McMinnville UFO photographs
Encyclopedia
The McMinnville UFO photographs were taken on a farm near McMinnville, Oregon
in 1950. The photos were reprinted in LIFE
magazine and in newspapers across the nation, and are often considered to be among the most famous ever taken of a UFO. The photos remain controversial, with many UFO researchers claiming they show a genuine, unidentified object in the sky, while many UFO skeptics claim that the photos are a hoax
.
(INS) and sent to other newspapers around the nation, thus giving them wide publicity. (Clark, 373) LIFE
magazine published the photos in July 1950. The Trents had been promised that the negatives would be returned to them; however, they were not returned - LIFE
magazine told the Trents that it had misplaced the negatives. (Clark, 373)
In 1967 the negatives were found in the files of the United Press International
(UPI), a news service which had merged with INS years earlier. (Clark, 374) The negatives were then loaned to William Hartmann, an astronomer
who was working as an investigator for the Condon Committee
, a government-funded UFO research project based at the University of Colorado at Boulder
. (Clark, 374) The Trents were not immediately informed that their "lost" negatives had been found. Hartmann interviewed the Trents and was impressed by their sincerity; the Trents never received any money for their photos, and he could find no evidence that they had sought any fame or fortune from them. (Clark, 375) In Hartmann's analysis, he wrote to the Condon Committee that "This is one of the few UFO reports in which all factors investigated, geometric, psychological, and physical, appear to be consistent with the assertion that an extraordinary flying object, silvery, metallic, disk-shaped, tens of meters in diameter, and evidently artificial, flew within sight of two witnesses." (Clark, 375)
After Hartmann concluded his investigation he returned the negatives to UPI, which then informed the Trents about them. In 1970 the Trents asked Philip Bladine, the editor of the McMinnville Register, for the negatives; the Trents noted that they had never been paid for the negatives and thus wanted them back. (Clark, 374) Bladine asked UPI to return the negatives, which it did. However, for some reason Bladine never told the Trents that the negatives had been returned. (Clark, 374) In 1975 the negatives were found in the files of the Register by Dr. Bruce Maccabee
, an optical physicist for the U.S. Navy and a ufologist. Maccabee did his own extensive analysis of the negatives and concluded that they were not hoaxed and showed a "real, physical object" in the sky above the Trent's farm. (Clark, 373) He then ensured that the negatives were finally returned to the Trents.
In the 1980s two UFO skeptics, Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer
, would argue that the photos were faked, and that the entire event was a hoax
. Their primary argument was that shadows on a garage in the left-hand side of the photos proved that the photos were taken in the morning rather than in the early evening, as the Trents had claimed. Klass and Sheaffer argued that since the Trents had apparently lied about the time the photos were taken, their entire story was thus suspect. (Clark, 375) They believed that the Trents had suspended the "UFO" from power lines visible at the top of the photos; and that the object may have been the detached rear-view mirror of a vehicle. When Sheaffer sent his studies on the case to William Hartmann, Hartmann withdrew the positive assessment of the case he had sent to the Condon Committee. However, Dr. Maccabee offered a rebuttal to the Klass-Sheaffer theory by arguing that cloud conditions in the McMinnville area on the evening of the sighting could have caused the shadows, and that a close analysis of the UFO indicated that it was not suspended from the power lines and was in fact located some distance above the Trent's farm; thus, in his opinion, the Klass-Sheaffer theory was flawed. (Clark, 375)
, and is the second-largest UFO "festival" in the nation after the one held in Roswell, New Mexico
.
McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville is the county seat and largest city of Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. According to Oregon Geographic Names, it was named by its founder, William T. Newby , an early immigrant on the Oregon Trail, for his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee...
in 1950. The photos were reprinted in LIFE
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
magazine and in newspapers across the nation, and are often considered to be among the most famous ever taken of a UFO. The photos remain controversial, with many UFO researchers claiming they show a genuine, unidentified object in the sky, while many UFO skeptics claim that the photos are a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
.
The incident
At 7:30 pm on May 11, 1950 Evelyn Trent was walking back to her farmhouse after feeding rabbits on her farm. Mrs. Trent and her husband Paul lived on a farm approximately nine miles from McMinnville. (Clark, p. 372) Before reaching the house she spotted a "slow-moving, metallic disk-shaped object heading in her direction from the northeast." (Clark, 372) She yelled for her husband, who was inside the house, and he came out and also saw the object. After a short time he went back inside the house to obtain a camera. He managed to take two photos of the object before it sped away to the west; Paul Trent's father also briefly viewed the object before it flew away. (Clark, 372)Publicity and investigation
It took some time for Paul Trent to have the film developed, and he apparently sought no publicity immediately following the incident. (Clark, 373) When he mentioned the incident to his banker, Frank Wortmann, the banker was intrigued enough to display the photos from his bank window in McMinnville. (Clark, 373) Shortly afterwards Bill Powell, a local reporter, convinced Mr. Trent to loan him the negatives. Powell examined the negatives and found no evidence that they were tampered with or faked. (Clark, 373) On June 9, 1950 Powell's story of the incident - accompanied by the two photos - was published in the local McMinnville newspaper. The story and photos were subsequently picked up by the International News ServiceInternational News Service
International News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...
