<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

The term flying saucer came into popular use after the Kenneth Arnold sighting on June 24, 1947. Arnold was piloting a light plane near Mt. Rainier in Washington state, when he reported seeing nine bright objects fly across the face of the mountain toward Mt. Adams at "an incredible speed." He said the objects "flew like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water." Although the "saucer" description had to do with the objects' undulating motion, many people believed that Arnold was describing a circular object. The crafts did not appear to have tails, but Arnold did say that they were longer than they were wide. Newscaster Edward R. Murrow called the description of the objects as flying saucers "an historic misquote."

Flying saucer has largely been replaced by the term UFO. In many non–English-speaking countries, the acronym is OVNI, which in Spanish stands for "Objeto Volador No Identificado"; in French, it stands for "Objet Volant Non Identifié."

See also

• Alien Abductions
• Ancient Astronauts
• Extraterrestrial Life
• Legend
• Paranormal guides
• SETI