"unidentified flying object"

[Jonathan Lighter]

1952 _Wisconsin State Journal_ (Madison) (Aug. 2) I 2 [NewspArch]:
Several persons have shown snapshots purporting to show saucers or
some sort of unidentified flying object, but this is the first photo
with any kind of official attachment.

A slightly earlier ex., from July, 1952, cannot be loaded.

The phrase became a common synonym for "flying saucer" over the next
two or three years. OED's primary "UFO" quote is from fall, 1953.

JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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