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74 cases

Case files

The corpus in chronological order. The evidence score is computed across eight axes — higher means better documented, not more anomalous.

Status

Character

Country

74 cases

14 April 1561Germany

The Nuremberg Phenomenon

A broadsheet woodcut describing an “aerial battle” of spheres and crosses above the city. Routinely presented today as evidence of a historical UFO presence — in reality it is a source of…

Disputed0.8/5
November 1896 – May 1897United States

The Airship Wave

For six months American newspapers carried thousands of reports of a cigar-shaped “airship” with searchlights and propellers, crossing the country from California eastward. It is the first…

Explained1.3/5
1944–1945 (wave)Germany

Foo Fighters

Bomber and fighter crews on both sides of the front reported glowing spheres pacing their aircraft, sometimes holding formation for minutes. The reports were numerous enough that military…

Insufficient data1.4/5
May–December 1946Sweden

Ghost Rockets

A year before Roswell, a wave of sightings of fast, luminous missile-like objects swept Scandinavia. The Swedish armed forces opened a formal investigation, and US and British intelligence…

Insufficient data2.3/5
24 June 1947United States

The Kenneth Arnold Sighting

Private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported nine objects moving in formation near Mount Rainier. His description of their motion — “like a saucer skipped across water” — was converted by the pre…

Insufficient data1.5/5
July 1947United States

Roswell

RAAF Roswell issued a press release announcing the recovery of a “flying disc”, retracted the same day in favour of a weather balloon. The case remained marginal for thirty years and retur…

Disputed1.8/5
7 January 1948United States

The Death of Capt. Thomas Mantell

Captain Thomas Mantell crashed while pursuing a large, bright object also under observation from the Godman AAF control tower. The accident turned UAP into a flight-safety problem rather t…

Explained1.7/5
24 July 1948United States

Chiles–Whitted

Two Eastern Air Lines pilots reported passing a large cigar-shaped object with a row of bright windows and a flame at the rear. The case was one of the pillars of the internal Project SIGN…

Explained1.9/5
1 October 1948United States

The Gorman Dogfight

Second Lieutenant George Gorman flew an extended series of manoeuvres against a small bright light which, by his account, responded to his movements and out-turned him.

Explained1.9/5
1948–1951 (wave)United States

Green Fireballs

A series of vivid green fireballs observed over the most sensitive nuclear installations in the United States. The phenomenon was taken seriously enough that a dedicated observation progra…

Insufficient data2.3/5
11 May 1950United States

The McMinnville Photographs

A farming couple took two photographs of a metallic disc-shaped object. The images passed through several independent analyses, including within the Condon Committee, and to this day have…

Disputed1.9/5
August–September 1951United States

The Lubbock Lights

V-shaped formations of lights passed over the city for several weeks. The witnesses included university faculty, which gave the case unusual credibility, and a student produced a series of…

Explained1.9/5
2 July 1952United States

The Tremonton Film

A Navy warrant officer and professional aerial photographer shot colour film showing a group of bright objects in motion. The material received one of the most detailed analyses in Blue Bo…

Disputed2.2/5
19/20 and 26/27 July 1952United States◆

The Washington Wave

On two consecutive July weekends, civilian and military radars around Washington tracked unidentified targets over restricted airspace, correlated with visual sightings by pilots. Intercep…

Unresolved3.5/5
21/22 August 1955United States

Kelly–Hopkinsville

Eleven people reported a night-long siege of a farmhouse by small silvery figures, firing shotguns at them repeatedly. Police who responded found damage consistent with gunfire but nothing…

Disputed1.7/5
13/14 August 1956United Kingdom◆

Bentwaters–Lakenheath

On the night of 13–14 August 1956 the radars of two USAF bases in England tracked targets correlated with visual sightings from the ground and from the air. A scrambled RAF fighter obtaine…

Unresolved3.3/5
17 July 1957United States◆

RB-47H over the Gulf of Mexico

The crew of an RB-47H electronic reconnaissance aircraft reported a simultaneous correlation: a signal on the passive ELINT receivers, a visual sighting of a bright light, and a reported g…

Unresolved3.7/5
September 1957Brazil

The Ubatuba Magnesium

Fragments of very pure magnesium were said to come from an object that exploded above a beach. The samples passed through many analyses, including in government laboratories, but the story…

