UFO Sightings in Washington
Declassified UAP files, famous historical sightings, and primary-source documentation for Washington.
Washington state is where the modern UFO era began. On 24 June 1947, civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reported nine "saucer-like" objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier at an estimated 1,200 mph. Arnold's description of the objects as moving "like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water" gave the press the term "flying saucer" — and the modern UFO discourse begins with this report. The Arnold sighting is not in PURSUE Release 01 but is the foundational event referenced in the December 1947 Wright Field AMC memorandum (PURSUE-023), which acknowledged "continued and recent reports from qualified observers." Washington also hosts the Maury Island incident of 21 June 1947 (three days before Arnold) — a contested case later largely attributed to a hoax. Modern Washington UAP reports cluster near Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the Olympic Peninsula.
“Like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.”
PURSUE Release 01 coverage
Washingtondoes not have any incidents publicly geolocated to it in PURSUE Release 01. The Pentagon's catalog covers 26 named incidents geographically; many “Western United States (undisclosed)” PURSUE entries — including the 2023 “Eye of Sauron” federal-agent encounter — may include Washington locations that were redacted to protect facility identity.
Famous historical sightings in Washington
Kenneth Arnold sighting (1947)
Civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold's June 24, 1947 sighting of nine saucer-like objects near Mount Rainier coined the term "flying saucer" and is considered the founding event of the modern UFO era. Predates the Roswell incident by two weeks.
Maury Island incident (1947)
Three days before the Arnold sighting, harbormaster Harold Dahl reported six donut-shaped objects over Maury Island in Puget Sound. Two FBI investigators died investigating the case in a B-25 crash. Most-cited 1947 case after Roswell and Arnold; later contested as a hoax.