With the new photos and videos of UFOs still pouring in, and so much speculation that each one could be the result of a misidentified phenomenon of Earthly origin or the planet Venus, it’s always good to look back on the long rich history of older UFO photographs to examine the unambiguous and often downright eerie photos of aliens that may have come about in the past.
During the ten year period between 1929 and 1938 Oregon had many photos taken near the coast of landscapes, people, and buildings as they sprang up to accommodate the increasing number of people moving west. Flying saucers would not officially be recognized until 1947 when Kenneth Arnold would tell the world of his incredible experience in the skies as he flew his jet on that fateful morning. And yet there were photographs of unidentified objects hovering in the skies that would be captured simply flying without any known cause for years. With Arnold’s sighting finally came a word for the mysterious objects that were photographed over Cave Junction Oregon in 1927. Three years later, on May 8, 1950 some of the most famously considered authentic pictures would be taken by Paul Trent mere miles from the site of this original photograph. The photos would be picked up by newspapers from McMinnville, Oregon all the way up to Life Magazine.
But that wasn’t even the earliest known photograph of an unidentified flying object. In 1870 hovering over Mt. Washington, New Hampshire (seen at top) several witnesses and experts looked over the strange image of a craft hovering above the treeline. In 2002 the photograph would go up for sale and eventually be purchased by Samual M. Sherman for the sum of $385.00. To this day experts are not sure what exactly it is of. It is considered a roughly cigar shaped object fairly well defined and hovering in the distance. Different from the Oregon photographs, this object does not appear to have an overtly saucer-shaped appearance.
And photographs matching the description of the first officially termed “flying saucer” came in 1947 almost immediately after the famous flight of Arnold with its rounded front and edged back complete with what appear to be “fin-like” structures hanging off the sides. Though it is an officially recognized genuine UFO photo, it is still unknown if this was indeed an actual craft or something different. Note the strange shape at the center suggesting something unusual like a light may have been emanating from the center.
And of course who could make a list of some of the most incredible photographs before the term flying saucer was first used without this photo of an unknown craft crashing in Washington in 1942. Despite the war effort, this was not recognized as an official plane. Is it possible this craft was shot down or saw early signs of engine trouble before the first flying saucers ever reached the public?