Project Blue Book Case #12. On June 24, 1947, witnesses in Portland, Oregon, reported disc-shaped objects in the sky. This is one of the most historically significant dates in UFO history — the very same day that businessman and pilot Kenneth Arnold reported nine unusual objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier, Washington, approximately 250 miles to the north. Arnold's report, made earlier that day, would coin the term "flying saucer" and launch the modern era of UFO investigation.
Case #12 is among the very first entries in what would become the Project Blue Book archive. The Portland witnesses, apparently independent of Arnold's report (which had not yet been widely publicized), described objects consistent with what Arnold had seen — disc-shaped or circular craft moving at high speed.
Portland's position in the Pacific Northwest, the epicenter of the 1947 wave, placed it at ground zero of the phenomenon. Over the following days and weeks, hundreds of similar reports would pour in from across Oregon, Washington, and eventually the entire country. The military would scramble to create Project Sign to investigate, beginning the 22-year government program that would culminate in Blue Book.
The simultaneous occurrence of the Portland sighting with the Arnold encounter — before Arnold's story had received widespread media coverage — is one of the most intriguing aspects of the early UFO record. If the Portland witnesses were not influenced by Arnold's report, their independent observation of similar objects on the same day in the same region constitutes a significant corroboration.
The case was classified "Unknown" — the twelfth entry in what would become a file of over 12,000 cases.