MCMINNVILLE

1. Public Record

Dayton farm, eight miles southwest of McMinnville, Oregon. 11 May 1950, about 19:45. Evelyn Trent is feeding the rabbits. She sees something north of the yard, silver-bright mixed with bronze, "like a good-sized parachute canopy without the strings." She shouts for Paul. He is in the house. She goes toward the garage looking for the camera. He finds it inside, runs out, sees a round, shiny, wingless object coming in, tipped up a little, no noise. He takes two stills before it goes into the evening mist.

The McMinnville Telephone Register and The Oregonian print them in June. An Air Force man walks the farm. Paul tells him it was very bright, almost silvery. Condon later writes that genetic, psychological and physical factors appear consistent with an extraordinary flying object, silvery, metallic, disk-shaped, tens of metres across. The Trents do not tour. They want to forget the fuss. The farm keeps the same fence line.

Two frames. A rabbit hutch. No sound on the tape because there was no tape.

It was as pretty as anything I ever saw.

2. Date of Incident

11 May 1950, evening. Published June 1950. Condon assessment late 1960s.

3. Location

Dayton / McMinnville, Oregon. Approximate 45°06 N 123°20 W.

4. Official Narrative

Air Force interview on the farm. Condon treats the stills as among the few it will not laugh off. Official narrative never becomes a crash or a recovery. It stays two photographs and two farmers.

5. Witness Layer

Evelyn first. Paul with the camera. The investigator on the porch. Later analysts who argue wires and models. The Trents who would rather have fed the rabbits in peace.

The object was coming in toward us and seemed to be tipped up a little bit. It was very bright : almost silvery : and there was no noise.

This is one of the few UFO reports in which all factors investigated appear to be consistent with the assertion that an extraordinary flying object flew within sight of two witnesses.

6. Recovery Logistics

Two negatives. A month of local paper. No object on the ground. No Air Force crate.

7. Assessment

A farm-and-still file. Keep 19:45 and the rabbits so the first look is chores, not a stake-out. Keep "tipped up" as Paul's sentence, not a later drawing. Condon's warmth is unusual and should sit in the file without being turned into a verdict. Do not write the Trents as performers. They handed the camera back to the house.

8. Materials & Remains

Two photographs. Oregonian and Telephone Register pages. Condon paragraph. The farm.

9. Key Personnel

Evelyn Trent : First look, rabbits.

Paul Trent : Two frames.

Air Force investigator : The porch interview.

10. Aftermath

The stills outlive the couple. Yamhill County still gets asked for the fence. No third frame ever arrived.

11. Current Archive Status

Status: Two stills, 11 May 1950. Rabbits first. Condon kind. No object recovered.

Confidence: High that Evelyn called Paul and that two photographs were taken that evening and published in June. Low that a model on a wire is proved. Low that Condon settles manufacture.

Filing note

A woman feeding rabbits, a shout, a camera that was not in the garage, two clicks, mist, a month before the town paper, a couple who asked to be left alone.

Like a good-sized parachute canopy without the strings. That is the first description. Everything after is an argument about two pieces of film.