Zoom! You see something flying before your eyes. It hovers for a moment then flies away again. It had bright lights and traveled at a faster speed than any plane you had ever seen before. What you may have seen was an unidentified flying object, or a UFO. These are some of the characteristics that people have applied to UFO sightings. Other typical descriptions include shapes in a fog, mist, or strange illumination with no apparent explanation. It's "UFO Night". The story begins with the first well-known sighting in 1947. Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine high-speed objects near Mount Rainier in Washington. The sighting occurred while he was flying his plane in this area. Kenneth Arnold said: “They were crescent-shaped objects that traveled several thousand miles per hour and moved like saucers skipping on water” (Encyclopedia Brittanica 2). When people heard “saucers jumping on water,” they called these objects flying saucers. This term is still used today. UFO sightings had occurred before this incident. Between November 1896 and May 1897, thousands of Americans reported sightings of flying ships. The shape was said to resemble that of a cigar. The Wright brothers made their first successful flight in 1903, so these are unlikely to be airplanes. However, at this time (1896-97), many people were working on their own ideas to create a type of aircraft. These people wanted to keep their design secret from their neighbors, in order to fly them at night. This was probably the case in many observations. Sightings increased in 1948. The American Air Force created an investigation called Project Sign. It was later renamed Project Grudge, then the more popular name, Project Bluebook. Between 19...... middle of paper ......el. March 20, 2008. The web. January 19, 2009. Kettelkamp, ​​Larry. Are aliens and UFOs real? New York: Morrow Junior, 1996. Print. McIntyre, Paul. “New Perspectives on Alien Abduction.” The Australian February 28, 2002, 1st ed., Features sec. Newspaper source. Internet. January 24, 2010. Oberg, James. “Unidentified flying object (UFO).” Online World Book InfoFinder. World Book, 2010. Web. February 2, 2010. Rojas, Rick. "'The dean of UFO studies has dedicated his life to the search for others beyond Earth.' The Washington Post [Washington, DC] August 23, 2009: C.8. Print. “Unidentified flying object”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Library Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. January 19. 2010 .