Pentagon sightings
In 1952, seven unidentified objects were spotted on radar near the Pentagon. The Air Force immediately launched a number of planes, but as soon as they got close the objects vanished from the radar. Once the plane landed, the objects reappeared, and the incident was deemed noteworthy enough for President Truman to be notified.
Chicago O’Hare sighting
On November 7, 2006, employees at Chicago O’Hare International Airport reported witnessing a flying disc that hovered in the air for several minutes, before shooting upwards and leaving a hole in the clouds. The Federal Aviation Administration initially claimed they hadn’t received any reports about the sighting, but this was proved false when the Chicago Tribune submitted a Freedom of Information Request.
The disappearance of Frederick Valentich
While making a routine flight over Australia’s Bass Strait on the evening of October 21, 1978, Frederick Valentich contacted air traffic control to report that a strange object was following him. Valentich’s final words over the radio were “It’s not an aircraft”. The pilot and his plane vanished shortly after, and no trace has ever been found.
McMinnville UFO photographs
The McMinnville photographs are widely considered to be among the most compelling pieces of evidence for the existence of UFOs. Captured by Paul Trend while he was feeding rabbits in May, 1951, the images clearly depict a disc-shaped craft flying over the fields of Trend’s farm.
Aguadilla Airport incident
On 25 April, 2013, a strange object was observed streaking through the sky above Rafael Hernandez Airport runway in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The object was captured by US Customs and Border Protection cameras, and the footage was subsequently leaked to the Scientific Coalition for UFOlogy by a whistleblower.
Arequipa UFO incident
In the early hours of April 11, 1980, Peruvian Air Force pilot Oscar Santa María Huertas was ordered to intercept a UFO in restricted airspace. Huertas approached the object – which he described as lightbulb-shaped – and fired a barrage of shells from his Sukhoi Su-22, but the craft was seemingly undamaged, rapidly rising to a height of 19,200 meters and speeding away.
Bonilla observation
On August 12, 1883, Mexican astronomer José Bonilla was making observations of a sunspot when he noticed more than 400 dark objects flying in front of the Sun. Bonilla was able to make some rudimentary photographs, and many UFO experts have claimed that these provide some of the earliest evidence for the existence of aliens.
Roswell incident
In July 1947, Roswell Army Airfield employees recovered debris from a crash, with the wreckage consisting of metal and rubber. The airfield released a statement claiming to be in possession of a “flying disc,” but this statement was swiftly retracted, leading to intense speculation that the government was concealing evidence of a crashed alien space craft.
Levelland UFO sighting
In November 1957, a number of residents of the small Texan town of Levelland reported witnessing an egg-shaped object hurtling through the sky. One of the eyewitnesses claimed that the UFO had interfered with the electronics in his car as it flew overhead. The US Air Force attributed the sightings to a rare meteorological phenomenon known as ball lightning.
NASA Curiosity Rover Sighting
NASA’s Curiosity Rover periodically sends images back to Earth, and UFO expert Scott C Waring claims one such photo might have captured an alien spaceship. For their part, NASA have claimed that the picture didn’t capture a UFO, but rather some unusually shaped rocks.
Washington UFOs
On two separate occasions in July 1952, radar systems on military bases in Washington detected fast-moving unidentified objects. In both cases, planes were quickly scrambled to intercept the objects, but – despite cruising at around 130 miles per hour – the UFOs suddenly accelerated at great speed when approached, vanishing into the distance.
Delphos ring incident
Ronald Johnson was 16 years old when he witnessed a glowing object floating in the air above his Kansas family farm. When Johnson returned with others the object had vanished, but a glowing ring remained on the floor, leaving a burnt patch. Another witness on a nearby farm also witnessed the glowing object, reporting what he’d seen to the police.
Loring Air Force Base sighting
During the night of October 27, 1975, a number of Air Force personnel witnessed a strange object hovering over Loring Air Force Base, where they were stationed. The object – which was described as “shaped like a cigar” – returned the following night, and its presence was recorded in radar data.
Val Johnson’s UFO encounter
While on patrol during the early hours of September 11, 1979, Marshall County Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson saw a glowing ball of light hovering a few meters above the ground. Intrigued, Johnson drove towards it, only to wake up in a ditch half an hour later, with burns around his eyes and damage to his car.