Disputed1.3/5
2/3 November 1957United States

Levelland

Within a single night more than a dozen independent drivers reported a large glowing object on the road, in whose presence their engines and lights failed. Once the object moved away, the…

Unresolved2.1/5
16 January 1958Brazil

Trindade Island

A photographer aboard a Brazilian Navy vessel took four photographs of a Saturn-shaped object passing the island. The Navy examined the negatives and the images were released publicly with…

Disputed2.0/5
26/27 June 1959Papua New Guinea

Boianai

Anglican missionary William Gill and thirty-seven others watched a large luminous disc with figures on top for hours across two nights. Gill wrote the account immediately and had all witne…

Unresolved2.1/5
1960Australia

Maralinga / Wewak

A formal sighting report filed on the standard RAAF form, working sequentially through meteor, static electricity effects, satellite and “flying saucer” — without resolution.

Insufficient data1.6/5
19/20 September 1961United States

Betty and Barney Hill

A married couple driving at night reported a light that appeared to follow them, and later a period they could not account for. Under hypnosis two years afterwards they produced detailed a…

Disputed1.7/5
24 April 1964United States◆

Socorro

Police sergeant Lonnie Zamora, pursuing a speeding car, saw a white ovoid object on the ground and two small figures beside it. The object departed with a roar and a flame. The ground was…

Unresolved3.1/5
1 July 1965France

Valensole

A lavender farmer reported an ovoid object landed in his field with two small figures beside it. Gendarmes documented ground marks the same day. The affected patch of lavender reportedly f…

Unresolved2.5/5
3 September 1965United States

Exeter

Norman Muscarello and two responding police officers observed at close range a large, silent object with a row of pulsing red lights moving along a transmission line.

Unresolved2.0/5
6 April 1966Australia

Westall High School

In daylight, hundreds of pupils and teachers watched a grey disc-shaped object said to descend over nearby ground and then depart. Accounts of the site being secured by the military and of…

Unresolved1.9/5
16 and 24 March 1967United States

Malmstrom AFB

According to officer accounts, in March 1967 a series of Minuteman missiles went to a “no-go” state within a short interval, while security personnel simultaneously reported UAP sightings.…

Disputed1.7/5
20 May 1967Canada◆

Falcon Lake

Prospector Stefan Michalak reported touching a landed craft that vented hot gas onto his chest, leaving a burn pattern matching a grid of vents. He suffered nausea and weight loss. Investi…

Unresolved2.9/5
29 August 1967France

Cussac

Two siblings reported a bright sphere and four small figures in a meadow. The gendarmerie investigated the same day, producing a protocol that later became part of the GEIPAN archive.

Unresolved2.3/5
4 October 1967Canada

Shag Harbour

Residents and RCMP officers watched an object descend into the water near shore. A Coast Guard search was launched on the assumption of an air crash. No missing aircraft was ever identified.

Unresolved2.5/5
24 October 1968United States◆

Minot AFB

Over several hours, missile security teams reported a luminous object near launch facilities, ground radar tracked a target, and a returning B-52 both saw the object and recorded it on its…

Unresolved3.5/5
2 November 1971United States

Delphos

A farm boy reported a mushroom-shaped object hovering and departing, leaving a glowing ring on the ground. The soil in the ring became strongly hydrophobic — it repelled water for years —…

Unresolved2.6/5
18 October 1973United States

The Coyne Helicopter Incident

The crew of a military UH-1 reported an approaching object, against which the captain executed a sharp descent. Afterwards the altimeter indicated a climb of several hundred metres, althou…

Unresolved2.2/5
19/20 September 1976Iran◆

Tehran

After a series of civilian reports, the Iranian air force scrambled two F-4s. According to a Defense Intelligence Agency report, the first aircraft lost instruments and communications on a…

Unresolved3.8/5
20 September 1977USSR / Russia

Petrozavodsk

A vast luminous phenomenon described as a “jellyfish” shedding rays toward the ground appeared over the city. The event produced a wave of reports across Karelia and led to the creation of…

Explained2.3/5
September 1977 – January 1978Brazil

Operação Prato

Following a wave of reports of luminous objects and injuries among residents, the Brazilian Air Force deployed a detachment to the island tasked with documenting the phenomenon. An extensi…

