Trent farm near Sheridan, Oregon, United States
The McMinnville Trent Farm Photographs
Paul and Evelyn Trent reported seeing a metallic disc near their Oregon farm on 11 May 1950, and Paul took two photographs. The negatives were published rapidly, later recovered from the news-service archive, and examined by William Hartmann for the Condon Committee. Hartmann initially found the pho
Why This Case Matters
One of the most important UFO-photo cases ever: original negatives, rapid publication, serious government-funded analysis and equally serious later hoax/model analysis all survive.
Chronology
- 11 May 1950 Trents report sighting and take two photos
- 8 Jun local Telephone-Register publishes images
- national press/LIFE reproduce photos
- negatives later lost then recovered in UPI archive
- 1967 Hartmann studies originals for Condon Committee
- later Klass/Sheaffer challenge timing/lighting
- 2013 IPACO reports thread/model evidence
The Witnesses
Evidence
The following evidence types are documented for this case:
Conventional explanations: A small model suspended from overhead wires is the strongest modern hoax hypothesis. Lighting/weather/timing inconsistencies also challenge the original narrative, while some analysts dispute the visibility/significance of the proposed thread.
What Remains Unresolved
- Final custody/highest-quality scans of original negatives
- exact photo time
- whether the detected linear feature is truly a suspension thread
- reconciliation of competing photometric analyses.
Key Takeaways
- This is neither 'proved authentic' nor dismissible folklore. It is a genuinely analyzable historical photo case with serious evidence on both the authentic-object and suspended-model sides.
Sources
Primary and secondary sources for this case file: