Incident 4AF 1208 I, 16 july 1947
CONFIDENTIAL
- On 12 July 1947, Mr Kenneth Arnold, Box 387, Boise Idaho, was interviewed in regard to the report by Mr. Arnold
that he saw 9 strange objects flying over the Cascade Mountain Range of Washington State on July 25th. (sic) Mr.
Arnold voluntarily agreed to give the interviewer a written report of exactly what he had seen on the above
mentioned date. The written report of Mr. Arnold is attached to this report as Exhibit A.
AGENT'S NOTES:
Mr. Arnold is a man of 32 years of age, being married and the father of two children. He is well thought of in the
community in which he lives, being very much the family man and from all appearances a very good provider for his
family. Mr. Arnold has recently purchased a home on the outskirts of Boise, recently purchased a $5,000 airplane in
which to conduct his business to the extent of which is explained in the attached
exhibit. It is the personal opinion of the interviewer that Mr. Arnold actually saw what he stated that he
saw. It is difficult to believe that a man of Mr. Arnold's character and apparent integrity would state that he saw
objects and write up a report to the extent that he did if he did not see them. To go further, if Mr. Arnold can
write a report of the character that he did while not having seen the objects that he claimed he saw, it is the
opinion of the interviewer that Mr. Arnold is in the wrong business, that he should be writing Buck Rogers fiction.
Mr. Arnold is very outspoken and somewhat bitter in his opinions of the leaders of the U.S. Army Air Forces and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation for not having made an investigation of this matter sooner. To put all of the
statements made by Mr. Arnold in this report would make it a voluminous volume. However, after having checked an
aeronautical map of the area over which Mr. Arnold claims that he saw the objects it was determined that all
statements made by Mr. Arnold in regard to the distances involved, speed of the objects, course of the objects and
size of the objects, could very possibly be facts. The distances mentioned by Mr. Arnold in his report are within a
short distance of the actual distances on aeronautical charts of this area, although Mr. Arnold has never consulted
aeronautical charts of the type the Army uses. Mr. Arnold stated that his business had suffered greatly since his
report on July 25 due to the fact that at every stop on his business routes, large crowds of people were waiting to
question him as to just what he had seen. Mr. Arnold stated further that if he, at any time in the future, saw
anything in sky, to quote Mr. Arnold directly, "If I saw a ten story building flying through the air I would never
say a word about it", due to the fact that he has been ridiculed by the press to such an extent that he is
practically a moron in the eyes of the majority of the population of the United States.
1 Incl. Exhibit "A"
FRANK M. BROWN. S/A CIC 4TH AF
CONFIDENTIAL