Unexplainable Sightings – McMinnville UFO
While the vast majority of the reports of strange objects in our skies have been explained as some natural occurrence or object, there are still some that have defied all attempts to debunk or refute the event. One such sighting occurred May 11, 1950 at a farm near McMinnville, Oregon.
Mrs. Evelyn Trent was walking back to her house after feeding some of the livestock when she noticed what appeared to be a metal, disk shaped object moving slowly in her direction from the northeast. She called for her husband Paul, to come see the object as well. After witnessing the strange object, Mr. Trent went back into the house and got his camera. He was able to take two photographs of the object before it picked up speed and disappeared into the west. The speed of its departure was enough to cause Mrs. Trent's dress to rustle in its wake.
The Trent's, along with Mrs. Trent's father who lived next door, all saw the object. They described the flying object as being about thirty-foot across and silvery-bright mixed with bronze. The object had a flat bottom surface and was completely soundless.
The Trents believed what they had seen was most likely some unknown Army vehicle and did not get overly excited at the time. It was in fact some time before Mr. Trent even had the film developed. When he mentioned it to his banker friend, Frank Wortmann, the banker got him to allow the photos to be displayed in the bank's front window. There they drew the curiosity of a local reporter, Bill Powell, who convinced Mr. Trent to loan the negatives to him.
Thus began an odyssey in which the negatives were extensively examined and repeatedly published. It was during their publication in "Life" magazine in July of 1950 that the negatives were misplaced and remained lost for seventeen years in their photo archives. Once rediscovered, the negatives were again studied for indications of forgery. The astronomer and investigator for the Condon Committee UFO Research Project, William Hartmann, determined the photos genuine and one of the best examples of an unknown object being witnessed and photographed.
While the skeptics, Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer, tried to debunk the photographs in the 1980's, their own analysis was subsequently shown to be flawed and biased. The McMinnville UFO photographs have continued for sixty years to be beyond anyone's ability to explain just what it was that passed over the Trent's farm that fateful day in 1950.
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