Kenneth Arnold’s UFO sighting
Kenneth Arnold’s UFO sighting in June, 1947 gave rise to the now-familiar concept of flying saucers. The pilot claimed to have witnessed nine “circular-type” flying objects while flying to the north of Washington’s Mount Rainier, and – while the US Air Force consistently dismissed his claim – Arnold stuck to his story throughout the rest of his life.
Alderney UFO sighting
While flying between the British towns of Southampton and Alderney on April 23, 2007, Captain Ray Bowyer – along with many of his passengers – witnessed two yellow, cigar-shaped UFOs. The flying objects were also witnessed by ground staff at Alderney Airport, and another pilot spotted them on his radar at around the same time. The military reportedly launched an investigation, but an explanation has yet to be provided.
Trans-en-Provence UFO sighting
At around 5 in the afternoon on January 8, 1981, 55-year-old Renato Nicolaï spotted a saucer-shaped object flying close to the ground over his farm. Upon inspection, the craft was discovered to have left a trail of scorched earth, and the French authorities invested significant resources into investigating the incident.
Tehran incident
In September 1976, the pilots of two Iranian F-4 Interceptors claimed that they had spotted a star-shaped UFO flying over Tehran. The pilots stated that they had tried to approach the craft – with one even attempting to open fire – but the jets’ electronics systems inexplicably stopped working, forcing them to abort.
Mansfield helicopter incident
During a routine training operation in October 1973, four Army Reservists were flying a helicopter near Mansfield, Ohio when they nearly crashed into a UFO. The object was described as a glowing ball of light, and it was also spotted by observers on the ground, who described its movement as “not consistent with human flight”.
Flight 105 UFO sighting
On July 4, 1947 the pilot and crew of United Airlines Flight 105 spotted nine UFOs while flying over the Pacific Northwest. The pilot flashed the plane’s lights to alert the crafts – which were later described as smooth on the bottom and rough on the top – to his presence, but they didn’t respond.
Hudson Valley UFO sightings
Between 1982 and 1986, there were almost 5,000 UFO sightings near the Hudson Valley, a popular hiking location near New York City. Most of the eyewitnesses described spotting a slow-moving, V-shaped UFO, although some reported more traditional flying saucers. A few witnesses even managed to snap photos, but no official explanation has ever been given.
Shag Harbour UFO crash
On October 4, 1967, a number of villagers witnessed a strange object plummeting into the sea just off the coast of Shag Harbour, a tiny fishing hamlet in Nova Scotia. A round object was observed floating in the water, but by the time the Coast Guard arrived it had vanished without a trace, and subsequent searches of the seafloor came up empty.
Westall UFO sighting
On the morning of April 6, 1966, a strange, circular object – described as grey in color and roughly twice the size of a car – was spotted hovering around the grounds of Westall High School in Melbourne, Australia. While the sighting might have been dismissed as the overactive imaginations of the 200 or so students who claimed to have seen the UFO, a number of teachers corroborated their story.
Anchorage UFO encounter
On November 18, 1986, the crew of a Boeing 747 flying over Anchorage, Alaska requested a change of course due to the fact that they were being tailed by a disc-shaped craft. When this UFO got close to the plane, the crew reported that the cockpit was filled with a strange warmth, and the plane’s radar data was submitted to the FBI and CIA.
Belgian UFO wave
Over the course of several months spanning 1989 and 1990, thousands of Belgians reported strange, triangular objects in the skies above Belgium. The sighting were acknowledged by the military, with one Major General later commenting: “The Belgian UFO wave was exceptional and the Air Force could not identify the nature, origin and intentions of the reported phenomena.”
Cash-Landrum incident
A few day after Christmas in 1980, three friends in Dayton, Texas witnessed a massive, diamond-shaped object floating in the sky, surrounded by a number of unmarked helicopters. The friends claimed that the object was emitting intense heat, and they all later experienced symptoms including nausea, blistering and diarrhea, which a radiologist determined was the result of damage caused by ionizing radiation.
Rendlesham Forest sighting
On Boxing Day, 1980, a number of Air Force personnel witnessed a glowing metallic object hurtling through the trees in Britain’s Rendlesham Forest. The UFO left a wake of broken branches, felled trees and strange triangular impressions in the ground. Years later, Lieutenant Colonel Charles I Halt – one of the witnesses to the strange incident – accused the British military of a coverup.
