[kach22i]

Originally Posted by gwood

Always wondered if that was what Kenneth Arnold actually saw in 1947...

Probably.

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/northrop-n-1m-jeep-northrop-john-knudsen-jack-stephens-moye-wicks-photograph

Date
Circa 1941

Repository Loc.
National Air and Space Museum, Archives Division, MRC 322, Washington, DC, 20560

The ‘First’ UFO – Kenneth Arnold Sighting
https://www.davidreneke.com/the-first-ufo-kenneth-arnold-sighting/

Arnold estimated that the objects were flying at an altitude between 9,500 and 10,000 feet, and at a great speed. After clocking them from Mt. Ranier to Mt. Adams, he arrived at an estimated speed of 1,200 miles per hour. “It seemed impossible,” he said, “but there it is…I must believe my eyes.”................

The term “flying saucer” was coined, not by Arnold, but a reporter. Arnold made the statement that the objects moved, “like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.” East Orengonian newspaper reporter Bill Bequette paraphrased Arnold’s statement when he placed the story on the AP news wire. Arnold’s term “saucer-like” became “flying saucers.”

Jack Northrop and the Flying Wing
http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2017/February%202017/Jack-Northrop-and-the-Flying-Wing.aspx

It wasn’t killed quite as dead as they thought......................

Eliminating the Tail

Interest in a flying wing dates from the early days of aviation. It was understood that a fuselage and a tail provided stability and control for an airplane—but that they also created drag, which reduced aerodynamic efficiency.