Kenneth Arnold and the First UFO Sighting of Modern Times

Kenneth Albert Arnold (March 29, 1915 – January 16, 1984) was an American aviator and businessman.

He is best known for making what is generally considered the first widely reported modern unidentified flying object sighting in the United States, after claiming to have seen nine unusual objects flying in tandem near Mount Rainier, Washington on June 24, 1947.

After his alleged sighting, Arnold investigated reports of UFOs, writing and speaking about the topic for years to come.

Arnold was born on March 29, 1915 in Sebeka, Minnesota. His father was the son of a politician and Lutheran in Minnesota. He grew up in Scobey, Montana. He was an Eagle Scout and all-state football player in high school. He attended the University of Minnesota in 1934–35.

In 1938, he began work for Red Comet, manufacturer of automatic firefighting equipment. He was promoted to district manager the following year.

In 1940, Arnold started his own company, the Great Western Fire Control Supply in Boise, Idaho, which sold and installed fire suppression system, a job that took him around the Pacific Northwest.

In 1941, Arnold married Doris Lowe; they had four daughters.

On June 24, 1947 Kenneth Arnold claimed that he saw a string of nine, shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier, Washington at speeds that Arnold estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour (1,932 km/hr).

This was the first post-World War II UFO sighting in the United States. It garnered nationwide news coverage and is credited with being the first of the modern era of UFO sightings, including numerous reported sightings over the next two to three weeks. 

Arnold's description of the objects also led to the press quickly coining the terms flying saucer and flying disc as popular descriptive terms for UFOs.

After the 1947 UFO sighting, Arnold became famous "practically overnight." Arnold's daughter would later recall the family receiving 10,000 letters and constant phone calls.

Arnold was contacted by Raymond A. Palmer, editor of fringe/sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories who asked Arnold to investigate the story of two harbormen in Tacoma who reportedly possessed fragments of a "flying saucer."

On July 29, Arnold interviewed a harborman who claimed that one of the objects "began spewing forth what seemed like thousands of newspapers from somewhere on the inside of its center. These newspapers, which turned out to be a white type of very light weight metal, fluttered to earth." The harborman claimed the craft emitted a substance resembling lava rocks that fell onto his boat, breaking a worker's arm and killing a dog.

Arnold interviewed Fred Crisman, an associate of the harborman, who reported having recovered debris from Maury Island and having witnessed an unusual craft. Crisman showed "white metal" debris to Arnold, who interpreted it as mundane and inconsistent with the harborman's description.

Arnold contacted the Air Force, and two officers soon arrived to investigate. The officers conducted interviews, collected the fragments, and took off in their plane to return to base.

In the early hours of August 1, the two officers died when the B-25 Bomber they were piloting crashed outside of Kelso, Washington on their way back to California.

Arnold would detail his experience in his 1952 book The Coming of the Saucers.

Arnold was involved in interviewing other UFO witnesses and contactees (notably, he investigated the claims of Samuel Eaton Thompson, one of the first UFO contactees).

In Spring 1948, Arnold and Science Fiction editor Ray Palmer collaborated on an article titled "I Did See The Flying Disks", based on Arnold's sighting. In 1950, Arnold self-published a 16-page booklet titled "The Flying Saucer As I Saw It". In 1948, he authored "Are Space Visitors Here?" and "Phantom Lights in Nevada."

On April 7, 1950, broadcaster Edward R. Murrow interviewed Arnold, who stated that since June 1947 he had three additional sightings of nine spacecraft.

In January 1951, Cosmopolitan magazine published an article titled "The Disgraceful Flying Saucer Hoax." That article accused Arnold of "igniting a chain reaction of mass hypnotism and fraud that has taken on the guise of a prolonged 'Martian Invasion' broadcast by that bizarre hambone Orson Welles."

In 1952, Arnold and Palmer authored "The Coming of the Saucers."

Reportedly, Arnold came to believe he had seven additional sightings, one of which involved a transparent saucer he likened to a jellyfish.

Arnold appeared at a 1977 event curated by Fate Magazine to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the "birth" of the modern UFO age.

In 1984, Kenneth Arnold died, aged 68, from colon cancer at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington.

Dwayyo – The Wolf Man of Maryland

In the woods of Maryland is said to hide a wolf-like creature known as Dwayyo or Dewayo. It is described as having features similar to a wolf, with dark fur over its entire body, a long bushy tail, and a dog like nose, but, it stands like a human and utilizes its fore-legs like arms. It is said to be some 6-ft tall.

