Kenneth Arnold: Delusional ET Believer or Observer of Actual Odd Flying Objects?

This appeared in the article, pictured above [Saturday Evening Post, April 30, 1949]:

Arnold, while investigating the (alleged) Maury Island sighting in June 1947, generally considered a hoax, saw, "while flying to the scene of the investigation," as the segment above reports, a "covey of twenty-five flying disks."

Did Arnold really see 25 flying disks or had he become delusional within the hectic flying saucer cultural milieu of the time period?

One can make a case for delusion [See Symptoms of Psychopathology, John Wiley & Sons, 1970, Page 55 ff.].

While Kenneth Arnold's initial iconic sighting of nine objects near Mount Ranier is still open to interpretation, his stated observation of a covey of twenty-five flying disks bespeaks a mental disorder.

Or did he really see a covey of flying disks? His testimony seems incredulous. But does that demean his original "flying saucer" sighting, June 24th, 1947?

Just as current and long-time UFO aficionados (you know who I mean) have become ET obsessed when it comes to UFOs, without any substantive proof of an extraterrestrial connection to the phenomenon. one can understand the psychological mechanisms at work in the symptomatic array that UFO buffs have become immersed in.

This is what happened to Kenneth Arnold, at a time when flying disk hysteria was prevalent, even rampant.

Or one can say that Arnold saw nine odd flying objects and even a covey of twenty-five shortly thereafter.

But that would be participating in the hysterical delusion, would it not?

RR