06-24-2007, 10:57 AM
Quote:"Flying saucer" -- the term -- was coined 60 years ago, when salesman and pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects flying in a "V" formation over Mount Rainier, Washington. Arnold told a reporter on June 24, 1947 that the UFOs flew erratically, fluttering and tipping their wings, like "a saucer if you skip it across water" -- and a worldwide subculture was born.
In the six decades since, flying saucers have inspired scores of movies, TV shows and a mini publishing industry. They're supposedly the source of crop circles and cattle mutilations, and they've spawned several cults and a minor religion. Fodder for government commissions, both real and imagined, the mysterious vehicles have also fed government conspiracy theorists, who believe we're being lied to...
full article: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/n...nniversary