According to legend, Dwayyo is the mortal enemy of the Snallygaster, another area cryptid that is described as a flying, blood-sucking reptile that has been sighted in the Maryland Blue Ridge Mountains. Their vicious encounters reportedly date back to the early settlement of the Middletown Valley.

The first mention of the name Dwayyo comes from a sighting in 1944 in West Middleton, Frederick County, Maryland. Witnesses heard the creature make ‘frightful screams’ and there were footprints attesting to the claims of the sighting.

However, the tale did not come to prominence until a newspaper account in the Frederick News Post on November 27, 1965, was published and detailed an account of the creature:

“Near the woods of Gambrill State Park, John Becker went out in his yard to investigate a strange noise. It was getting dark, and he had started back to the house, when he saw something moving toward him. It was as big as a bear, had long black hair, a bushy tail, and growled like a wolf or a dog in anger. As it got closer, it stood up on its hind legs and attacked him. Becker fought the creature until it ran into the woods, leaving him, his wife and children in horror. Deciding to remain anonymous under the alias John Becker, he filed a report with local state police, telling of an attack by a mysterious monster that he called a Dwayyo.”

Soon, more stories followed in area newspapers, spawning a rash of calls and letters to the newspapers. Other sightings of were reported in nearby areas. However, by mid-December, the story started to fade.

In the summer of 1966, the creature was again sighted on the outskirts of Gambrill State Park when a man only referred to only as ‘Jim A’ encountered the Dwayyo as he was heading toward a camp site. He described it as a shaggy two legged animal the size of a deer that had a triangle shaped head with pointed ears and chin. It was dark brown in color and when approached it made a horrid scream and backed away from the man. Jim went on to say that the creature had an an odd walk as it retreated, it’s legs, “stuck out from the side of the trunk of the body making its movements appear almost spider-like as it backed away.”

In the Fall of 1976 another sighting of the Dwayyo took place in Fredrick County near Thurmont when two men were driving of Route 77 onto a private road. There, they saw a large creature run across the road in front of their car. They described it as:

“at least 6-ft tall but inclined forward since it was moving quickly. Its head was fairly large and similar to the profile of a wolf. The body was covered in brown or brindle colored fur but the lower half had a striped pattern of noticeable darker and lighter banding. The forelegs were slimmer and held out in front as it moved. The back legs were very muscled and thick similar to perhaps a kangaroo. This was not a hominid type creature; it did not have the characteristics of an ape. It was much more similar to a wolf or ferocious dog however it was definitely moving upright and appeared to be adapted for that type of mobility. I was particularly impressed by the size and strength of the back legs, the stripes on the lower half of the body and the canine-wolf-like head.”

Later in 1978 two park rangers were near the Cunningham Falls area when they encountered “a large hairy creature running on two legs.”

More than two centuries ago, another such creature is told of in folklore, that of the Hexenwolf. In the late 18th century, the Pennsylvania Dutch had started to settle in Carroll, Frederick and Washington Counties of Maryland. Almost immediately, stories began to circulate about a wolf like creature. Its description was similar to that of the Dwayyo – a mammalian biped with features similar to a wolf, but with the stance and stature of a human. The legend of the Hexenwolf had long been known to inhabit tracts of land across much of eastern Pennsylvania and told in German folklore.

Black Eyed Kids

Imagine doing whatever it is you do late at night, just before getting ready for bed, when suddenly you hear a knock at the front door. Wary and wondering who it could be at such an hour, you crack the door open and look outside.

What you see are two or three kids, likely boys, in their early teens or slightly younger, it’s difficult to tell for sure. Their appearances are perfectly nondescript and unremarkable in every way.

However, looking at them, you immediately feel that there is something wrong about them, something inhuman that you can’t quite put your finger on.

One of the kids asks very politely to be let in, maybe to use the bathroom, or the phone, or to have a glass of water. You can’t help but notice that the way he talks seems much too mature and confident for a kid that age. Despite your hesitation, you feel a strange urge to do as the boy tells you. Noticing your increasing apprehension, he becomes more and more insistent, all but demanding to be let in.

Then you get a look at his eyes. They are pitch black, no sign of irises or pupils. As soon as you realize this, a wave of paralyzing terror hits you. Your instincts are screaming you are about to die. You manage to compose yourself enough to slam the door shut, but the fear and panic stay with you for hours afterwards.

