Flight 105 UFO sighting

On June 24, 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported that, while in the air over southwest Washington State, he had seen a string of nine shiny objects flying past Mount Rainier at high speeds.

Arnold's was the first notable UFO sighting after the end of World War II, and was followed by a massive wave of similar reports over the next few weeks, ushering in the modern era of ufology.

[2] At 9:04 p.m. MST, United Airlines Flight 105, served by a Douglas DC-3, took off from Boise, Idaho, bound for Pendleton, Oregon.

'"[3] Eight minutes into the flight, as the airliner was flying "roughly into the sunset", First Officer Ralph Stevens saw what he thought were one or more approaching aircraft in the twilight sky.

[3][4] Writing in 1948, one journalist recalled that "no report shook the incredulous so much as the account of Captain Emil J. Smith, veteran airline pilot, and his crew ...

The whole affair reeked of humor, but the story of Captain Smith and his crew, like a very few other reports, suggested a deeper, more authentic meaning running below the surface of the nation's belly laugh.

[11] In late July, Arnold and Smith went to Seattle to investigate the Maury Island hoax, an alleged encounter with a UFO.

[13] Air Materiel Command ultimately concluded that "since the sighting occurred at sunset, when illusory effect are most likely, the objects could have been ordinary aircraft, balloons, birds, or pure illusion.