Newscasts keep referring to the balloon as “UFO-shaped.” How did the flying saucer become the universal shape for aliens?
It traces back to a well-publicized UFO sighting by a pilot named Kenneth Arnold in 1947. While flying across Washington state, he claimed to have spotted nine shiny objects flying in a diagonal formation. He described their shapes as “saucer”- or “disc”-like. The incident led to hundreds of copycat sightings across the country. Since then, the term flying saucer has been synonymous with UFOs. Other reported UFO shapes include triangles, cylinders, and tear drops.