If you’ve experienced something like this, you may have encountered a phenomenon known as Black Eyed Kids.

The first report of Black Eyed Kids (or BEKs for short) seems to have been posted on an online newsgroup on January 16, 1998 by a man named Brian Bethel. Since then similar accounts have shown up on message boards, newsgroups and the like, telling of kids with black eyes asking to be let into houses, cars, even tents. These stories share the same characteristics: the kids’ insistence and need to be allowed inside, and the fear their presence evokes.

What do they want? No one knows. There are no reports on what happens if you let them in, however, it's probably safe to say it’s nothing good.

What are the Black Eyed Kids? Again, who knows. No one has stuck around long enough to learn of their origins. Anything from vampires to demons and aliens has been suggested.


Keep in mind tales of Black Eyed Kids could very well all be a hoax, a chilling tale that inspired countless others to try their own hand at horror writing. The accounts certainly appear to have elements typical to urban legends.

Oh, and one more thing.. some reports indicate that BEKs may be more likely to target people who have been made aware of them . . .

Orion Williamson - The Man Who Vanished

Orion Williamson was a farmer who lived with his wife and son in his farmhouse in Selma, Alabama. One sunny July afternoon in 1854, he was sitting on his front porch with his family. As neighbors, Armour Wren and his son James, were passing by, Orion stood up to move his grazing horses to the shade. He briefly stopped to pick up a small stick, which he absently swished back and forth as he walked in the ankle-deep grass.

Orion waved to his neighbors, took one step, and vanished into thin air.

Hardly able to believe their eyes, the Williamsons and the Wrens ran to the spot Orion disappeared in and searched for any sign of him. They found none. Most of the grass in the spot was gone too.

After hours of futile searching, Orion’s shocked family and neighbors went for help. A search party of three hundred men was formed, and they carefully and repeatedly combed every inch of the field. Later, bloodhounds joined the search. No sign of Orion materialized, even though the effort continued well into the night.

As news of the inexplicable vanishing spread, more volunteers and a team of geologists arrived. They dug up the field to see if the ground was in any way unstable or unusual. There was only solid rock a few feet below the surface. No holes, crevices or cave-ins, nothing that could explain the event.

Reportedly, Mrs. Williamson and her son could hear Orion’s voice calling for help for weeks afterwards, growing fainter and fainter. Each time they would rush out onto the field, only to find nothing.

Gradually, Orion’s voice faded into a mere whisper, then disappeared forever.

After no amount of searching turned up anything, the judge declared Orion dead.

The following spring, it is said, a circle of dead grass appeared to mark the spot of the unlucky farmer’s disappearance.

The German scientist, Maximilian Hern, author of the book Disappearance and Theory Thereof, speculated that Orion walked into a spot of “universal ether”. He believed these places lasted a few seconds and could completely destroy all matter within them. Another scientist theorized a magnetic field had disintegrated Orion’s atomic structure and sent him into another dimension.

Years later, a traveling salesman named McHatten rewrote the Williamson disappearance. In his story, Orion’s name became David Lang, the place changed to Gallatin, Tn. and the date was moved to 1880.

Even though the Lang story is fictional apart from the basic facts, it has been presented as true in newspaper articles and books by authors who didn’t do their homework. Consequently, it is better known than the real vanishing behind it.

Man Curious About Cannibalism Ate Own Finger

In 2013, when David Playpenz lost a finger and part of his hand after a motorcycle accident, instead of throwing away the amputated digit, he took it home, cooked and ate it, and even kept the bones as a souvenir.

Surgeons told Playpenz they had to amputate one of his fingers after it turned black following a motorcycle accident. The man from Colchester, Essex asked doctors if he could take it home with him after the procedure and they had no objections.

David says that he had always been curious about cannibalism and what human flesh would taste like, but the fact that going around eating another person’s meat is illegal, he had never actually satisfied his curiosity. Only now he had his own finger to munch on, and when it finally occurred to him that no one would be able to drag him to court for consuming his own flesh, he decided to eat it and keep the bones as a souvenir.

But curiosity wasn’t the only reason that convinced Playpenz to go through with his bizarre plan. “I know it sounds mad, but it wasn’t just the curiosity. That finger was a big bit of me, too big a bit to lose,” he told love it! magazine. “I decided that, if I ate the flesh and kept the bones, then I wouldn’t be losing part of me.”