On June 24th 1947, Kenneth Arnold flew from Chehalis, Washington to Yakima, Washington in a personal aircraft after a business trip. Having heard of a $5,00 reward for locating a crashed US Marine transport plane, Arnold took a detour home and flew near Mt. Ranier. A bright flash of light reflected in his mirror. Arnold make a quick check of his surroundings, making sure he wasn’t dangerously close to crashing into another plane.
There was nothing.
He checked his glasses, the cockpit windows, and the inflight instruments – still nothing.
Then it appeared again.
This time he counted nine lights, situated as if in a string. First he thought they might be geese. But, that wouldn’t make sense. The altitude was too high and they were moving much too fast. The trail of lights whipped around Rainer, hurtling at speeds estimated to be around 1,700 miles per hour. That’s three times faster than any 1947 aircraft.
From the side, they appeared to be impossibly thin, and, when they rotated, the objects had a convex shape. Arnold describe their movement as something akin to a saucer skipping on water.
Kenneth Arnold’s account is generally accepted as the first widely reported unidentified flying object sighting in the US. It’s also the origin of the term ‘flying saucer.’ To commemorate the occasion, June 24th is World UFO day. It’s the day we’re all encouraged to get together, head outside, and watch the sky for UFOs.
Seeing a UFO is one thing; gathering photographic evidence is another. Fortunately, here at Vann’s, we’ve got everything you need for a successful UFO day.
This is the must-have camera for snapping a picture of a UFO. It’s got 16 MP of picture taking power backed with a CMOS image sensor and vibration reduction. Sure, it takes a great picture, but that’s not what makes this camera perfect for the occasion. Better yet, it’s durable. This camera is shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof. Hey, you never know what’s going to happen when hunting flying saucers, right? Plus, it’s GPS enabled. Great news for confirming sightings. Also, you know, when UFOs are involved, there is always the chance of abduction. Knowing where you are when you wake up in a corn field could come in handy.
GoPro HD Hero2
Looking for something a little more heavy duty than a point and click? No problem. That’s where the GoPro HD Hero2 comes in. You see, not only are UFOs known to move quickly, they also tend to zap around in unexpected ways. Take a shot with a camera, miss, and you’ve pretty much lost your chance to record any evidence of your UFO sighting. When you capture video, there’s a lot less room for error, and, come on, a video is a lot more believable than a photograph. The Hero2 is the ideal choice. With 11 MP, it films in crystal clear 1080p HD, so you can avoid blurry footage (aka ‘bigfooting’). It’s as tough as they come, able to take whatever adventures come your way. Plus, it’s built to be mounted on pretty much anything. Hands-free can be really useful in UFO adventures.
Klipsch Image S4i
Want to know an easy way to miss a sighting? Skipping a song on your iPod. Want to know an easy way not to have your camera ready? Talking on the phone. Well, forget the UFO frets of yesteryear with these in-ear headphones from Klipsch. You see, they’re more than just headphones. They come with a built in microphone and inline remote control. With these features, you can play music and answer calls hands free. If you’ve got an iPod touch or an iPhone, you could even use the inline remote to snap a picture without all that doubt-inducing picture shake.
Oh, and, it’s probably also worth mentioning they’re comfortable and produce a stellar sound.
GoPro 16GB SD Card
Okay, getting a memory card may not sound too exciting, but an upgraded SDHC card is definitely worth it. First off, 16 GB ensures you won’t run out of space, and a superior File Allocation Table stores and tracks files, which improves efficiency and makes it easy for almost any computer to read them. Snapping a photo of a UFO is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You don’t want to miss out because you have a subpar memory card.
Samsung Galaxy Tab
This tablet is powered by the Honeycomb OS, has access to thousands of apps, and sports a beautiful 10.1” touchscreen. Besides some sort of ‘galaxy’ pun, how does the tablet prove advantageous in UFO spotting? It doesn’t. Not really.
Let’s face it: there’s a good chance some of us won’t see a UFO on the 24th. If they were so common, they’d be a little less unidentified. At least with a Galaxy tab, you’re guaranteed not to get bored while you wait. You could even use it to research UFOs, sighting locations, and other astronomical phenomena.
*Image of UFO used under creative commons: Mike Licht