Insufficient data2.6/5
1978 (wave)Italy

The Italian Wave of 1978

An intensified wave of reports led to an administrative decision: the Aeronautica Militare was formally tasked with collecting and investigating UAP reports. Italy has therefore had an unb…

Insufficient data2.4/5
21 October 1978Australia

Frederick Valentich

A 20-year-old pilot on a night flight over Bass Strait reported an object with four bright lights above and around his Cessna, said it was “not an aircraft”, and reported engine trouble. T…

Unresolved2.2/5
30/31 December 1978New Zealand

Kaikoura

An Australian television crew filmed a series of bright lights from aboard an aircraft, correlated in time with returns on the Wellington radar. The footage circled the world as the first…

Disputed3.1/5
11 November 1979Spain

Manises

The captain of a scheduled flight diverted to Valencia after bright red lights approached his aircraft. The Spanish air force scrambled a Mirage F1, whose pilot also reported a sighting.

Unresolved2.7/5
11 April 1980Peru

Arequipa

Personnel at a Peruvian air base observed a stationary balloon-shaped object at dawn. A Su-22 was scrambled and, by the pilot's account, fired a cannon burst that had no effect, after whic…

Unresolved1.9/5
26–28 December 1980United Kingdom

Rendlesham Forest

Security personnel at the American bases in Suffolk reported lights in the forest and an object on the ground. The deputy base commander wrote an official memorandum and recorded audio dur…

Disputed2.8/5
29 December 1980United States

Cash–Landrum

Three witnesses described a large, intensely hot diamond-shaped object surrounded by more than a dozen CH-47 helicopters. Afterwards they reported symptoms their physicians associated with…

Disputed2.0/5
8 January 1981France◆

Trans-en-Provence

A witness watched from about thirty metres as an object descended onto the terrace of his property, rested for several seconds and departed vertically. The gendarmerie secured the site the…

Unresolved3.4/5
1982–1986 (wave)United States

The Hudson Valley Wave

For several years thousands of people across the Hudson Valley reported a huge, silent, slow-moving boomerang of lights. A group of private pilots from a local airfield subsequently admitt…

Explained2.2/5
1981–present; measurement expedition 1984Norway◆

Hessdalen

Since 1981 the Hessdalen valley has produced recurring luminous phenomena — at peak, more than a dozen times a week. In 1984 an expedition deployed radar, a spectrograph, a magnetometer, a…

Unresolved3.8/5
29 January 1986USSR / Russia

Dalnegorsk

Residents watched a reddish sphere fly over the town and strike a rocky hillside, where it reportedly burned for about an hour. Investigators from the Soviet Academy of Sciences collected…

Disputed2.2/5
19 May 1986Brazil

Noite Oficial dos OVNIs

Brazilian air defence radars detected multiple unidentified targets simultaneously. Mirage III and F-5E fighters were scrambled; some crews reported radar and visual contact. The Air Minis…

Unresolved3.2/5
17 November 1986United States (Alaska)◆

JAL 1628

The crew of a Japan Airlines 747 freighter reported the presence of objects for nearly an hour, including one very large structure. FAA control in Anchorage logged intermittent radar retur…

Unresolved3.3/5
27 September 1989USSR / Russia

Voronezh

The TASS agency issued a dispatch reporting the landing of an object and the emergence of a being from it. The report circulated worldwide as the first such statement from an official Sovi…

Disputed1.1/5
November 1989 – April 1990; key night 30/31 March 1990Belgium◆

The Belgian Wave

Over five months thousands of people in Belgium, including gendarmerie officers, reported large, silent triangular objects. On the night of 30/31 March 1990, with correlating ground radar,…

Unresolved3.5/5
4 August 1990United Kingdom

Calvine

Two young men took six photographs of a large, static diamond-shaped object, near which a military aircraft passed. The negatives were passed to the Ministry of Defence and lost; a single…

Unresolved2.0/5
30/31 March 1993United Kingdom

The Cosford Incident

Over one night, RAF personnel at two bases, police and dozens of civilians reported a large triangular craft and a beam of light sweeping the ground. The MOD's UFO desk escalated the case…

Explained2.3/5
16 September 1994Zimbabwe

Ariel School

During a break, a group of children reported an object landing and the presence of beings at the edge of the school grounds. Interviews were conducted within days and partly recorded, incl…

