DISPUTEDCRAFT
The Rhodes Photographs
1947 · Phoenix, Arizona · USA
WHAT IT IS
Taken weeks after the Arnold sighting that began the modern era; studied by Air Force intelligence. Its authenticity has never been resolved.
THE CASE FOR
Taken days into the modern era and treated seriously at the time — Army and FBI investigators interviewed Rhodes and examined the images, and the object's heel shape echoes Kenneth Arnold's description.
THE CASE AGAINST
A single witness with shifting credibility and a cheap camera; the negatives were surrendered to investigators and never returned, so no independent analysis is possible.
WHERE IT STANDS
Disputed. Serious questions remain about how it was made or what it shows, and neither side has settled them.
STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 3 SEPT 2026
THE RECORD
- DATE
- 1947
- PLACE
- Phoenix, Arizona · USA
- RECORDED BY
- William A. Rhodes
- TECHNICAL
- Consumer box camera · 2 frames · negatives surrendered to Army intelligence, 1947, never returned
