Kenneth Arnold Quotes

A great man is the unbelieving man; he is without spiritual sight or spiritual hearing; his glory is in understanding his own understanding. It is he who subdues the forest, tames the beasts of the field to service. He goes alone in the dark, unafraid. He follows no man’s course, but, searches for himself; the priests cannot make him believe, nor the angels of heaven; none can subdue his judgment. He says: why permit others even priests, to think for you? Stand on your own feet – be a man. Through his arm are tyrants and evil kings overthrown. Through him are doctrines and religions sifted to the bottom and the falsehood and evil in them cast aside. Who but the Creator could have created so great a man as the unbeliever?

They flew like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.

Once again, we can be sure that these Canadian blue-green-purple globes are not meteors, nor are they fragments of a comet or Venus. What, then, are they? Spacecraft from another world?

... I looked at my watch and it showed one minute and 42 seconds. Well, I felt that was pretty fast and I didn't stop to think what the distance was between the two mountains. ... they sure must have had a tailwind, but it didn't seem to help me much. But to the best of my knowledge, and the best of my description, that is what I actually saw, [and,] like I told the Associated Press, [I'd] be glad to confirm it with my hands on a Bible because I did see it, and whether it has anything to do with our army or our intelligence or whether it has to do with some foreign country, I don't know. But I did see it and I did clock it and I just happened to be in a beautiful position to do it and it's just as much a mystery to me as it is to everyone else who's been calling me the last 24 hours, wondering what it was.

Since my first observation and report of the so-called 'flying disks' I have spent a great deal of money and time thoroughly investigating this subject... It may be of interest to you to know there is a connection between tremendous amounts of furnace slag which is being found in giant dumps on our ocean floor, strange submarines, rocket ships and flying disks... There is no doubt in my mind but what these objects are aircraft of a strange design, and material that is unknown to the civilization of this earth.

It is with considerable disappointment you cannot give the explanation of these aircraft as I felt certain they belonged to our government. They have apparently meant no harm, but used as an instrument of destruction in combination with our atomic bomb the effects could destroy life on our planet. ... We have not taken this lightly. It is to us of very serious concern, as we are as interested in the welfare of our country as you are.

... a chain [at least five miles long] of nine peculiar looking aircraft ... were approaching Mt. Rainier very rapidly, and I merely assumed they were jet planes. ... I watched these objects with great interest as I had never before observed airplanes flying so close to the mountain tops ... Their speed at the time did not impress me particularly, because I knew that our army and air forces had planes that went very fast. ... What kept bothering me [however,] was the fact that I couldn't make out any tail on them, ... The more I observed these objects the more upset I became, as I am accustomed and familiar with most all objects flying ... Even at the time this timing [of 1 min 42 s] did not upset me as I felt confident after I would land there would be some explanation of what I saw. ... I look at this whole ordeal as not something funny as some people have made it out to be. To me it is mighty serious and since I evidently did observe something[, there] is no reason that it does not exist. Even though I openly invited an investigation by the Army and the FBI as to the authenticity of my story ..., I have received no interest from these two important protective forces of our country ...

… well, right here we’ve seen something, I’ve seen something, hundreds of pilots have seen something … in the skies. We have dutifully reported these things. And we have to have 15 million witnesses before anybody is going to look into the problem … seriously? Well this is utterly fantastic. This is more fantastic than flying saucers or people from Venus or anything as far as I am concerned.

[The sighting] did not particularly disturb me at the time, except that I had never seen planes of that type. ... I never could understand at that time why the world got so upset about 9 disks, as these things didn't seem to be a menace. I believed that they had something to do with our Army and Air Force. ... [Naturally,] if it's not made by our science or our Army Air Forces, I am inclined to believe it's of an extra-terrestrial origin. ... I think it's something that is of concern to every person in the country, and I don't think it's anything for people to get hysterical about. That's just my frank opinion of it.

[They appeared to fly almost as if fastened together – if one dipped, the others dipped too.]

I haven't had a moment of peace since I first told the story, ... This whole thing has gotten out of hand. I want to talk to the FBI or someone. Half the people I see look at me as a combination Einstein, Flash Gordon, and Screwball. I wonder what my wife back in Idaho thinks. Most people tell me I'm right.

If our government knows anything about these devices, the people should be told at once. A lot of people out here are very much disturbed. Some think these things may be from another planet. But they aren't harming anyone and I think it would be the wrong thing to shoot one of them down – even if it can be done. Their high speed would completely wreck them.

[They were flying at incredible speed. I cannot hazard a guess as to what they were. My inquiries at Yakima last night brought only blank stares, but I spoke today with a man from Ukiah, south of here, who said he had seen similar objects over the mountains near Ukiah yesterday.] It seems impossible, but there it is.