TU-1950-900001 · Historic case

McMinnville photographs: the Trent farm discs of May 1950 (1950)

Two photographs taken by farmer Paul Trent of a silvery disc over his fields near McMinnville, Oregon, on 11 May 1950, later examined by the Condon Committee and still disputed.

Case number
TU-1950-900001
Date
12 May 1950
Location
Trent farm near Sheridan, about 13 miles south-west of McMinnville, Oregon, United States
Coordinates
45.104° N, 123.331° W
Shape
disc
Colour
Unknown
Witnesses
2
Status
likely explained

Case summary

At about 7.30–7.45 p.m. local time on 11 May 1950, farmers Paul and Evelyn Trent reported a slow-moving, silvery, disc-shaped object over their property near Sheridan, Oregon, roughly 13 miles south-west of McMinnville. Paul Trent fetched a camera from the house and exposed two frames within about thirty seconds before the object reportedly accelerated away to the west. The roll was finished on Mother's Day and printed; the McMinnville Telephone Register published the images on 8 June 1950 and Life magazine ran cropped versions later that month.

In 1967 the Condon Committee's investigator, astronomer William K. Hartmann, tracked down the original negatives at United Press International and interviewed the Trents. His analysis concluded the photographs were consistent with an artificial object tens of metres across, while conceding that a small model suspended from the overhead wires had not been ruled out. Sceptics Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer argued that shadows on a garage indicate a morning exposure, contradicting the claimed time, and that the object resembles a model — or possibly a detached vehicle wing mirror — hung from the wires; Hartmann subsequently withdrew his positive assessment. The Trents denied any hoax and were never shown to have profited from the photographs.

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