(INS) and sent to other newspapers around the nation, thus giving them wide publicity. (Clark, 373) LIFE
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
magazine published the photos in July 1950. The Trents had been promised that the negatives would be returned to them; however, they were not returned - LIFE
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
magazine told the Trents that it had misplaced the negatives. (Clark, 373)
In 1967 the negatives were found in the files of the United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
(UPI), a news service which had merged with INS years earlier. (Clark, 374) The negatives were then loaned to William Hartmann, an astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
who was working as an investigator for the Condon Committee
Condon Committee
The Condon Committee was the informal name of the University of Colorado UFO Project, a group funded by the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1968 at the University of Colorado to study unidentified flying objects under the direction of physicist Edward Condon...
, a government-funded UFO research project based at the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
. (Clark, 374) The Trents were not immediately informed that their "lost" negatives had been found. Hartmann interviewed the Trents and was impressed by their sincerity; the Trents never received any money for their photos, and he could find no evidence that they had sought any fame or fortune from them. (Clark, 375) In Hartmann's analysis, he wrote to the Condon Committee that "This is one of the few UFO reports in which all factors investigated, geometric, psychological, and physical, appear to be consistent with the assertion that an extraordinary flying object, silvery, metallic, disk-shaped, tens of meters in diameter, and evidently artificial, flew within sight of two witnesses." (Clark, 375)
After Hartmann concluded his investigation he returned the negatives to UPI, which then informed the Trents about them. In 1970 the Trents asked Philip Bladine, the editor of the McMinnville Register, for the negatives; the Trents noted that they had never been paid for the negatives and thus wanted them back. (Clark, 374) Bladine asked UPI to return the negatives, which it did. However, for some reason Bladine never told the Trents that the negatives had been returned. (Clark, 374) In 1975 the negatives were found in the files of the Register by Dr. Bruce Maccabee
Bruce Maccabee
Bruce Maccabee is an American optical physicist formerly employed by the U.S. Navy, and a leading ufologist.- Biography :MacCabee received a B.S. in physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., and then at American University, Washington, DC,...
, an optical physicist for the U.S. Navy and a ufologist. Maccabee did his own extensive analysis of the negatives and concluded that they were not hoaxed and showed a "real, physical object" in the sky above the Trent's farm. (Clark, 373) He then ensured that the negatives were finally returned to the Trents.
In the 1980s two UFO skeptics, Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer
Robert Sheaffer
Robert Sheaffer , in Chicago, IL is a freelance writer and a prominent investigator of unidentified flying objects, Christianity, academic feminism, and many other subjects...
, would argue that the photos were faked, and that the entire event was a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
. Their primary argument was that shadows on a garage in the left-hand side of the photos proved that the photos were taken in the morning rather than in the early evening, as the Trents had claimed. Klass and Sheaffer argued that since the Trents had apparently lied about the time the photos were taken, their entire story was thus suspect. (Clark, 375) They believed that the Trents had suspended the "UFO" from power lines visible at the top of the photos; and that the object may have been the detached rear-view mirror of a vehicle. When Sheaffer sent his studies on the case to William Hartmann, Hartmann withdrew the positive assessment of the case he had sent to the Condon Committee. However, Dr. Maccabee offered a rebuttal to the Klass-Sheaffer theory by arguing that cloud conditions in the McMinnville area on the evening of the sighting could have caused the shadows, and that a close analysis of the UFO indicated that it was not suspended from the power lines and was in fact located some distance above the Trent's farm; thus, in his opinion, the Klass-Sheaffer theory was flawed. (Clark, 375)
Aftermath
Today the Trent/McMinnville photographs remain among the best-publicized in UFO history; and are among the most-discussed and debated. To many ufologists, the two photos rate as being among the most reliable and persuasive in arguing for the existence of UFOs as a "real", physical phenomenon. To many skeptics, however, the photos are likely hoaxes and/or fakes. Evelyn Trent died in 1997 and Paul Trent in 1998; they both insisted to their deaths that their sighting, and the photos, were genuine. The interest surrounding the Trent UFO photos led to an annual "UFO Festival" being established in McMinnville; it is now the largest such gathering in the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
, and is the second-largest UFO "festival" in the nation after the one held in Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...
.