New Jersey Turnpike lights
Just after midnight on July 14, 2001, a number of motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike witnessed orange and yellow lights flying through the sky in a V formation. Amongst the witnesses were two on-duty police officers, but air traffic controllers at the nearby airport denied detecting any objects on their radar systems.
Valensole UFO sighting
In July 1965, French farmer Maurice Masse claimed that he had witnessed a spherical spaceship land in a field in Valensole, a town in the Notre Dame valley. Masse reported that two humanoid aliens emerged from the ship, had a quick look around and then returned to their craft and flew away, leaving the farmer in shock.
Richard French’s UFO sighting
Richard French was an Air Force investigator tasked with debunking supposed UFO sightings. During the government’s 2013 Citizen Hearings on Disclosure, however, French claimed that he had actually witnessed a UFO himself. In the hearing, an 83-year-old French reported that – sometime during the 50s – he’d witnessed a UFO floating in the sea, complete with aliens trying to fix it.
The Phoenix lights
On the evening of March 13, 1997, a number of Arizonans witnessed an enormous, V-shaped UFO with a number of spherical lights flying through the sky at immense speed. Earlier in the evening, a video had been captured of the US Military firing slow-moving flares into the sky, with some believing the events were linked.
USS Princeton encounter
On November 14, 2004, the USS Princeton – a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser – detected an unknown craft on its radar. Two fighter jets were scrambled from the nearby USS Nimitz, and when they arrived they noticed churning water with an oval object just beneath the surface. A tic-tac shaped craft then reportedly appeared above the water before speeding off, easily losing the two fighter jets.
Stephenville sightings
Located 100 miles southwest of Dallas, Stephenville is a small, unremarkable Texan town. On the evening of January 8, 2008, a number of residents spotted strange white lights moving through the sky over Highway 67. One of the witnesses was a pilot, and he estimated that the lights – which moved without emitting any sound – were traveling at about 3,000 miles per hour.
Exeter incident
One day in 1965, Norman Muscarello was hitchhiking in Exeter, New Hampshire when he spotted five glowing lights in the sky. When these lights flew towards him, Muscarello threw himself into a ditch in a panic, before flagging down a passing car. The police were later alerted, and when they arrived at the scene they also noticed the strange lights, although no one ever figured out what they were.
East Coast encounter
In 2017, a video leaked to the press of an encounter between an F/A-18 Super Hornet and an unidentified flying object. The video – which reportedly was filmed in 2015 – shows a white, oval-shaped craft that moved at exceptional speeds, with the pilot of the Super Hornet unable to keep up.
Zimbabwe alien encounter
In September 1994, several UFOs were witnessed floating over a school in Ruwa, Zimbabwe. After the sightings, a number of terrified children claimed that the aliens flying the ships had communicated with them telepathically, warning them that a terrible event – which some children understood to be the end of the world – was soon going to take place.
Broad Haven Primary School drawings
In 1977, a group of children at the Broad Haven Primary School all claimed to have seen a UFO. Naturally, the teachers didn’t take them seriously, and – to prove their deception – they separated them and asked them to draw the UFO. All the kids then drew almost identical pictures, thoroughly freaking out their teachers.
Puget Sound sighting
In 1947, Harold Dahl was out on his boat in Puget Sound, accompanied by his son and dog. Six strange aircraft suddenly appeared in the sky above them, one of which crashed into the sea, sending out a spray of debris that killed his dog and injured his son. Dahl claimed he was later visited by a government official who warned him to keep silent.
Tinley Park sightings
On the evening of Halloween 2004, thousands of trick-or-treaters near Chicago’s Tinley Park observed a formation of red and white lights in the sky above them. No explanation was ever given for these lights, and they were mostly forgotten about until they returned the following Fall. Even though there is plenty of photographic evidence, no one has ever been able to explain what these lights were.
Manises UFO incident
While flying towards Las Palmas Airport on the night of November 11, 1979, commercial pilot Francisco Javier Lerdo de Tejada observed a number of floating red lights in his path. When neither air traffic control nor the military had any clue what the objects were, Tejada was forced to divert and make an emergency landing at Manises Airport.
