Flying saucer

A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported disc-shaped UFO. The term was coined in 1947 by the news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed flew alongside his airplane above Washington State. Newspapers reported Arnold's story with speed estimates implausible for airplanes of the period. The story spurred a wave of hundreds of sightings across the United States, including the Roswell incident and Flight 105 UFO sighting. The concept quickly spread to other countries. Early reports speculated about secret military technology, but flying saucers became synonymous with aliens by 1950. The term has gradually been supplanted by the more general military terms unidentified flying object (UFO) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

In science fiction, reported UFO sightings, UFO conspiracy theories, and broader popular culture, saucers are typically piloted by nonhuman beings.^[1] Descriptions in reported sightings vary considerably. Early reports emphasized speed and shifted over the decades to mostly hovering. They are generally said to be round, sometimes with a protrusion on top, but details of the shape vary between reports. They've been described as silent or deafening, with lights of every color, alone or in formation, and twenty to thousands of feet in diameter. Sightings are most frequent at night. The majority of reported saucers have been identified with known phenomena including astronomical objects like Venus, airborne objects like balloons, and optical phenomena like sun dogs.

1950s pop culture embraced flying saucers. Discs appeared in film, television, literature, music, and other minor aspects like toys and advertising. The shape became visual shorthand for alien invaders. During the 1960s, they waned in popularity. Discs ceased be viewed as the standard shape for alien spacecraft but are still often depicted, sometimes for their retro value to evoke the early Cold War era.