The Legend Of The McMinnville UFO Sighting In Oregon May Send Chills Down Your Spine
By Sarah McCosham|Published January 06, 2022
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Sarah McCosham
Author
I write like it's my job - because it is! I have a Master's in English and love words: crossword puzzles, Scrabble games, Wordle, and, of course, good, old-fashioned books.
I'm a writer and editor at OnlyInYourState, and a contributing writer at Cincinnati Magazine. I love the Great Outdoors and am endlessly awestruck by this beautiful country of ours. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired.
Oregon is a place that welcomes the weird — and that includes oddities of the extraterrestrial variety, too. So in 1950, when a UFO was reported hovering over a farm in McMinnville, Oregon, the sighting caused quite a stir. Not only did folks believe the story to be true, but it instantly became one of the state’s most infamous legends. But is it a fable — or is this otherworldly encounter fact? Ask anyone and they’ll agree: the McMinnville UFO Sighting is, hands down, the most iconic, celebrated, and, yes, chilling, urban legends in Oregon.
McMinnville is a small town located in the heart of Oregon's idyllic Willamette Valley.
On May 11, 1950, local resident Evelyn Trent was feeding the animals behind her farmhouse when she spotted a disc-like object floating high in the evening sky above.
She scrambled inside her farmhouse to alert her husband, Paul, who had the foresight to grab their Kodak Roamer camera. Once outside, Paul quickly snapped a pair of pictures before the unidentified flying object floated back over the horizon.
In fact, Paul's photos are considered sacred texts in the field of "ufology." They ignited a bona fide media frenzy, and were seen all around the world.
Back in Oregon, the so-called "McMinnville UFO" earned this small town a unique notoriety, something that's been embraced and celebrated in the nearly 75 years since.
In 1999, the town organized its first UFO Fest, an extraterrestrial event that's second in popularity only to the UFO fest in Roswell, New Mexico. Oregon's McMenamins UFO Fest is three days full of parades, costume contests, guest speakers, and good, old-fashioned (supernatural) fun.
And as for the McMinnville UFO, well, a number of experts weighed in. Some called it an elaborate hoax; some said it was an object suspended from a telephone wire; and one explained that the object may have simply been the detached side-view mirror of a vehicle, like certain Ford models from the era.
At this point, though, does it really matter? The McMinnville UFO sighting is a legendary piece of Oregon lore; it's one of the many things that give our state its wonderfully weird rap!
Did you know the story behind the McMinnville UFO sighting in Oregon? What do you believe? Regardless of where you stand, you have to admit it’s an incredible story. And the annual McMenamins UFO Festival — how cool!
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