Unresolved1.8/5
January 1996Brazil

Varginha

Three young women reported seeing an unusual creature in the town. An elaborate narrative grew around the account, involving a military capture operation, transport to a hospital, and the…

Disputed1.1/5
13 March 1997United States

The Phoenix Lights

On the evening of 13 March 1997 Arizona residents first watched a V-shaped formation of lights transit the state, and about an hour later a stationary arc of bright lights over the city. B…

Disputed2.4/5
5 March 2004Mexico

The Mexican Air Force FLIR

A Mexican Air Force surveillance aircraft on an anti-narcotics patrol recorded eleven objects on infrared that appeared to surround it. The Defence Ministry released the footage publicly.…

Explained3.1/5
14 November 2004United States◆

USS Nimitz / Tic Tac

During carrier strike group exercises, SPY-1 radar operators aboard USS Princeton tracked unusual contacts over several days. On 14 November two F/A-18Fs were vectored to one of them. Four…

Unresolved3.7/5
7 November 2006United States

O'Hare

A dozen airport employees reported a grey disc-shaped object hovering over Gate C17, which then departed vertically at speed, said to leave a hole in the cloud layer.

Insufficient data1.6/5
8 January 2008United States

Stephenville

After a wave of reports of a large, silent object with lights, independent researchers obtained FAA radar data under FOIA, which showed an unidentified track in the area together with F-16…

Disputed2.3/5
7 July 2010China

Hangzhou Airport

Xiaoshan International Airport suspended operations for roughly an hour after an unidentified object was reported in its airspace. Flights were diverted and delayed. Chinese authorities la…

Disputed2.2/5
August 2012 – February 2013India

Ladakh

Army and border police units in Ladakh logged several hundred sightings of luminous objects over six months, initially suspected to be Chinese surveillance drones. A scientific team was se…

Explained2.3/5
25 April 2013Puerto Rico

Aguadilla

Infrared footage from a border patrol aircraft shows an object flying over terrain, entering the ocean, emerging, and splitting in two. For years it was presented as the best evidence for…

Explained2.4/5
2014–2015 (series)United States◆

Roosevelt / East Coast

Following an upgrade to AESA radars, US Navy pilots began routinely recording objects in Atlantic training areas — in some accounts almost daily. The series led to changed reporting proced…

Unresolved3.4/5
11 November 2014Chile

The Chilean Navy Footage

A Chilean Navy helicopter recorded nine minutes of infrared footage of an object apparently venting material. The state agency CEFAA investigated for two years, involving astronomers, mete…

Explained3.1/5
January 2015United States

GIMBAL

ATFLIR footage showing a lens-shaped object that performs a distinct rotation of about 90° during the clip. The soundtrack captures the crew's surprise. The Department of Defense confirmed…

Disputed2.8/5
January 2015United States

GOFAST

ATFLIR footage in which a small object appears to skim just above the ocean surface at enormous speed. One of the three videos whose authenticity the Department of Defense confirmed.

Explained2.7/5
April 2016Iraq

The Mosul Orb

A short clip from a US reconnaissance platform showing a small spherical object crossing the field of view over Mosul. AARO presented it publicly as an example of an unresolved case.

Unresolved2.1/5
July 2019United States

USS Omaha

Over several nights ship crews reported multiple aerial objects operating around the group. Infrared recordings and ship's log entries were produced. The Navy confirmed the material is aut…

Unresolved3.2/5
July 2019United States

USS Russell — the “pyramids”

Night-vision footage showing triangular, flickering objects above the ship. The material circled the world as evidence of pyramid-shaped craft.

Explained2.3/5
December 2019 – January 2020United States

The Colorado Drone Swarms

For several weeks, large unmanned aircraft were reported flying nightly grid patterns over rural Colorado and Nebraska. Sheriffs, the FAA, the FBI and a state task force investigated. No o…

Unresolved2.4/5
February 2023United States

The 2023 Balloon and the Shootdowns

A Chinese high-altitude balloon crossed North America and was shot down off South Carolina. In the following week, after air defence radar filters were adjusted, three further unidentified…

Explained4.2/5
2024–2025United States

The Active Virginia Coast Case

The US Navy reported approximately 100 aerial objects and two probably unmanned surface systems in an area off the Virginia coast. AARO listed the case as remaining under active analysis.

Unresolved3.3/5