Pilots & Radar
Encounters reported by trained observers, often backed by instruments. 29 entries, oldest first.
The Battle of Los Angeles
Three months after Pearl Harbor, anti-aircraft guns fired into an empty sky for an hour.
Foo Fighters
Allied night-fighter crews reported glowing balls of light pacing their planes.
Kenneth Arnold's Nine Objects
The sighting that gave the world the phrase 'flying saucer'.
The Death of Captain Mantell
A National Guard pilot died chasing a bright object he could not catch.
The Chiles–Whitted Encounter
Two airline pilots describe a glowing, windowed cigar rushing past their DC-3.
The Gorman Dogfight
A pilot spent half an hour in a 'dogfight' with a small blinking light.
The Washington, D.C. Flap
Radar blips over the Capitol, jets scrambled and the biggest Pentagon press briefing since WWII.
The RB-47 Encounter
A spy plane's crew, its electronic sensors and ground radar all tracked something for hours.
Malmstrom Missile Shutdown
Ten nuclear missiles went offline. Later witnesses said a UFO was overhead.
The Coyne Helicopter Incident
An Army helicopter crew says a gray craft pulled them upward.
The Tehran F-4 Chase
Iranian jets lose instruments as they approach a brilliant light. A U.S. intelligence memo followed.
Operação Prato
Brazil's Air Force sends a team to a river island where residents say lights are attacking them.
The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich
A young pilot radios that something is hovering over him. Then he is gone.
The Kaikōura Lights
Cargo pilots see lights off the coast, radar tracks targets, and a TV crew films them.
Rendlesham Forest
Britain's most famous case, with a deputy base commander's memo and audio tape.
The Cash–Landrum Incident
Three people say a fiery diamond, escorted by helicopters, made them sick.
Japan Air Lines Flight 1628
A 747 cargo crew says a huge object followed them across Alaska.
Brazil's Official UFO Night
Radar tracks 21 objects, five fighter jets scramble, and the Air Minister says he has no explanation.
The Belgian Wave
Triangles over Belgium, F-16s scrambled, and a photo that turned out to be fake.
The Phoenix Lights
Two separate events the same night, often merged into one mystery.
The Nimitz 'Tic Tac'
Navy pilots chase a smooth white object that the radar ship had tracked for days.
The Mexican Air Force Infrared Video
A drug-surveillance plane films eleven glowing objects on infrared. They didn't move.
The O'Hare Airport Sighting
Airline workers watch a dark disc hover over a gate, then shoot up through the clouds.
The Stephenville Lights
A small Texas town sees a huge set of lights, and the Air Force changes its story.
Chile's CEFAA and the Navy Helicopter Video
Chile's official UFO committee releases a Navy video it calls unexplained. Online analysts found the airliner.
Gimbal & GoFast
Two Navy infrared videos that changed the conversation, and the analysts who picked them apart.
The 2019 'Pyramids' & Omaha Sphere
Leaked Navy footage of triangle-shaped lights and a sphere that seemed to enter the sea.
The 2023 Balloon Shootdowns
A Chinese spy balloon is shot down, followed by three more mystery objects in a week.
The 2025 Task Force Hearing & the Yemen Video
Congress is shown a drone video of a Hellfire missile hitting an orb that keeps going.