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story for the term

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flying saucers when arnold spoke with

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reporters

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he described that the craft flew

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erratically quote like a saucer if you

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skip it across

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water end quote in the june 26 1947

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east oregonian to pendleton reporter

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bill baquette wrote that arnold had

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quote

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described the objects as saucer-like the

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story went out on the newswires

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and other papers reported that arnold

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had seen quote

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saucer-like objects end quote the

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chicago sun picked up the story and

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their headline for it that same day was

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quote

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supersonic flying saucers cited by idaho

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pilot

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end quote from then on people all over

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the country began

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seeing quote flying saucers end quote

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as of june 26th arnold was famous and

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his name was forever linked in history

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with flying saucers

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soon people were seeing them everywhere

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and they became a media sensation

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papers that carried saucer stories more

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often than not

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printed them on page 1 into the first

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half of july

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while arnold was genuinely puzzled and

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interested in getting some answers as to

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what the objects might have been

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wintergren noted that the media treated

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the saucers as a novelty

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according to him the subject quote

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tickled the funny bones in the same

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manner as the bow ties and sockware

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worn by the bobby sox multitudes end

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quote

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arnold was besieged by both the media

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and the public

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his woes are described in an article in

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the june 28 portland oregonian

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he told the paper that a preacher from

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texas had called him

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the preacher told him that the saucers

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marked the beginning of quote

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doomsday end quote and he was quote

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getting his flock ready for the end of

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the world end quote

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arnold also said that when he was in a

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pendleton cafe on june 26th

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a woman came in recognized him and ran

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out shrieking

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there's the man that saw the men from

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mars he summed up what he perceived was

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the public's opinion of him

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quote half the people look at me as a

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combination einstein flash gordon

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and screwball end quote fortunately for

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arnold a man came forward with a report

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that supported his

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sighting the june 26th denver post

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reported that another pilot brian savage

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of oklahoma city oklahoma

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reported seeing a quote flat disk-like

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object come across the city from the

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southeast

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end quote he claimed to have seen it

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weeks before arnold siting made the

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papers

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according to him it had a quote shiny

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silvery color and quote

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was quote very big and moving at a

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terrific rate of speed

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end quote he noted that it quote didn't

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make any noise end quote which would be

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a common description among witnesses

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well beyond 1947.

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another report quickly followed the june

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27

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chicago tribune carried the description

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of a kansas city kansas man

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he reported seeing nine objects quote

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with one a little off to one side end

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quote

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skeptics immediately weighed in and

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accused both men of making up their

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stories

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based on what arnold had reported savage

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countered by saying he had been afraid

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of ridicule

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and that arnold's sighting had

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encouraged him to come forward others

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reported that they had seen saucers

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before arnold

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they too said that they had only come

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forward because of arnold

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an unfortunate aspect of arnold's siding

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report was that he was the sole witness

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because he appeared to be a particularly

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credible witness his story was

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considered newsworthy

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that set a precedent for editors to

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accept other single witness testimonies

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story after story appeared with a single

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witness often with an emphasis on their

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credibility as the sole support

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multiple witness reports eventually

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started being reported

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the june 28th denver post reported that

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seven witnesses who worked for the

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manitou and pikes peak railroad

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said they'd seen objects similar to what

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arnold had seen

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the june 29th portland oregonian carried

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the story of a group of friends in san

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francisco

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they said they heard quote swishing

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whistling sounds over the bay end quote

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and then saw objects quote 30 to 50 feet

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across

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end quote flying in a northerly

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direction the july 1st edition of the

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same paper

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told of a high school student and two

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nuns who claimed they had seen nine

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discs flying over legrand oregon

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wintergren noted that for the first

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three days in july flying saucer stories

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were absent from most of the larger

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dailies

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throughout the country except for those

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in the pacific northwest

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then july 4 brought a quote deluge end

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quote

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of reports that made the national news

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in the july 5th portland oregonian

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there was a story that involved multiple

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highly credible witnesses

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portland police had been put on a quote

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all car alert

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end quote after three patrolmen two in

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one car and one in another

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reported seeing objects one of them

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described the objects as

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quote aluminum or eggshell white disks

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that did not flash

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end quote many other officers were

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listed as having seen disks at night

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the july 6th edition carried an

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associated press story of 200 witnesses

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in idaho

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who'd reportedly seen a disc over hauser

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lake

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the july 5th minneapolis star reported

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that in the city of twin falls idaho

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60 picnickers observed quote several

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echelons of disks in the afternoon

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end quote a july 4th sighting reported

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by a captain

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co-pilot and stewardess aboard a united

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airlines dc-3

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received major attention and was not

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easily refuted by skeptics

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captain emile j smith himself a skeptic

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was alerted when his co-pilot ralph

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stevens

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blinked the landing lights smith asked

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him why he was doing so

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and stevens replied quote there's a

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plane approaching our bow

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end quote smith described the events in

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a letter written for the international

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news service

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he wrote that he and stevens quickly saw

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that the object was not a plane but a

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quote

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more

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and though they couldn't determine their

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quote exact shape end quote

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they noted that they were larger than

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the dc3 quote

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fairly flat smooth on the bottom and

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rough on top

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end quote smith called the stewardess

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marty morrows to the cockpit and she

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confirmed their sighting arnold would

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soon befriend smith

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and smith would accompany him on his

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investigation of the maury island

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incident

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link available arnold wrote about his

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sighting smith's sighting

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and their investigation together in two

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articles in the january 1948 premier

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issue of fate magazine he later

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recounted the events in the first five

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chapters of the 1952 book

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the coming of the saucers co-written

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with fate publisher and editor

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ray palmer according to wentergun the

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quote

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flying saucers lived a short full life

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end quote

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after quote the incident at roswell

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field end quote

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flying saucer stories appeared less

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frequently in newspapers

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finally quote an unaccountable

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phenomenon was retired to the newspaper

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valhalla

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the morgue end quote the incident at

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roswell field link available

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refers to the july 8th press release

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from roswell airfield that they were

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quote fortunate enough to gain

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possession of a disc

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through the cooperation of one of the

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local ranchers end quote

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the statement was released by the public

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information officer

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lieutenant walter hout the story was

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front page

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and the world eagerly awaited the answer

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to the flying saucer mystery

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the answer came from major general roger

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raymie that evening in a radio broadcast

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from fort worth

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where the quote disc and quote had been

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examined

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newspapers reported the story the

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following day with quote

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conspicuously small and quote headlines

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according to raymie the air force had

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recovered a weather balloon

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wintergren closed chapter four of his

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thesis with the following

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quote thereafter if the saucers flew

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they flew in silence

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because the nation's press was through

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with them their appeal had burst in some

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vague manner

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after their dramatic appearance in new

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mexico their swan song was a short one

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and faded quickly

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end quote glad the hullabaloo over that

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particular mystery ended so quickly